2009 aquaponics journal

Issue # 55 Aquaponics Journal www.aquaponicsjournal.com 4th qtr, 2009

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Issue #55 4th quarter, 2009

®

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil).

Plus... Editor’s Note Industry News

Q and A by Dr. James Rakocy Aquaponics Around the World

Happenings

New Aquaponic Ventures in Wisconsin

Yandina Aquaponics Project Launched

Developments in Plant Lighting

Experiencing Experiencing Aquaponics Aquaponics

at UVIat UVI


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The Aquaponics Journal is published quarterly by Nelson and Pade, Inc.

Montello, WI, USA copyright 2009 all rights reserved

Electronic Subscription:

$29/year

Printed Subscription: $39/year - within the US

$49/year - Canada, Mexico $69/year - All other countries includes First Class postage

For subscription or advertising information, please contact:

Nelson and Pade, Inc. PO Box 761,

Montello, WI 53949, USA 608-297-8708

Fax: 866-815-9734

e-mail: [email protected] www.aquaponicsjournal.com

www.aquaponics.com

Editor, Co-Publisher: Rebecca L. Nelson

Co-Publisher John S. Pade

Contributing Authors:

Lisa Forsthovel Ron Mitchell

Rebecca L. Nelson John S. Pade

Dr. James Rakocy Geoff Wilson

Editor’s Note: 2009 has brought some new developments to aquaponics and some exciting changes for our company, Nelson and Pade, Inc. Aquaponics continues to gain momentum and recognition as we introduce this concept to more and more individuals through this journal, our website, promotional efforts, workshops, consulting, books and other materials. The demand for the services, systems and supplies that Nelson and Pade, Inc. offers is growing and, as a direct result, so is our company. We are happy to announce that we have recently purchased a 12 acre property in Montello, WI with office and warehouse space. System assembly and order fulfillment, as well as the daily operations will take place here. As I wrap up this issue, we are preparing our new business location for our use and beginning the process of moving. This new location will provide us a platform to continue grow-ing in a well-organized and structured manner and space we need to con-tinue serving our new and existing customers. Also, in response to our growth, we have expanded our staff and welcome Kathleen Paynter in customer relations and Dusan Vystrcil as an aq-uaponics technician. Our workshop and training opportunities are grow-ing as well and in the next issue I will be announcing new programs and other news about these developments . Two other notes in the new category: Nelson and Pade, Inc. has a new logo and in early December we will be launching a completely new website with even more information than ever. We have added new aquaponic systems and supplies to our product offerings and more information to help you learn about aquaponics. Until next time, Rebecca


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In This Issue Feature Articles 20 Wisconsin Home to Two New Aquaponic Greenhouses Rebecca Nelson introduces readers to two new, innovative aquaponic greenhouse businesses in Wisconsin. 23 Restaurant Serves Fish… Fresh! Geoff Wilson shares his experience at a seafood restaurant in Malaysia and how he believes it might be a theme for aquaponic growers. 24 Experiencing Aquaponics at UVI In an article she wrote during an Internship at the University of the Virgin Islands Agriculture Experiment Station, Lisa Forsthovel explains what brought her there and what she is learning as a result. 26 Developments in Plant Lighting An expert in controlled environment systems and plant lighting, Ron Mitchell explains new developments in highly efficient, low energy lighting. 28 Yandina Project Launched After much planning, the Yandina Community Demonstration aquaponics project has been launched in Queensland, Australia. Geoff Wilson explains. 32 Australian Couple Venture into Aquaponics Geoff Wilson contributes this story on Murray and Gail Hallam, an Australian couple who have become suppliers of aquaponic systems. 38 Acclimating Fish to Your System In this installment of the “Do It” how-to column, Rebecca Nelson explains how to acclimate fish to reduce stress and increase success. Departments:

2 Editor’s Note

4 Industry News

14 Aquaponics Around the World

16 Q and A by Dr. James Rakocy

34 Back Issue List

38 Happenings

On the cover:

Lisa Forsthovel showing off some of the lettuce

she planted while intern-ing at the University of

the Virgin Islands. See related article on

page 24.


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Industry NewsIndustry News 50% of Fish Consumed is Now Farm Raised

Global—Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on ma-rine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the au-thors conclude. Their findings are published in the Sep-tember 7th online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

“Aquaculture is set to reach a landmark in 2009, sup-plying half of the total fish and shellfish for human con-sumption,” the authors wrote. Between 1995 and 2007, global production of farmed fish nearly tripled in volume, in part because of rising consumer demand for long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Oily fish, such as

salmon, are a major source of these omega-3s, which are effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. “The huge expansion is being driven by demand,” said lead author Rosamond L. Naylor, a professor of environmental Earth system science at Stanford Uni-versity and director of the Stanford Program on Food Security and the Environment. “As long as we are a health-conscious population trying to get our most healthy oils from fish, we are going to be demanding more of aquaculture and putting a lot of pressure on marine fisheries to meet that need.” In 2006, aquaculture production was 51.7 million metric tons, and about 20 million metric tons of wild fish were harvested for the production of fishmeal. “It can take up to 5 pounds of wild fish to produce 1 pound of salmon, and we eat a lot of salmon,” said Naylor, the William Wrigley Senior Fellow at Stan-ford's Woods Institute for the Environment and Free-man Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Naylor and her co-authors pointed to several fish-feed substitutes currently being investigated, includ-ing protein made from grain and livestock byprod-ucts, and long-chain omega-3 oils extracted from single-cell microorganisms and genetically modified land plants. “With appropriate economic and regula-tory incentives, the transition toward alternative feedstuffs could accelerate, paving the way for a con-sensus that aquaculture is aiding the ocean, not de-pleting it,” the authors wrote.

Fishmeal and fish oil are important staples at farms that produce carnivorous fish, including salmon, trout and tuna. But vegetarian species, such as Chi-nese carp and tilapia, can be raised on feed made from plants instead of wild-caught fish. That's one reason why farm-raised vegetarian fish have long been considered environmentally friendly.


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Industry NewsIndustry News New Aquaponic Venture at Landfill Site in Vermont

Brattleboro, Vermont, USA—New innovation is coming to the site of one of the first landfill-based methane generators in the US. A Burlington company plans to turn the Brattleboro methane facility into a collection of mutually beneficial businesses including aquaponics. The facility will be a model of efficient resource management. In the early 1980’s methane collection equipment and a methane generator were installed at the Brattleboro landfill and electricity produced from methane was sold to the local power company. In 1995 the landfill was closed and the then outdated generator disconnected. At that point, the Waste District began burning off the methane. Don McCormick, founder of Carbon Harvest Energy and previous owner of Laughing Duck Farm, a small aquaponic farm that operated in New York, plans to revive the concept of utilizing the methane rather than burning it. Carbon Harvest Energy has a contract with the 19-town district and plans to spend $1.8 million dollars modernizing the plant. An aq-uaponic greenhouse that will utilize the methane for heating will be built on the landfill site. Nutrients from the culture of fish will be used to raise vegetable crops. This integrated system utilizing waste heat will likely inspire other busi-nesses to take advantage of their resources and full responsibility for their waste.

Urban Food Initiative in Toronto Includes Aquaponics Toronto, Ontario, Canada—The award-winning PACT Youth Crime Reduction Program, a business-led charity has created a holistic set of life-skills and environmental projects for high schools in Toronto to create an environmental culture, ensure healthy communities, and further the goal of prevention through engaging youth. PACT, which works to build peace in urban communities in partnership with the courts and schools, is officially launching "Grow to Learn" an urban food initiative that helps create an environmental ethos at schools across the city while ensuring a sustainable source of produce to food banks across the city. Planning began in late 2008 and starting in June 2009, students, teachers, volunteers and PACT leaders had converted bare grass into veritable food gardens at two schools - Sir Sandford Fleming in Lawrence Heights and West Humber Collegiate Institute in Rexdale. The outdoor classrooms have vegetable beds, fruit orchards, naturalized perimeters of native shrubs, perennials and berry bushes. The organic produce grown in the two schools is already being donated weekly to local food banks in their surrounding neighborhoods and used in the schools' PACT cooking programs. The PACT Greenhouse Initiative, works with "Grow to Learn" to promote food security, teach relevant skills to at-risk youth, champion a sustainable food production system and facilitate innovative design. This initiative will design, build and operate portable, off-the-grid greenhouses capable of providing fresh, organic produce to local food banks year-round. The first phase, presently underway, involves the research and design of a cutting edge prototype greenhouse. * The second phase will engage, empower and educate at-risk youth as they participate in the team-based greenhouse con-struction program. A focus on alternative energy and green building techniques will open up the options for students to pur-sue a higher green/environmental education and to enter the growing "green collar" job market. * In the third phase students and neighborhood volunteers will be trained in greenhouse operation and the agricultural method of aquaponics. Aquaponics, the use of a closed ecosystem to grow both plants and fish, is a sustainable food produc-tion system that is ideal for urban centers. * The final phase involves the collaboration with local food banks to ensure that the nutritious food donated makes it to the tables of those in need. PACT also has a "Build" program that ensures handy youth have an opportunity to be employed building garden sheds and fencing for each garden. For further information: http://www.pactprogram.ca/


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Industry NewsIndustry News Nelson and Pade, Inc Receives Agribusiness

of the Year Award Montello, WI, USA—Nelson and Pade, Inc, a company that provides aquaponic technology, systems and supplies, was named Agri-Business of the Year at the Tri-County Economic Development Summit, which took place in Montello, WI, Oc-tober 29, 2009. Bill Wheeler, Executive Director of the Tri-County De-velopment Corp pre-sented the award. Rebecca Nel-son, Nelson and Pade, Inc., spoke at the Summit, sharing infor-mation about aquaponics and the role Nelson and Pade, Inc. has played in developing this industry over the past 20 years. Nelson comments, “It is an honor to be recognized for our ef-forts in aquaponics and sustainable agriculture. This technol-ogy is redefining agriculture, allowing aquaponic growers to produce premium quality crops close to the marketplace. Aq-uaponics can be a profitable venture, a fascinating hobby, a hands-on learning tool in school or a source of protein and vegetable crops in a village anywhere in the world.” Wisconsin is a state known for a strong agriculture industry. With Nelson and Pade, Inc.’s presence and several new com-mercial aquaponic operations, it is now dominating the aq-uaponics industry.

Left to right: Kathleen Paynter and Rebecca Nelson, Nelson and Pade, Inc.; Bill Wheeler, Tri-

County Economic Development Corp.

Middletown, Ohio, USA—Students at D. Russel Lee High School will get a whole new hands-on approach to science this year in a green environ-mental science class. Teacher Kevin Thacker said students will be learning aq-uaponics by conducting labo-ratory studies in a green house that has a tank of 350 gallons of water and 100 pounds of tilapia powered by 60 watts of electricity. The bacteria pro-duced from the waste of the tropical — and edible — fish will fertilize a garden. Some new vocabulary words they will add to their list include hydroponics — the cultivating of plants with roots in oxygen-ated water instead of soil — and aquaculture —the com-mercial raising of fish in tanks for food or stocking. Not only will students learn to manage a self-sustaining eco-system, he said other groups will benefit from the experi-ments. Culinary Arts students will be able to cook the fish and the vegetables grown, and the day care children will be able to come by and watch the fish swim through a small win-dow in the tank.

Ohio Students Explore Aquaponics


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www.aquaponics.com Nelson and Pade, Inc.

PO Box 761, Montello WI 53949 608-297-8708

Introduction to Aquaponics Video

Now available on • VHS (12 chapter video)

$29.95

• DVD (12 chapter video) $29.95

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Contents:

Introduction to Aquaponics

History and Applications System Components

System Designs Daily Operation

Water Quality Dynamics

Fish and Plant Selection Environmental Conditions

Additional Information Greenhouses

Environmental Control Considerations for a

Commercial Operation

This is the book about aquaponics

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Aquaponic Food

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raising fish and plants for food and profit

Released July, 2008

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This informative and comprehensive book covers aq-uaponics in a detailed yet reader-friendly manner. The text is complimented with over fifty drawings and photos, most of them in full color. For a complete description, chapter list and sample pages, visit www.aquaponcis.com. ISBN: 978-0-9779696-1-6

Published by: Nelson and Pade, Inc, July, 2008 Visit www.aquaponics.com or call 608-297-8708


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Industry NewsIndustry News “Naturally Grown” an Alternative

to Organic Certification Certified Naturally Grown is a non-profit alternative certification program tailored for small-scale, direct-market farmers using natural methods. Nearly 700 farmers from 48 states are enrolled to use the Certified Natu-rally Grown label. When USDA's Organic program was implemented in 2002, many farms earning more than $5,000 per year were forced to make a difficult choice: either pay high certification fees and complete mounds of paperwork to become Certified Organic, or else give up using the word "organic" to de-scribe their produce and/or livestock. Believing that neither choice was very attractive, some farmers created Certified Naturally Grown to provide an alternative way to assure their cus-tomers that they observed strict growing practices. CNG strives to strengthen the organic movement by removing financial barriers to certifi-cation that tend to exclude smaller direct-market farms, while preserving high standards for natural production methods. For more information on Certified Naturally Grown, visit www.naturallygrown.org

Backyard Aquaponics

Receives Sustainability

Award

Success, Western Australia—Backyard Aquaponics was an-nounced the winner of the Sus-tainability Award in the small busi-ness category of the Cockburn Council “A Better Tomorrow” Sus-tainability Awards. Established in 2007, Backyard Aq-uaponics uses a philosophy of a closed system and sustainable food production while minimizing the input of water, power and nu-trients. The style of food production (vegetables, herbs and protein sourced from fish) uses 90 per cent less water than crops grown in soil – the food plants clean the water by absorbing nutrients pro-duced by growing fish and clean, aerated water is then re-circulated back to the fish. Educating the community through a website and e-zines, the Back-yard Aquaponics range now in-cludes books, DVDs and a regular magazine and has expanded to include three food-growing system solutions. Backyard Aquaponics is located in Success, Western Australia. www.backyardaquaponics.com

Special Offer!

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Industry NewsIndustry News Midwest Value Added Ag Conference

and Local Food Summit Eau Claire, WI, USA—On January 21st and 22nd, 2010, at the Ramada Convention Center in Eau Claire, WI, the Wisconsin Local Food Summit and the Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference will again be joining efforts to provide educational sessions and networking opportunities that can really make a difference for farmers, pro-ducers and their advocates. The theme for the upcoming event is Road to Opportunities and the organizers are committed to providing opportunities for those in attendance to increase the value of the products they grow and raise. This event is geared towards farmers, ag suppliers and distributors; agricultural educators, service providers and agencies; farmers market managers and vendors; local food buyers and advocates as well as sustainable agricul-ture enthusiasts. Rich Purdy, President of River Country RC&D noted that adding value to local products strengthens our local economy and makes it and producers more sustainable. The conference and summit breakout sessions are organized into six topic area tracks: Bio-Energy, Building a Regional Food Community, Business Management, Marketing, Value Added Production and Local Food Project Updates. The food served throughout the conference will be from local sources. This year, for the first time, the conference and summit will be preceded by the Value Added Agriculture College on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010. The college will consist of half and full day workshops. The topics include: Post Harvest Handling for Vegetable Production Quality and Success; Making Decisions About Local Food Sales Opportunities Using the Holistic Management Framework"; Practical Agroforestry and Permaculture: Creating your Disaster Proof, Perennial Farm; Shaking the Federal Money Tree; Food Safety on the Market Farm; Wiscon-sin Acidified Canned Foods Training for Small Food Processors; and QuickBooks 101. Bridget Holcomb, a member of the Wisconsin Local Food Network steering committee and Associate Policy Direc-tor for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute noted that "this conference demonstrates how local foods are not just a fad. This is economic development and a bright spot in our current economy. Through this conference we are continuing to look for ways to expand this market to help our farmers and the state." The hosts for the 4th Annual Wisconsin Local Food Sum-mit and the 12th Annual Midwest Value Added Agricul-ture Conference are: Wisconsin Local Food Network, River Country Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. and Hiawatha Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. To learn more about the conference and summit go to: http://www.rivercountryrcd.org/valad.html

Minnesota, USA—A recent University of Minne-sota survey published in the American Society for Horticultural Science's Hortscience found that, of 365 attendees at the Minnesota State Fair polled, consumers said they were willing to pay a pre-mium for both organic and local produce, and that they'd be willing to pay about the same amount for each. But when it comes to actual purchases, consumers say they buy local much more fre-quently, with 54% saying they always or most times purchase local food, compared to just 21% who say the same of organic food. Part of the reason seems to be in what people value most about the vegetables and fruit they purchase: That they are fresh, safe to eat and healthy.

Consumers Choose Local


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Industry NewsIndustry News Manhattan School for Children Building Rooftop Greenhouse

The Manhattan School for Children - PS333 is building a rooftop environmental education

center and food production facility on the Upper West Side of New York City. The center will

use hydroponics' greenhouse technology, powered by renewable energy, to grow food in the

heart of the city. The rooftop learning laboratory will provide a unique facility for the hands-

on learning of science concepts including environmental sustainability, food production and

nutrition.

The Problem Our growing population combined with today's high levels of consumption is putting extraordinary pressure on the environment. Urban areas increasingly depend on massive amounts of water, food, energy, construction ma-terials and other resources for our daily use. This is only one piece of today's global environmental problem that has to be addressed by local actions with long-term solutions.

The Solution The Greenhouse Project at Manhattan School for Children - PS333 is a pilot program to construct environmental science laboratories on the rooftops of NYC public schools. The idea was conceived by a group of NYC parents and educators, who dis-covered that environmental science education is lacking within the NYC public school system, and that many schools have vacant roof-tops which could serve as ideal spaces for hands-on learning facilities.

A Greenhouse Project Laboratory will typically be built as a traditional greenhouse to accommodate an urban farm and environmental science laboratory. Grade school children will grow food, while learning hands-on about nutrition, water resource management, efficient land use, climate change, biodi-versity, conservation, contamination, pollution, waste management, and sustainable development.

To facilitate a hands-on learning environment, the greenhouse will include solar panels, a hydroponics' growing system, a rainwater catchment system, a weather station and a kitchen corner.

In addition to enhancing the school's science curriculum, the Greenhouse Project will enrich the arts and social studies curricula as well, by relating nature to culture. Students will learn the relationship between humans and the environment and will gain a greater appreciation of sustainable development and its direct relationship to cultural diversity.

In addition to serving the daily academic needs of the student population the greenhouse will serve as a site for teacher education and professional development through school day collaborations with neighboring institu-tions, as well as after school and weekend workshops for teachers and students. These activities will help to ex-pand the scope of its reach while offering the perfect environment for educational research.


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Industry NewsIndustry News About PS 333 The Manhattan School for Children (MSC) PS 333 is a K-8th grade public school founded in the early 1990s through a cooperative effort of parents, teachers and staff members of New York City's Community School District 3. It is a school of choice open to children who are zoned to district 3 serving ap-proximately 700 stu-dents from diverse back-grounds, cultures and physical abilities. MSC is an empowerment school as well as a men-tor for the Department of Education collabora-tive community. It is modeled on the philoso-pher John Dewey's con-cept of a community of learners and Howard Gardner's understanding of multiple forms of in-telligence and styles of learning.

The Curriculum The Greenhouse Project Laboratory provides the context for hands-on, project based science education. Science content addressed in the curriculum will include topics in biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, and the living environment.

While the main focus of this curriculum is to enhance the sciences in the school, its scope is much bigger than just science. We will be using themes such as food, cul-ture, health and the environment. We will be integrating these four themes, looking at where our food comes from and how it is produced, how culture shapes our choices and our behavior, the relationship between our choices and our health, and the links between our food and the environment.

In order to solve interdisciplinary problems, students practice a variety of skills and strategies, including gathering and processing information and making connections among the common themes of mathematics, science, and technology. Process skills include scientific thinking, utilization of science tools and technologies, scientific in-vestigation, and effective science communication.

The Components Touch-Screen Display of Energy and Weather Systems Solar Panels: Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Cells Rainwater Capture Systems Evaporative Cooling System Nutrient Film Technique Helical NFT Vine Crop System Aquaponic System Compost Station Raised Soil Beds Integrative Pest Management System

www.thegreenhouseproject.info

The Greenhouse Project at PS 333

P.O. Box 20303 (PWF) New York, NY 10025

The Design

Proposed new greenhouse


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Industry NewsIndustry News Urban Aquaponics Conference, Brisbane, Feb 2010

Brisbane, Queensland, Aus-tralia—The world’s first ur-ban aquaponics conference will now be held in Brisbane on February 18 and 19, 2010, by the Aquaponics Network Australia (ANA). The Urban Aquaponics Conference is expected to attract around 250 attendees, mostly from Australia and 14 neighboring coun-tries. Urban aquaponics is practicing aquaponics on rooftops or inside buildings in “protected” food production using solar energy and recycling of nutrients from clean urban organic matter. The conference venue is the Brisbane Technology Park con-ference centre on Miles Platting Road in Eight Mile Plains, about 20 kilometers from the Brisbane airport. The confer-ence will have four main streams over two days. Cost to ANA members is $250 (Australian Dollars) a day, and non-members $350 a day. The content and display streams are: Integrations of aquaponics systems with green walls, green roofs, solar and other sustainable energy sources, rain-water harvesting, storage and use, recycling of “grey water”, and recycling of clean organic matter for fish feed via vemicul-ture/insect culture.

Aquaponics teaching units in high schools – to significantly improve the standard of science teaching, plus the number of young people able to know and manage hobby hydropon-ics at home. This is expected to better equip homes for re-sponses to climate change – in which urban organic agricul-ture without waste, clean organic matter recycling, water harvesting and recycling, and energy conservation, will be key objectives. Many of the 2,500 high schools of the West-ern Pacific are expected to develop an interest in aquaponics for significant improvement in science teaching.

Aquaponics equipment, feeding and management ad-vances suited to Australia and other hot-dry countries with temperate, sub-tropical or tropical climates. A special as-pect will be the various hobby systems of the world that can produce less-expensive, high-protein fish and crustaceans, plus high-value fresh vegetables or fruits, for home tables at modest cost.

Aquaponics in LED-lit (Light Emitting Diodes) operations deep inside buildings. The technology operates 24 hours a day, uses solar or other sustainable energy, and extends the aquaponics tech-

nology to the kind of “protected agriculture” likely to be required if and when climate change weather turns violent. The Urban Aquaponics Conference next February is a West-ern Pacific lead-up to the “Cities Alive Australia” World Green Infrastructure Congress in Brisbane, Queensland from October 17 to 20 in 2012, organized by Green Roofs Austra-lia Inc. GRA Inc has chosen four major themes for its World Green Infrastructure (“Cities Alive Australia”) congress. They are:

• Climate change action planning.

• Non-municipal water supply management.

• Much-enhanced solar power advancement.

• Food from the roof (including aquaponics). Aquaponics and vermiculture technologies are expected to become a strong feature of green roofs and green walls de-velopment in Australia through research by the Central Queensland University and by other Australian universities and companies. “Food from the roof” is about to start on Australian and North American rooftops as a technology soundly based on hydroponics, aquaponics, aquaculture, aeroponics, vermiculture and insect culture, with added benefits from improved management of non-municipal wa-ter, and enhanced solar power. These themes are considered to be important for the world’s wider development of green roofs and walls that become major climate change responses for all nations. The October 2012 “Cities Alive” congress in Queensland, Austra-lia by WGRIN and its Australian member, Green Roofs Aus-tralia Inc, is planned for around 2,500 attendees from Aus-tralia and overseas. Contact : Geoff Wilson, Director, Aquaponics Network Aus-tralia , A networking, information and education division of Qponics Pty Ltd (ACN 106 580 536) 32 David Road, Holland Park 4121, Queensland, Australia. Phone +61 7 3411 4524 Mobile: 0412 622 779. Email: [email protected]


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Aquaponics . . . Rebecca Nelson and John Pade, aquaponics consultants and publishers of the Aquaponics Journal, get frequent inquires from people around the world who are interested in developing aquaponic and hydroponic projects of all sizes and for all kinds of applications. “Aquaponics...Around the

World” is a part of every Aquaponics Journal so our readers can see what others are thinking and doing in aquaponics and controlled environment agriculture.

Girdwood, AK, USA— The Girdwood Alaska Backpackers Inn, a newly renovated eco-friendly hostel that accommodates budget-minded travel-ers, offers guests spinach, herbs and vegetables grown in an aquaponic system. www.hostelgirdwood.com

Buffalo, NY, USA—Jesse Meeder's project at the Massachusetts Avenue Pro-ject's Urban Youth Farm promises to supply a neighborhood that now has little access to fresh food with locally raised tilapia and fresh herbs and vege-tables. Jesse’s aquaponic system is housed in the garden’s adobe and straw bale greenhouse on Buf-falo’s West Side. Rain wa-ter is collected to replace what evaporates or is used by the plants. www.mass-ave.org

San Rafael, CA, USA—The 2009 Bioneers Conference, with a focus on sustainable solutions to the world’s prob-lems, featured aquaponic sys-tems on display to emphasize the important role that aq-uaponics serves in providing fresh food while carefully managing resources. www.bioneers.org

Denver, CO, USA—A proposed project in a Denver neighborhood will use aquaponic technology in an inner-city greenhouse to provide fresh food to the residents who, now, don’t have access to a grocery store.


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. . . Around the World

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia—Aquaponics Net-work Australia is increasing its efforts and ex-panding its reach in the world of aq-uaponics. Direc-tor, Geoff Wil-son, is currently planning the Urban Aquapon-ics Conference, which will take place in Brisbane in Feb, 2010.

New Ideas , New projects and Happenings

Cyprus—A group of 5 agriculture engineers are working to establish the first extension service in North

Cyprus. With funding from USAID, they plan to implement an aquaponic system. Team Leader, Gerhard Zechner, plans to introduce aquaponics as a means of growing food and earning profit.

Viterbo, Italy -Edoardo Pantanella is in the PhD pro-gram at the Univer-sity deela Tuscia, focusing on crop quality in aq-uaponic systems. Since July, 2009, he has been running experiments on raft aquaponics and pond aquapon-ics using organic substrates.

Nigeria, Africa—Engineering Ministries International (EMI) a non-profit Christian development organization made up of architects, engineers and design profes-sionals who donate their skills, is devel-oping a master plan for the develop-ment of a sustainable farm/school that will educate Nigerian Farmers in sustain-able aquaculture and aquaponics. http://emiworld.org/


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QQ and

AA

By Dr. James Rakocy Dr. James Rakocy, who answers questions concerning aquaponics in this column, is the Director of the University of the Virgin Is-lands Agricultural Experiment Station and has been doing re-search in aquaponics for over 25 years. If you have a question for Dr. Rakocy, please e-mail us at [email protected].

Can you explain the difference between denitrifying bacteria and anaerobic ones. When talking about nitrates and bio-digesters, there are 2 paths we can take, anaerobic or aerobic; it is said that aerobic digestion will blow off a lot of your nitrogen and that anaerobic is better in that it will help conserve the nitrogen... well what is the difference then between denitrification and anaerobic bacte-

ria...denitrification will turn your NO3 into NO2 and N2 gas and of course other things...as an end result, you lose nitrogen. How can anaerobic digestion prevent this from happening...or should I say, how can we prevent denitri-fication in our anaerobic digesters?

The correct comparisons are nitrifying bacteria vs. denitrifying bacteria and aerobic bacteria (requiring oxygen) vs. anaerobic bacteria (requiring the absence of oxygen). Nitrifying bacteria convert toxic am-monia to toxic nitrite followed by the conversion of nitrite to relatively non-toxic nitrate. Nitrifying bac-teria are aerobic bacteria. They require oxygen. Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate to nitrogen gas

when oxygen is absent. Denitrifying bacteria are anaerobic bacteria. The nitrogen gas gradually diffuses into the atmosphere. Therefore, when aquaculture effluent is digested anaerobically, all of the nitrogen in nitrate ions is eventually lost to the atmosphere. A small amount of ammonium and nitrite ions remain as the only source of inorganic nitrogen. Let me give you an example. Before we installed denitrification channels in our biofloc sys-tem, nitrate-nitrogen levels reached peak values of close to 700 mg/liter. These levels of nitrate can affect fish health and growth, and that is why we added a denitrification process. Prior to adding the channels, we tested the efficacy of denitrification. Sludge was placed in an un-aerated tank for 2 days. It quickly became anaerobic and nitrate-nitrogen levels decreased to 0 mg/liter. Aerobic digestion is the best method for preventing the loss of inorganic nitrogen. If the aquaculture effluent is aerated vigorously to maintain some dissolved oxygen in the sludge, the conversation of nitrate ions to nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria will be slowed but not stopped. Anaerobic conditions may occur within the center of the sludge particles, which will lead to some denitrification.

Q

A


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Dr. Rakocy, We have something growing in our raft tank that looks like insect larvae of some sort. I have attached a photo (top, right). There are tiny reddish worms that emerge

from the casings shown in this photo. I don’t see them in the fish tanks, but maybe the fish eat them. Can you help me identify this? Is it harmful to my plants, fish or bacteria? Thanks, Sarah

Dear Sarah, What you see are the chironomid larvae, the larvae of midges (non-biting gnats). The picture shows silt-covered tubes that protect the larvae during the day.

At night they come out of the tubes to eat organic matter. The larvae hide inside the tubes because they are bright red in color and a favorite food for fish. Chironomid larvae grow in waters that are rich in organic matter. Their life cycle is a month long, going from egg to larva to pupa to adult. They are sometimes mistaken for mosquitoes, but they do not feed as adults. After pupating, adult midges emerge at sundown, gathering in swarms at water’s edge or near lights and produce a humming sound that can be heard several feet away. The underside of aquaponic rafts is an ideal growing site for chi-ronomid larvae. Although they do eat nitrifying bacteria, I be-lieve their density is generally not high enough to significantly impact the biofiltration capacity of the raft or harm the system. They confer a benefit to aquaponic systems by consuming or-ganic matter, incorporating it into their bodies and then remov-ing it from the system by flying away. Chironomid larvae, also known as blood worms due to their bright red color, can attain high population densities in deep de-posits of organic matter as long as there is sufficient oxygen in the water. If the aeration is turned off and oxygen levels de-crease, the larvae leave their protective cases and can be cap-tured with a net and used as fish feed. Frozen blood worms can be purchased and fed to valuable aquarium fish or the larval stages of valuable food fish. The emphasis is on ‘valuable,’ be-cause blood worms are expensive, about $25 for a 1 kg (2.2 lb) frozen package. The pictures on the right show frozen blood worm cubes being thawed in preparation for feeding to fish.

How much dissolved oxygen is required for plant growth? Do the bacteria need the same amount of dissolved oxygen, or more? What is the ideal DO level in the raft tank? Some raft systems that I read about do not aerate the raft tanks, only the fish tanks. Is this a bad idea? Thanks, Pete Hammond, The Big Island, Hawaii

Dear Pete, This is a good question. If aquaponic raft tanks are not aerated and dissolved oxygen levels decrease to levels less than 5 mg/liter, plant growth will be compromised. If the system is fed heavily and solids removal is inefficient, the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (the sum of all the oxygen consumed by

Q

A

Q

A


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organisms within the hydroponic tank) could be so high that the water will be-come anaerobic, which will cause death of the roots and plants. Even if solids re-moval is efficient, a considerable amount of dissolved organic matter enters the hydroponic tanks and exerts a high BOD. As for bacteria, dissolved oxygen levels should be at least 2 mg/liter. To use un-aerated hydroponic tanks suc-cessfully, the system could be stocked and fed at lower rates (which means less production) or the water retention time in the hydroponics tank could be de-creased so there is less time for the oxy-gen to be consumed (which requires ei-ther a higher water pumping rate or smaller hydroponic tanks) or the water temperature could be lowered (colder water holds more dissolved oxygen). High oxygen levels in the hydroponic tanks promote maximum plant growth and water treatment (purification). I have seen raft hydroponic operations (no fish, just plants) inject liquid oxygen into a wa-ter distribution system under the rafts to create oxygen levels slightly above satu-ration (levels that are higher than that which occurs naturally). The saturation level of dissolved oxygen at 75ºF is 8.2 mg/liter. The UVI system has a small air stone (3 inches by 1 inch by 1 inch) every 4 ft in the hydroponic tanks. As water flows through a set of two 100-ft hydroponic tanks in 3 hours, a total of 48 air stones increases dissolved oxygen from 4 mg/liter (influent value) to 7 mg/liter (effluent value). Furthermore, the current created by these air stones ensures good mixing of the nutrient solution among the thick tangles of plant roots and produces a pronounced film of nitrifying bacteria on the underside of the rafts above the upwelling currents caused by the air stones. I strongly recommend that deep channel hydroponic tanks be aerated.

Hello Dr. Rakocy, Please could you suggest how much calcium hydroxide to add to an aquaponics system to raise the pH from a level of around 6. The system is comprised of a 2700 liter fish tank and 10 sq meters of grow beds. I had been using calcium carbonate quite successfully but am currently really struggling to get the pH up. This could be due to the weather warming up here in Australia and an increased rate of nitrification. Thank you, Trish Cameron Dear Trish, Calcium carbonate dissolves very slowly and cannot be relied on to maintain pH of the 7.0, the recommended pH for aquaponic sys-tems. Calcium hydroxide dissolves much faster, but complete dis-solution requires some time (days) and a system that ensures maximum exposure of the culture water to the surface area of the compound. We use a base addition tank in the UVI aq-uaponic system to gradually add high pH water to the sys-tem. If the calcium hydroxide was added directly to the fish tanks, there would momentar-ily be ‘hot zones’ of very high pH water that could burn the gills of fish if they swam through them. When calcium hydroxide is added to the base addition tank, some of it dissolves immediately, but most of the compound settles to the bottom of the tank. A small side stream flow from the water pump outlet delivers culture water to the base addition tank, which is thoroughly mixed by continuous aera-tion. The calcium hydroxide gradually dissolves. Occasionally we stir up the calcium hydroxide at the bottom of the tank with a short section of PVC pipe to create more contact with the water. The base addition tank effluent enters the sump, where it is greatly diluted (no pH spikes) and immediately pumped to the fish rearing tanks. The practical way to determine how much calcium hydroxide to add is through trial and error. If the pH goes down rapidly, add more base until you can maintain pH 7.0. Try not to exceed pH 7.0 because some essential nutrients precipitate out of solution at higher pH levels. There will be some variation in the rate of pH de-cline, and you are right that at higher temperatures in the summer biological activity speeds up (including nitrification). You may need to add base every day. And remember that we alternate the addi-tion of calcium hydroxide with potassium hydroxide to supplement the system with both calcium and potassium ions. Let me give you an example of an extreme case we once experi-

Base Addition Tank


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enced. We were raising tilapia fingerlings in small (10 ft in diameter) tanks using biofloc technology. We fed four times daily, aerated heavily and removed excess solids twice daily. The feeding rate and nitrifi-cation rate were so high in this tank that we had to add base after every feeding. A measurable decrease in pH occurred hourly. Aquaponic systems require base less often, never more than once a day. Another situation we sometimes experience is that pH remains stable for weeks at a time and no base is required, which indicates that excessive denitrifica-tion is occurring in anaerobic zones somewhere in the system. The process of denitrification produces alkalinity and negates the need for base addition. When fruiting crops are raised, we increase denitrifi-cation in the filter tanks by cleaning them less often. Denitrification reduces nitrate levels and promotes fruiting. However, if denitrification is excessive, no base addition is required, which could lead to cal-cium and potassium deficiencies. In this case, clean the filter tanks more often and check for and remove any anaerobic sludge deposits in the hydroponic component. Your nose will guide you because anaerobic zones give off foul smelling gases.

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Wisconsin Home to Two New Aquaponic

Greenhouses Two new aquaponic greenhouse projects, A Future Farm in Northern Wisconsin and KP Simply Fresh in the Southern part of the state, dem-onstrate that aquaponics is a devel-oping industry in the dairy state. Known for rolling green hillsides dotted with Holstein cows, Wiscon-sin has a rich agricultural history and an innovative and bright agri-cultural future. Although started at different times, both projects will be coming into production at nearly the same time, in early 2010. A Future Farm, in Baldwin, Wisconsin began planning the project in May of 2008. The downturn in the economy slowed the project’s progress but, now, it is full speed ahead. With the greenhouse nearing completion and the installation of the aquaponic systems started, this aquaponic greenhouse will soon be fully opera-tional. KP Simply Fresh, in North Freedom, has made steady progress since spring of 2009, moving from planning to construction mid summer and now they are ready to stock the fish tanks in their newly built greenhouse. Both projects are being guided by Nelson and Pade, Inc. and are using Nelson and Pade’s Clear Flow Aquaponic SystemsTM

A Future Farm is owned by John Vrieze and Steve Meyer. Their new greenhouse is just over 1/2 acre and it is located adjacent the Baldwin

Dairy (owned by Vrieze). This dairy is home to 1200 cows and uses the latest technology to keep the cows healthy and happy. At Baldwin Dairy an anaerobic digester converts the cow manure into methane gas. Previously the methane was burned off but now it will be used to heat the 1/2 acre green-house. It was initially calcu-

lated that the number of BTUs available from the manure from 1200 cows has the capacity to heat just over 24,000 square feet of greenhouse space. The design of the aquaponic greenhouse takes advantage of the available methane and other re-sources the dairy provides. Vrieze and Meyer, have spent a great deal of time and effort refining the energy system that utilizes methane gas as the primary energy input for heating the air and water in the greenhouse. This energy system will make aquaponic food production in a controlled environment green-house a highly sought after add-on to existing dairies. Nelson and Pade, Inc is collaborating with A Fu-ture Farm on using the energy system design they have developed to fuel aquaponic projects on other dairies in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. In addition to aquaponics, A Future Farm is also exploring other ways of utilizing the methane gas

By Rebecca L. Nelson


21

and diary “waste” resources. Coffee roast-ing, creating bio-fuels and growing algae may all be incorporated into the operation. A Future Farm is 30 miles east of Minnea-polis, Minnesota, a large metropolitan base of customers seeking out locally grown produce and fish. Steve Meyer has already gotten confirmation from buyers who will take everything they are growing in the greenhouse, which will include nearly 400,000 heads of lettuce and 40,000 lbs of fish per year. KP Simply Fresh is owned and operated by Norbert and Donna Meunier and their son, Christopher. The Meunier’s are true entrepreneurs and have owned a variety of businesses. Their new 5,000 square foot aquaponic greenhouse takes advantage of much infrastructure they already have. The concrete pad, extra buildings for the fish nursery, packing and storage, a well and electrical service were all on site. The Meunier’s will sell their fish and pro-duce in the nearby communities of Bara-boo, Madison and the Wisconsin Dells. Plans for an active agri-tourism program and room for expansion indicate that this greenhouse is just the beginning for KP Simply Fresh. From the nursery room to the greenhouse, everything is top notch at KP Simply Fresh. The nursery was stocked with 1/2 gram fingerlings a couple of months ago and another batch of fish was delivered more recently. These fish are now ready to move into the main grow out system in the

Top: John Vrieze, John Pade and Steve Meyer during the early planning of the 1/2 acre greenhouse. Middle: A few of the 1200 cows at the Baldwin Dairy. Manure from the cows is converted to methane gas in an anerobic diget-ster. The methane will be used to heat and provide energy for the aquaponic greenhouse. Bottom: The greenhouse, nearing completion.


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greenhouse, the beginning step in establishing a commercial aq-uaponic system. There is also interest in aquaponics in Wisconsin at the state and county levels. State representatives and county officials have expressed in-terest in aquaponic food production to help revive agricultural enter-prises by incorporating aquaponic greenhouses which can grow fresh fish and vegetables and deliver to local markets. The Wisconsin Extension program has 3 aquaculture extension agents who are very supportive of Nelson and Pade, Inc.’s methods, systems and workshops. Wisconsinites are very loyal to lo-

cal farmers and support the “Buy Local” programs. Some grocery stores go so far as to list the number of miles fresh vegetables travel. The local growers get recognition from the store owners and the customers who are looking for food that has a low environmental impact and high level of freshness due to being grown close to the marketplace. Since an aquaponic greenhouse can be built close to or within urban areas, it is an excellent method of growing and supplying fresh food. Many people in Wisconsin are already recognizing this. I will continue to write about these projects as well as others just beginning in Wisconsin. I think the future for aquapon-ics is very encouraging and Wisconsin is poised to become a leader in aquaponic food production. Information: Nelson and Pade, Inc: www.aquaponics.com A Future Farm: www.afuturefarm.com KP Simply Fresh: www.kpsimplyfresh.com AJAJ

Top: The KP Simply Fresh aquaponic greenhouse. Middle: The interior of the KP Simply Fresh greenhouse during the installation of the aquaponic systems. Bottom: Christopher Meunier showing the access to the valves below the decking sur-rounding the fish tanks in the KP Simply Fresh greenhouse..


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By Geoff Wilson. I believe that future aquaponics will be based on fin fish, crustaceans and mol-lusks – perhaps even in same-tank systems. This is my personal view of the opportunities now strongly under way in certain parts of the world – especially in Asia and in Asian restau-rants in non-Asian coun-tries. The accompanying pictures were taken in the Tanjung Aru Seafood Restaurant in fast-developing Kota Kina-balu in Sabah, Malaysia, which I visited in August as part of a tourist group. The restaurant served su-perb seafood. It was fresh-cooked from about a dozen of so half-cubic meter, glass tanks holding three kinds of fin fish, several species of crustaceans and several spe-cies of mollusks. All were raised or caught locally. All were deliciously fresh. And all that I could think of was that this experience was deep proof that the soundest market for com-mercial aquaponic growers is going to be similar res-taurants which take great care to serve the best – and take care to pay for its regu-lar supply.

Home growers can have this same experi-ence if they choose their best local fin fish, crusta-ceans

and mollusks. And they can do it as (a) a learning experi-ence for commercial production later and (b) as one of the best ways to dine at home -- on fresh, high-protein, tasty

food that provides much better health if the chosen species are conveyors of the right Omega-3 oils. But I have resolved to try to return to the Tan-jung Aru Seafood res-taurant in Kota Kina-balu. It was eating pleasure. That is exactly why emulation of this busi-ness idea is in the best interests of commercial aquaponic growers around the world. See if you can get a local restaurant to do the same. Show the restau-rant owner this article and these pictures – or send them a copy. Such a moment could deliver a sound finan-cial prospect for all aquaponics produce, especially if the restau-rant owner can promote them as “organic” (if the fish and crustaceans are fed only accepted organic feeds). I’m starting to travel down that important road.

AJAJ

Restaurant Serves Fish

Fresh!

Top: Tilapia are most popular at 38 ringitt (about US$10) per kilogram. Bottom: A customer choosing a live fish to be cleaned and cooked at the Tanjung Aru Seafood Restaurant in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia,


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My name is Lisa and I live in Victoria, British Co-lumbia, Canada. I have been a working as a Regis-tered Nurse since 1996. I am certified in Pediatric and Geriatric nursing specialties. My mother is originally from the Philippines and our family has been raising tilapia previously in pond systems and now in net pens in a lake. Although I am a nurse I have interests in both aqua-culture and horticulture. As hobbies I have bred bettas and cultivated orchids. My interests brought me to Malaysia and Thailand where I learned more about different aspects of aquaculture and horticul-ture. I visited the Kuala Lumpur Orchid Garden in KL, Malaysia and stayed at Rajamangala University of Technology in Trang,Thailand where they culture warm water finfish. I wanted to learn more about rearing tilapia and bring this knowledge back to the Philippines to im-prove fish husbandry practices in our family busi-ness. This past year I took courses in fisheries and aquaculture at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first time I heard about aquaponics. One of the stu-

dents there had started a project in aquaponics, called barrelponics. As a project, I made a desk-top aquaponics unit using Nelson and Pade Inc’s book Aquaponic Food Production. I was suc-cessful in growing purple basil under artificial lighting in hydroton (clay beads) sitting above a thirty gallon aquarium stocked with six goldfish. Later that fall I attended the first annual Aq-uaponics Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico where I met Rebecca Nelson and John Pade. I visited my first aquaponics facility, Aquaponia, on a tour during the conference. My interest in aquaponics was growing (no pun intended) and I was eager to learn more. This summer I took the Tilapia and Aquaponics Short Course taught at the University of the Vir-gin Islands in St. Croix. The comprehensive course teaches the principles of commercial aq-uaponics and biofloc tank culture systems. Dr. Jim Rakocy suggested that I could gain hands on experience by returning to the University of the

Experiencing Experiencing AquaponicsAquaponics

at UVIat UVI By Lisa Forsthovel


25

Virgin Islands as an intern for three months and run their Commercial Aq-uaponics System (CAS). This idea was very appealing and I arranged to come back in mid-August. Prior to returning to St. Croix I made a trip to visit Morning-star Fisherman’s facility in Dade City, Florida and a separate trip to visit Dr. Nick Savidov’s aquaponic system at the Crop Diversification Center in Brooks, Alberta and MDM Farms in Rumsey, Al-berta where Mark and his family rear tila-pia and have an aquaponics system. In mid-August I started my internship at UVI with help from the aquaculture team. My first week included planting over 32 varieties of seeds to transplant into the CAS. Some of these plants have been grown before, some have not. My duties include feeding the tilapia three times a day and checking water quality. I maintain the system by cleaning the or-chard nets twice a week. I transplant seedlings into the system and monitor the plants while recording information like growth and pest pressures. I have learned that the fish and plants are at the mercy of the elements. There was a tropical storm the first week of Septem-ber and then there are the daily occur-rences such as intense mid-day heat, wind and rain. I harvested my first crop from the CAS, which was tarragon sprouted from cut-tings grown in the greenhouse. Fish, fruit and vegetables grown in the aquaponic system are sold on campus at the University Farm Store along with other crops grown by the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES). On October 18, World Food Day, I look forward to having visitors see the different varieties of fruits and vegetables currently growing in the CAS. It is very satisfying to watch the fish and plants grow over time. I am grateful for the opportu-nity to be here and am finding this experience most valuable. I hope to take the knowledge learned from running the CAS back to Canada. The climate is cooler in western Canada compared to St. Croix, so I will have to modify growing in a greenhouse system. I could not have achieved the results with the CAS without the guidance and knowledge of the UVI Aquaculture team, Dr. Jim Rakocy, Charlie Shultz, Jason Danaher, Don Bailey and Frankie Carino. Thank-you guys! I would like to keep you all updated at the end of my 13 weeks experience here at the University of the Virgin Islands. Stay tuned.

Top: Week One - Seedlings in trays in the greenhouse to be later transplanted into the CAS. Bottom: Week Six - Fruits and

vegetables growing in the CAS.

AJAJ


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Over the last 10 years I have seen much advancement in lighting technologies; more efficient ballasts, reflectors and color corrected lamps. Until recently the most economical and effective agricultural lighting has come from HID (High-intensity discharge) lights. The two most widely used HID light sys-tems are High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Halide lamp systems powered by mag-netic ballasts. Basically, HPS lamps give off more red light and are more suited to light flowering crops. Halides produce more blue light and are the best light to use for foliar growth. Advancements in lamp design and materials have produced HPS lamps that give off more blue light and Halides that give more red light. The lighting industry calls these “full spec-trum” lamps. The biggest downside of using an HID system is the high energy consumption. With energy rates rising and the need to cut fossil fuel use, con-sumers are looking for a more efficient and green alternative.

Developments Developments in Plant in Plant LightingLighting

Top: Metal Halde Plant light with digital electronic ballast and digital bulb. Bottom: LED (Light Emitting Diode) Plant Light

By Ron Mitchell


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The State of the Art in HID lighting is now a sys-tem that has a digital (electronic) ballast and digi-tal lamp. A high quality certified digital ballast matched with a digital lamp can produce 50% more usable light to your plants while using 8% less energy. While I have been watching all this HID technol-ogy unfold over the years, I have been following the development of a far better lighting technol-ogy; LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights. LED lights have been around for many years but only recently have they been available in a powerful grow light at a reason-able price. The 300 watt LED grow light that I recently tested used 2.4 amps of energy compared to a 1000 watt HID system using 9.6 amps. This LED light uses 75% less energy than the HID. A typical 1000 watt HID produces 3,750 BTUs of heat (very hot!) yet the low temperature emitted from the 300 watt LED is hardly detectable when holding your hand under-neath the light touching the glass lens. You can’t do that with an HID. I recently obtained 4 – 300w LED grow lights and I ran a simple test to see if these lights could grow quality produce. The manufacturer of these lights claim “they produce the perfect blend of light suitable for all stages of growth.” When they are lit they give off a bright magenta glow. NASA has been using them for many years to grow plants in laboratories and in space yet I was still skeptical that I could grow plants as well un-der these LED’s as I had with the same amount of 1000w Halide lights. For my test I used an insulated growth chamber with no external light and kept the temperature at

a constant range between 73º to and 76º and hu-midity from 40% to 60%. I had the controls set to exchange the air in the room every 15 minutes. Keeping the environment controlled in a room like this turned out to be much easier when using a light source that didn’t add so much heat to the room. I planted 8 lettuce varieties in 1.5 inch rockwool cubes. Varieties planted include: Little Gem, Win-ter Density, Red Romaine, Lollo Rossa, Dark Red Lollo Rosa, Green Grand Rapids, Lollo Bionda and Red Salad Bowl.

On day 2, I lit the rock-wool cubes with 1 – 300w LED grow light and let them grow for 15 days in my hydro-ponic nursery. On day 15, I separated the blocks and planted 196 lettuce plants into NFT channels that measured 10 ft. x 10 ft. Over the lettuce I hung the 4 – 300w LED lights and ran them 18 hours a day for 15 more days. The results were amaz-ing. All the varieties grew vigorously, form-

ing bright colored full grown heads. All 198 heads were ready to harvest in 15 days after transplanting into the NFT system. The texture and taste of the lettuce was crisp, juicy and full of flavor. Hon-estly this was some of the best lettuce I’ve ever grown. As for the shelf life, I picked them three weeks ago and we are still enjoying their fresh taste and quality. Ron Mitchell has been lighting greenhouses for over 30 years and designs lighting layouts for com-mercial and academic growers in greenhouses and growth chambers all over the country. His practi-cal knowledge in this field has come from years of growing specialty vegetables and developing sys-tems for controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Ron can be reached by email at: [email protected] www.mitchellcea.com


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By Geoff Wilson A $50,000 aquaponics demonstration unit, funded by an Australian Government Water Grant, was launched by Alex Somlyay MP at the Yandina Community Gardens, Yandina, Queensland on Sunday 13th Sep-tember. Somlyay said: “But no government could have done what you local volunteers have achieved with this money. You are about to return to the local community sound knowl-edge of how to grow their own fresh food. I can remember as a kid growing home-vegetables.” “That concept was mostly lost as supermar-kets developed,” Mr Somiyay said. “Local people now needed to return to it for local-ized sustainability and best health,” he added. The Yandina aquaponics unit is expected to be-come a major step toward much wider Australian aquaponics education aimed at home-growing of fresh fish, vegetables and fruit. The Yandina launch in Queensland – where sub-tropical and tropical cities provide good growing conditions - is at a time of massive local interest in home growing of fresh food around Australian cit-ies. It also comes at a time when many govern-ment leaders (with an eye for public moods and needs), are supporting aquaponics for home-growing of fresh food.

Members of the public were invited to attend the

launch and see this exciting new addition to the Queensland “Sunshine Coast’s” longest estab-lished Community Gardens, located on the corner of North and Farrell Streets, Yandina, about 120 kilometers north of Brisbane, the state’s capital city. The new aquaponics instruction unit it expected to have considerable attraction for Brisbane peo-ple wishing to learn about home aquaponics on a bus trip – but its major aim is local schools and local home-owners. The project’s origin was a television report on the “New Inventors” program of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Several years ago the program outlined the innovative aquaponics be-

Project Launched

Opening the Yandina aquaponics unit was (left) Alex Som-lyay MP, federal member for Fairfax electorate, seen

here with Elisabeth Fekonia, president of the Maroochy Permaculture Group.

Yandina


29

ing tried at Nimbin close to the coast of north-ern New South Wales. Stimulated by its far-sighted and energetic president, Elisabeth Fekonia, who viewed the program, the Maroochy Community Per-maculture Group Inc., based at the Yandina Community Gardens, successfully applied for an Australian Water Grant of $50,000. It was just enough for a three-unit aquaponics teaching polyhouse protected (most impor-tantly) against intrusion by a sturdy steel mesh. Maroochy permaculture enthusiasts combined their desire for organic aquaponics education with a desire to show best-practice water har-vesting and water recycling to the community via an aquaponics system. The aquaponics project not only harvests and recycles water more efficiently than soil-based food systems, but it also produces an abundant supply of lower-cost and healthier “organic” vegetables fruit and fish for home-owners. The Australian Government has supported the project because it is community oriented, demonstrates public benefit and involves practical, on-the-ground works that will save or protect water resources. It involves a high level of community commitment through vol-unteer hours and many contributions to the project. Elisabeth Fekonia, said “A major point of the project is that aquaponics uses much less water to grow healthy fresh food at home. Aquaponics well combines fish farming with vegetable grow-ing.” “The vegetable and fruit plants are grown in wa-ter, solely on the converted fish wastes. No chemicals or artificial fertilizers are used. The refreshed plant water is then recycled for fish tank use. The vegetables produced in an aq-uaponic system need to be organic to succeed” said Ms Fekonia. “It was practiced thousands of years ago in

China when fish were grown in rice crops, and in-dependently in South America when the Aztecs had chinampa waste disposal systems where they grew fish and had floating islands for vegetables and fruit,” she said. Following the launch of the Yandina aquaponic unit, regular training courses will be held at the gardens for Sunshine Coast home-owners to try aquaponics for themselves. Sunday, September 13th was National Sustainable House Day and the Yandina Community Gardens joined the aquapon-ics launch celebrations with the launch of the ‘Blue House Goes Green’ eco-retrofit project.

The teaching area of the Yandina aquaponics unit

Murray Hallam and his Sunshine Coast representative Philip Cook, of Sunshine Coast Aquaponics, next to the fish tank of

the largest home-design he supplied for the Yandina aq-uaponics educational unit..


30

Sunshine Coast Council Environmental portfolio holder and Division 3 councilor Keryn Jones said “The Blue House provides the community with a living example of how a few simple renovations and additions can make a traditional Queensland home more energy efficient.” “With support from council and local suppliers, the Blue House had some key renovations and ad-ditions to help reduce its environmental impact and energy use and also save on energy bills”. Topics included in the program of events include Living Smart Homes, The Sunshine Coast Energy Action Center, Design for Our Climate, an Intro-duction to Aquaponics, Strawbale Building and Cradle to Cradle Design. Key contributors were members of the Maroochy Community Permacul-ture Group, volunteers and supporters. The event was proudly sponsored jointly by the Maroochy group and the much-alive Sunshine

Coast Regional Council. This is an important amalgamation of three local councils that has led to a burgeoning of interest in producing local foods. Yandina Community Gardens is a volunteer-run learning environment for Permaculture garden-ing at 41 Farrell Street, Yandina in Queensland. Email: [email protected] I foresee it as being a beginning to much more community-oriented and high-school supported aquaponics education units in Queensland, Aus-tralia, to complement those also now developing in other Australian states. Geoff Wilson is Director of the Aquaponics Net-work Australia. A retired agribusiness journalist he has been writing for “Aquaponics Journal” for about 10 years. His major project at present is organizing the world’s first Urban Aq-uaponics Conference in Brisbane on Feb-ruary 18 and 19, 2010. His email address is [email protected]

AJAJ


31

Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Intro to Recirculating Aquaculture Technology Chapter 2: Water Quality Chapter 3: Mass Balances, Loading Rates & Fish Growth Chapter 4: Culture Units Chapter 5: Solids Capture Chapter 6: Waste Management & Disposal Chapter 7: Biofiltration Chapter 8: Biofilter Design Chapter 9: Denitrification Chapter 10: Gas Transfer Chapter 11: Ozonation and UV-Irradiation Chapter 12: Fluid Mechanics and Pumps Chapter 13: System Monitoring and Control Chapter 14: Building Environmental Control Chapter 15: System Management and Operations Chapter 16: Fish Health Management Chapter 17: Economic Realities and Management Issues Chapter 18: Fish Nutrition and Feeds Chapter 19: Aquaponics: Integrating Fish & Plant Culture Appendix Software Programs –manuals of use Tables

About the Book Recirculating Aquaculture replaces our previous popular text Recirculating Aquaculture Systems that has been used as the primary resource for the Cornell University Short Course since 1994. Recirculating Aquaculture has been expanded by over 200 pages, including a new chapter on denitrification by Dr. Jaap van Rijn (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and an ex-panded biofiltration-nitrification section consisting of chapters on processes and design. Also of special in-terest is an expanded and updated chapter on aq-uaponics written by Dr. James Rakocy (University of the Virgin Islands). Numerous design examples have been added to each chapter and an expanded appen-dix of engineering design tables. Recirculating Aquaculture has had contributions from numerous educators, commercial growers, exten-sion specialists and researchers, who are well known in the aquaculture community; most are prominent members of the Aquacultural Engineering Society.

Single and Quantity Orders: Dr. James Rakocy, RR1, Box 10,000, Kingshill, VI 0085

Phone: 340-692-4031, Fax: 340-692-4035 E-mail: [email protected]

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After only a few years of operation, aquaponics equipment maker, Murray Hallam and his wife, Gail Hallam, have made a substantial impact on Australia’s rapidly-expanding home-based aq-uaponics market. The supply of Yandina’s three demonstration-education units (see story on page 28) is testimony enough to their local success with home-owners wanting greater home food supply and high schools wanting better science education – particu-larly for the final year’s kids going on to univer-sity. Their company name is Team Economics Pty Ltd, trading as Practical Aquaponics. They are based at Maclean North, just south of Brisbane, in sub-tropical Queensland, where Aus-tralia’s aquaponics technology has the relative ad-vantage of excellent temperatures for fish, vegeta-bles and fruit for most of the year. Brisbane and its immediate region have annual day temperatures closer to 25 degrees Celsius (77 F)than most other cities, and night temperatures that rarely go lower than 10 degrees C (50 F). This simple approach to aquaponics design has given Murray and Gail an audience for home-based aquaponics of several thousand people who buy their informational CDs and DVDs and their aq-uaponics equipment made from fiberglass.

Costs vary from A$1,000 to $2,000 for a basic unit for family unit on a balcony, back verandah or back shed. These units can provide at least 50% of a family’s fresh fish, vegetables and fruit if the home grower becomes sufficiently skilled – and perhaps also buys extensions of the pebble troughs used for plant growing. Murray and Gail are suppliers in Queensland and northern New South Wales, but their emailing list of several thousand now covers most of Australia. Like a number of aquaponics equipment-making investors, this Australian couple had a background in boat-building. But they report a significant difference in their customer base. Whereas a boat customer tended to only phone with a complaint, their aquaponic growers generally only file grateful appreciations. Perhaps that is because fiberglass aquaponics units are not tossed about on rough waters and damaging reefs. Currently the Hallam couple have two basic units for home growers and schools. One is the “Balcony Complete Kit” and the other is the “Patio Duo Aquaponics Kit.” Other commercial units are being considered, and will no doubt emerge. Another kit they market is based on two, second-hand bathtubs. It is a demonstration unit for places like the Yandina aquaponics education shed – to

Australian Couple Australian Couple VenturesVentures

into Aquaponics By Geoff Wilson


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show people what they can do them-selves with minimum effort and little cost. Murray smiles when he mentions these bath-tub displays. He reports that he tends to get the $1,000 to $2,000 sales—even if people take on the do-it-yourself concept at first. They see so much more value in the bigger units that work most efficiently and provide the higher amount of inexpensive, healthy fresh fish, vegetables or fruit. Murray and Gail broke into aq-uaponics equipment-making the same way as I’ve seen other suc-cessful growers or manufac-turers – by accident. Their hobby aq-uaponics brought requests for something similar from friends and relatives. A steady business is now developing into a strong one with representatives in other Queensland re-gions and in other States of Australia. Murray says that his fish-raising knowledge came from his work in Papua New Guinea before he retired. But he also has, next to his home and business, an impressive aquaponics demonstration that has two very good purposes – to show customers what they can well do themselves, and to provide Murray and Gail and family with healthy fresh

Top: Murray Hallam (left) with his wife and busi-ness partner, Gail Hallam (right), with stategic educa-tion co-orginator for Aq-uaponics Network Australia, Sharmila Nezovic. Left: Murray Hallam is proud of his water-grown, aq-uaponic fruit and vegetables. He is pictured next to a pa-paya that has been producing higher volumes of fresh fruit than soil-planted papayas.

produce without too much cost. It is commendable “post-retirement business development” that is go-ing to help change the way we grow our fresh food, now that transport costs for distant fresh foods are likely to rise upward more rapidly. Geoff Wilson is a retired agribusiness journalist and editor who has been writing for “Aquaponics Journal” for 10 years. He is currently re-establishing the Aq-uaponics Network Australia and news and information services for aquaponics users in the Western Pa-cific. He can be reached by email at: [email protected]

AJAJ


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54—3rd qtr, 2009 Omega 3 Food Deficiency Could Give Aquaponics a Boost by Geoff Wilson; 24/7 System Monitoring; Backyard Aquaponics Booming in Australia by Faye Arcaro; Aquaponics and Sustainabil-ity in Panama by Steve Bliss; Do It...Install a Tank Window by John Pade 53—2nd qtr, 2009 Australian Awarded 2009 Study Tour of North American Aquapon-ics by Geoff Wilson; Raft Aquaponics by Rebecca Nelson; Aeration 101, part 3 by John Koeniger; Aquaponics Featured at Interna-tional Hydroponics Event by Rebecca Nelson; Aquaponics Confer-ence Planned for Brisbane, 2010. 52—1st qtr, 2009 1st International Conference on Aquaponics by Rebecca L. Nel-son; Aeration 101-Part 2 by Big John Koeniger; Aquaponics Devel-opments in Mexico by Carlos Leon Ramos; New Aquaponics Training and demonstration Greenhouse by Rebecca L. Nelson; Backyard Aquaponics Workshop by Dr. Wilson Lennard #51—4th qtr, 2008 Aquaponics to be Demonstrated in Yandina by Geoff Wilson; 5th-Grade Student Shares Knowledge of Aquaponics, Cow Power by Rebecca Nelson; Aeration 101, part one by John Keoniger; Thoughts on Water Quality by Dr. Harald Sveier; As I See It by Geoff Wilson #50—3rd qtr, 2008 Sustainability is Key in Florida Family’s Aquaponics Farm by Car-los Leon Ramos; An Aquaponic System for Moldova and Beyond; Evaluating Geotextile Technology to Enhance Sustainability of Ag-ricultural Production Systems in the US Virgin Islands by Jason Danaher; Conference and Related Events = a Week of Aquapon-ics in Brisbane by Geoff Wilson; Barrel-ponic Workshop by Travis Hughey; Aquaponics in Sub-Saharan Africa by Steve Magarry; As I See It by Big John Koeniger # 49—2nd qtr, 2008 Aquaponic Session at Aquaculture America, 2008 by Carlos Leon Ramos; Organic Hydroponics=Aquaponics by Rebecca L. Nelson; Jade Perch, Rich in Omega, has Great Potential in Aquaponics by Geoff Wilson; Aquaponic Equipment—Airlifts by John S. Pade; Finger Lake Fresh by Rebecca Nelson; Oxygation of the Rockwool Substrate for Hydroponics; As I See It—Cow Power and Aquapon-ics—by Rebecca L. Nelson # 48—1st qtr, 2008 Reading, Writing and Recirculating by David Munson; Aquaponics Equipment-Bio-Filtration by Rebecca L. Nelson; Morningstar Fish-erman by Javier Cooley; Polyculture of Fishes in Aquaponics and Recirculating Aquaculture by Eron Martan; As I See It by Rebecca L. Nelson

#47—4th qtr, 2007 AAT Improves and Adopts Aquaponic Technology by Geoff Wilson; DSB Engineering Environmental Test Lab by Douglas Basberg; Aquaponic Equip-ment—The Clarifier by Rebecca L. Nelson and John S. Pade; BoFish Aquaponics Farm Update by Carlos Leon Ramos #46—3rd qtr, 2007—10th Anniversary Issue 10 Systems Around the World by Rebecca L Nelson; 10 Guidelines for Aquaponic Systems by Dr. James Rakocy; 10 Great Examples of Aquaponics in Edu-cation by Rebecca L. Nelson; 10 Thoughts on Sys-tem Designs by John S. Pade; 10 Benefits of Aq-uaponics by Rebecca L. Nelson; 10 Innovative Uses of Aquaponics by Rebecca L. Nelson; 10 More 10-Lists #45—2nd qtr, 2007 Aquaponics in the Bahamas by Colleen O’Brien; Quest for the Next Aquaponics, 2 by Douglas Bas-berg; Aquaponics Makes a Splash in Costa Rica by Rebecca L. Nelson; BoFish Aquaponics Venture in Mexico by Daniel Dixon; Evolution of an Aquaponic System by Myles Harston; As I See It by Dr. James Rakocy #44—1st qtr, 2007 Quest for the Next Generation of Aquaponics by Douglas Basberg, MSEE; Carnivorous Plants in Aq-uaponics by Jonathan Morken; Eco-City Farms Demonstrates “Village Aquaponics” by Geoff Wilson; AquaRanch Seminar on Aquaponics by Myles Har-ston and Tom Frye; As I See It by John S. Pade #43—4th qtr, 2006 Barramundi Blue Invests in South Korea and Asia by Geoff Wilson; An Experiment in Recirculating Aq-uaponic Systems by Hoyet Taylor; Jade Perch and Duckweed Combined in Aquaponics by Geoff Wil-son; Tailor Made Fish Farms expands to North America by Geoff Wilson; As I See It by Rebecca L. Nelson #42—3rd qtr, 2006 Impressive, Profitable Aquaponics (Minnamurra) by Geoff Wilson; NFT Aquaponics by Rebecca L Nel-son and John Pade; Entreprenurial Family Raises Barramundi and Herbs by Geoff Wilson; Reduce Fuel Costs in Greenhouse Operations; Canada In-vests Further in Aquaponics R & D by Geoff Wilson; Aquaponics Lesson Plan #10 by Rebecca L Nelson; As I See It by Geoff Wilson

Back Issues Back issues of the Aquaponics Journal are available at www.aquaponicsjournal.com


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#35—4th qtr, 2004 University Adopts Aquaponics for Teaching by Geoff Wilson; Tilapia: Fast Growing, Hardy and Tasty! By Rebecca L Nelson; Aquaponics Research at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia by Wilson Andrew Lennard; Aquaponics Lesson Plan # 3 by Rebecca L Nelson; As I See It by Myles Harston # 34—3rd qtr, 2004 Aquaponics Seminar, Bribie Island, Queensland, Aus-tralia by Rebecca L. Nelson ; My Trials and Tribulations with Aquaponic Strawberries by Debra Gaylord; Desert Shrimp by Paul Range; Fourth International Congress on Hydroponics in Mexico; A Tilapia and cucumber Experiment by Carlos Leon Ramon; Aquaponics Les-son Plan by Rebecca L. Nelson; AS I See It by John S. Pade #33—2nd qtr, 2004 A Tribute to Tom Speraneo by Rebecca Nelson; Aq-uaponics Survey; Photovoltaic Aquaponics by Mark Ostrye; Hydroponic Green Forage by John Pade; Aq-uaponics Lesson Plan by Rebecca Nelson; As I See It by April Perry and Sheila Ritgers # 32—1st Quarter, 2004 Aquaponics in Haiti by April Perry and Sheila Rittgers; Australia Aquaponic Farm Expands by Geoff Wilson; The Success of Tailor Made Fish Farm will Spur Others by Geoff Wilson; Growing Power by Rebecca Nelson; As I See It by Wilson Andrew Lennard # 31- 4th Quarter, 2003 NFT Systems: A Closer Look by Todd Harmon; Aq-uaponics Research on the Prairies (Alberta, Canada) by Eric Hutchings; A Review of the UVI Short Course by Hoyet Taylor; Build a Back Yard Float System by Rebecca Nelson # 30 - 3rd Quarter, 2003 Re-Vision Urban Farm by Adam Hoelper; Small Scale Aquaculture and Aquaponics by Steven Van Gorder; Pacu...the Hungry Herbivore by Rebecca L. Nelson; Ministerial Conference of Agricultural Science & Tech-nology by Rebecca L. Nelson; As I See It by Daniel Ginter # 29 - 2nd Quarter, 2003 Soilless Culture Conference in New Zealand by R. Charlie Shultz; Aquaponics for Fun and Food by Re-becca L Nelson; Environmentally Friendly Feeds for Aquaponics by Steve Massie; New Connections at the Farm Bureau Conference by Myles Harston; The Peace Technologies...Algalculture, Aquaculture & Aq-uaponics by David Nuttle; Aquaponics Without Electric-ity by Melvin Landers; As I See It by Michael Christian

#41—2nd qtr, 2006 Canadian Entrepreneur Hooked on Aquaponics by Duane Bohemier; Upcoming Conference Will Spur Growth for Aq-uaponics Industry by Geoff Wilson; Aquaculture America 2006 Provides Industry Insight, Technology by Rebecca L. Nelson; Brisbane’s Rooftop Aquaponics Will Recycle Urban Wastes by Geoff Wilson; Aquaponics Lesson Plan # 9-Environmental Pollution by Rebecca L. Nelson’ As I See It by John S. Pade #40—1st qtr, 2006 Aquaponics Guadalajara by Carlos Leon Ramos; Aquaponics’ Miserly Water Use by Geoff Wilson; Homemade and Alternative Fish Feed by Paul and Bonnie Range; Minnamurra Aquaponics by Wilson Andrew Lennard; Canadian R & D Should Inspire Hy-droponic Growers to Convert to Aquaponics by Geoff Wilson; Lesson Plan #8-Fish Anatomy, Physiology and Health by Re-becca L. Nelson; As I See It by Rebecca L. Nelson and John S. Pade #39—4th qtr, 2005 Greenhouse Aquaponics Proves Superior to Inorganic Hydro-ponics by Geoff Wilson; Aquaponics Helps to Feed Students, Staff at Orphanage in Mexico by Paul and Bonnie Range; UVI Presents Aquaponics at Soilless Conference in Singapore by Geoff Wilson; Basil...A Hardy and Profitable Crop for Aquaponic Farming by Rebecca L. Nelson; Missouri Teacher Combines Culinary Arts and Aquaponics by Rebecca L. Nelson; Aquapon-ics Lesson Plan #7 by Rebecca L. Nelson; As I See It...by Dr. Mallcik F. Rahman # 38—3rd qtr, 2005 Antarctic Hydroponics by Lane Patterson; Aquaponics for Devel-oping Countries by Travis Hughey; Eel and Citrus Culture Com-bined in Australia by Geoff Wilson; Advancements in Hydropon-ics in Germany by C.P Gloria Samperio Ruiz; SIFTS Aquaponics Research Awarded Q$1.4 Million; Aquaponics Lesson Plan # 6 by Rebecca L. Nelson; As I See It by Geoff Wilson # 37—2nd qtr, 2005 Australian Barramundi Farm Goes Aquaponics by Geoff Wilson; Combined Mangrove and Shrimp culture Benefits Environment by Carlos Leon Ramos; Evaluation of Aquaponic Technology in Alberta, Canada by Dr. Nick Savidov; Planned Aquaponic Greenhouse at New Horizons Christian Outreach Ministry in Ja-maica by Mike Barnett; Aquaponics Lesson by Rebecca L Nel-son; As I See It by John S. Pade # 36—1st qtr, 2005 Seaweed in the Common Denominator in Exciting Saltwater Aq-uaponics by Geoff Wilson; Aquaponics at PNJ Correctional Fa-cility by Rebecca Nelson; Semi-Intensive Floating Tank Sys-tem...Simply Revolutionary by Geoff Wilson; AquaRanch Aq-uaponic Greenhouse Project Nears Completion by Rebecca Nel-son; Aquaponics Lesson Plan # 4 by Rebecca Nelson; As I See It by Geoff Wilson



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# 28 - 1st Quarter, 2003 Future AquaFarms, Growing Strong in 2003 by Carla MacQuarrie; Saltwater Aquaponics by Geoff Wilson; Demonstrating Agricultural Diversity with Aquaponics at EnergyXchange by Tamara MacNaughton; As I See It by R. Charlie Shultz # 27 - 4th Quarter, 2002 Build a Hobby System by Stefan Goes; Ready, Set, Fish by Mark Lauch; Ocean Arks by Zachary Mayer; Growing Strawberries by Tim Carpenter; Environmental Control by Mark Stanley; As I See It by Curt Bertelsen # 26 - 3rd Quarter, 2002 Kirby Peak Ranch - Project Update by Rebecca Nelson; Aq-uaponics vs. Greenwater Culture by John Gonzales; Danbury Fish Farm by Rebecca Nelson; Aquaponics and Bio-Security b David Nuttle; As I See It by John Koeniger # 25 - 2nd Quarter, 2002 Science Alive 2002 by Rebecca L Nelson; Arizona Ag Tours by Rebecca L. Nelson; Integrated BioSystem at Montfort Boys Town, Fiji by Anders Karlsson, et al; Hometown Hydroponics by Lance Gardanier; Stepping Stones to Commercial Aquaponics by Scott Jones; As I See It by Dr. Otmar Silberstein # 24 - 1st Quarter, 2002 Aquaponics Proves Profitable in Australia by Geoff Wilson; Evolution of Aquaponics by Scott Jones; Aquaponics Featured at Middle School of Excellence; Stepping Stones to Commer-cial Aquaponics by Scott Jones; Conference Benefits Growers and Novices Alike by Rebecca Nelson; As I See It by John Pade # 23 - 4th Quarter, 2001 Economic Evaluation of Phosphorous Removal by Plants by Dr. Paul Adler; PVC...a Versatile Option by Myles Harston; UVI Short Course by Doug Franks; Kirby Peak Ranch by Rebecca Nelson; Organic Aquaculture Update by Deborah J Brister; As I See It...by Dr. James Rakocy # 22 - 3rd Quarter, 2001 Build a Low-Cost Aquaponic System by Scott Jones and Re-becca Nelson; Filtration in Aquaponics...Bead Filters by Todd Harmon; TerraFarms, Inc.-Project Update by Gordon Creaser; Aquaponics...A Niche in Agri-Tourism by Rebecca Nelson; Education Profile-Business Partners with School by Michael Yocina; As I See It...by Carla MacQuarrie # 21 - 2nd Quarter, 2001 Aquaponics in Alberta by Eric Hutchings; Dream a Green De-sert by Michael Westbrook; Building Materials for Aquaponics by Scott Jones; So, You Want to Grow Herbs? By Gordon Creaser; Education Profile...The Phish Project by Clare F Ken-nedy; Editorial by Dan Brentlinger

# 20 - 1st Quarter, 2001 The Birth of an Aquaponics Facility by Scott Jones; Aquaponics Course Inspires Attendees by Myra D Colgate; Aquaponics Suriname-The Adventure Continues by Gordon Creaser; Out-back Water Gardens by Myles Harston; NFT Lettuce and Herb Conference by Rebecca Nel-son; Education Profile...Peas in a Pond by Angie Dowling # 19 - 4th Quarter, 2000 Cut Flowers and Tilapia by Bert McLaughlin; Plumb-ing Your Aquaponics System by Scott Jones; Green-water Tank Culture of Tilapia by John Martin; Organic Aquaculture by Deborah J Brister and Anne R Ka-puskinski; 20th Annual HSA Conference by Katie Buckley; Educator Profile...Rice and Tilapia at Dis-ney's EPCOT by Todd Harmon # 18 - 3rd Quarter, 2000 Future AquaFarms, Nova Scotia, Canada by Rebecca L Nelson; Plumbing Your Aquaponics System, Pt 1 by Scott Jones; Aquaponics Suriname by Gordon Creaser; Technology, Need and Know-How by John Pade; Educator Profile...Simulated Aquaponic Wet-land by Richard Craig # 17 - May/June, 2000 Surface Aquaponics in China by Dr. Song Xiangfu, et. al; Hobby Aquaponics by Michael Merriken; Perlite, It Rocks! By Dominic DiNardo; Catfish=Profit in South-east Arkansas by Myles Harston; Educator Pro-file...Crystal McGee # 16 - March/April, 2000 Aquaculture 103 by Mark Brotman; Aquaponics in Welcome, Ontario by Chris Weaver; Aquaponics Tips from Cabbage Hill Farm by the Cabbage Hill Farmers; Developing Aquaponic Systems by Gordon Creaser; Alarms and Back-Ups for Aquaponics by John Pade; Educator Profile...Daniel Ginter # 15 - January/February, 2000 AquaBabies, a Mini Phenomenon by Rebecca Nel-son; Hydroponics in Honduras Update by Gordon Creaser; Marketing Aquaponics Products by Scott Jones; Growing Food Fish in Aquaponics by Rebecca Nelson; HSA's 19th Annual Conference by Dan Lub-keman; Educator Profile...Tammy Kudela # 14 - November/December 99 Design and Development of Commercially Viable Systems by Marios Vassiliou; Aquaponics in the Classroom and Beyond by Tammy Kudela; Filling Your Grow Bed by Scott Jones; Grandpa's Garden by Rebecca Nelson; Intern Profile...John and Katilynn Burr



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# 13 - September/October, 99 Students Having Fun by Scott Jones; Northern Marianas Col-lege Aquaculture Ext. Program by Mark J Brotman; AquaRama '99 by Ike Eigenbrode; Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish (Vermicomposting) by Katie Buckley; So...You Want to Grow Lettuce?; Intern Profile...Katie Buckley # 12 - July/August 99 BioBarge by Will Warren; Hydroponics in Honduras by Gro-don Creaser; Developing an Aquaponic System by Myles Harston; Perennial Herbs in Hydroponics by Tara Cancio-Bello; Edible Water Gardening by Rebecca Nelson; Species Profile...Pak choi # 11 - April / May 99 Water Quality by R. Charlie Shultz; Grow Bed Design by Scott Jones; Hobby Systems by Gordon Creaser; Fish Condi-tion Factor by Gene P Hanson; Species Profile...Bass # 10 - February / March 99 Biotechnology at Canby High by Kari Gould; UVI Agricultural Experiment Station by Rebecca Nelson; An Interview with Dr. Jim Rakocy by Rebecca Nelson; Back-up Power Systems by Scott Jones; Species Profile...Chives # 09 - December 98 / January 99 y2K Woes by Keith Holmes; Desktop Aquaponics by Re-becca Nelson; Greenhouse Cleanliness by Jeremy White; Aquaponics - The Greatest Show on Earth by Gary Caparelli; Richter's Herb Conference by Gordon Creaser; Species Pro-file...Lettuce # 08 - October/November, 1998 Inslee's Aquaponics by Rebecca Nelson; Controlling Green-house Pests by Don Jackson; Air Lifts Explained by Scott Jones; Hydroponics to Aquaponics by Rebecca Nelson; Green Cuisine Hydroponics by Gordon Creaser; Species Profile...Catfish # 07 - August/September, 1998 Developments in Organic Aquaculture by Ted Ground; Peter-son Middle School - Adventure in the Classroom by Dr. Ot-mar Silberstein and Rebecca Nelson; Phytoremediation of Aquaculture Effluents by Dr. Paul Adler; Starting a New Hy-droponics Business by Gordon Creaser; HMA Conference a Great Success by Carl Anderson; The Aquaponics Team, part 4, the Pump by Scott Jones; Species Profile...Water Cress

# 06 - June/July, 1998 Promoting Aquaponics by Rebecca Nelson; A Passion Once Lit Won't Quit by Pete Theisen; Ornamental Pond Aquaponic System by Scott Jones; Aquaponics Leaks into Schools and Retail Hydroponics by Matt Schow; Plant Nutrient Elements by Jim McCaskill; Species Profile...Trout # 05 - April / May, 1998 The Growing Interest in Aquaponics by Dr. James Rakocy; Hydroponics, Hawaiian Style by Gordon Crease; Tips for the Beginning Aquaculturist by Myles Harston; DISCOVER Aq-uaponics by Rebecca Nelson; Aquaponics Team, part 3, The Clarifier by Scott Jones; Species Profile...Mint # 04 - February/March, 1998 Belmont Hot Springs by Rebecca Nelson; Australian Red Claw Crayfish by Rebecca Nelson; Commercially Viable Aq-uaponics by Gordon Creaser; Disney's Epcot Showcases Hydroponics and Aquaculture by Rebecca Nelson; Aquapon-ics Team - the Tank by Scott Jones; Species Profile . . Angel Fish # 03 - Dec/Jan 1997/1998 Food from Small Places by Warner Daniels III, ; Methods of Aquaculture by Rebecca Nelson; The Aquaponics Team by Scott Jones; Plant Lighting Basics by Rebecca Nelson; Float Hydroponic Systems by Gordon Creaser; Sugar Cane, Vine-gar and Tilapia by Rebecca Nelson; Species Profile . . Basil # 02 - October/November, 1997 Build a Low Cost Aquaponic System by Scott Jones; Interna-tional Hydroponics Conference by Gordon Creaser; History of Hydroponics by Rebecca Nelson; Development of an Aq-uaponic System for the Intensive Production of Tilapia and Hydroponic Vegetables by Dr. James Rakocy, et. al.; Aq-uaponics on the World Wide Web by Rebecca Nelson; Rais-ing Tilapia in Small Greenhouses Promises Profit for Texans by Robert Burns; Butterfly Farming in Honduras by Rebecca Nelson; Species Profile . . .Koi # 01 August/September, 1997 Aquaponics...a Technology in it's Infancy by Rebecca Nelson; Commercial Fish Farming in Greece by Rebecca Nelson; My First Experience with Aquaponics by Gordon Creaser; Aq-uaponics in the Classroom at Byron High School by Rebecca Nelson; Four Primary Hydroponic Growing Methods by Re-becca Nelson; Hydroponic Tomatoes...the Secret of Grandpa's Garden by Rebecca Nelson; Water Gardening Basics; Species Profile . . .Tilapia

Back Issues of the Aquaponics Journal are available in three formats:

1. .pdf’s available for instant download 2. Print—mailed via USPS Priority Mail

3. six-issue collections on CD-Rom mailed via USPS Priority Mail

Visit the Aquaponics Journal website to order: www.aquaponicsjournal.com


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Conferences, Symposiums, Trade Shows, Workshops, Courses

. December, 2009 Aquaponics and Controlled Environment Agriculture Workshop December 12-13, 2009 Montello, WI, USA This 2-day workshop covers aquaponic concepts, system designs, greenhouses and environmental control, water qual-ity, daily operation and more. Mornings are spent in a classroom setting and afternoons are held in Nelson and Pade Inc.’s research an demonstration greenhouse. This is Nelson and Pade’s last workshop of 2009. Information: www.aquaponics.com, 608-297-8708, [email protected]

February, 2010 Urban Aquaponics Conference February 18-19, 2010 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia This conference will address aquaponic growing in urban environments. The program will encompass four themes: Aquaponics in schools; Aquaponic equipment advancements; Integration of aquaponic systems; and Aquaponics re-search and development. Information: Aquaponics Networks Australia, Geoff Wilson, Phone +61 7 3411 4524 Mobile: 0412 622 779. Email: [email protected] March, 2010 Aquaculture America, 2010 March 1-5, 2010 San Diego, CA, USA This is a meeting, conference and trade show of the World Aquaculture Society Information: tel: 761-751-5005, Fax: 760-751-5003, email: [email protected] 7th International Conference on Soilless Culture March 18-20, 2010 Toluca, State of Mexico, Mexico This conference will include sessions on aquaponics. Information: C.P. Gloria Samperio Ruiz email: [email protected], http://www.hidroponia.org.mx/ Wisconsin Aquaculture Conference March 19-20, 2010 Information: www.wisconsinaquaculture.com, info: [email protected] May, 2010 Australian Aquaculture, 2010 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia This is a meeting, conference and trade show of the World Aquaculture Society Information: tel: 761-751-5005, Fax: 760-751-5003, email: [email protected]

HappeningsHappenings


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Conferences, Symposiums, Trade Shows, Workshops, Courses

HappeningsHappenings

June, 2010 International Aquaponics and Tilapia Aquaculture Course June 13-19, 2010 St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, US This 7-day course will provide in-depth knowledge of the principles and practical application of the aquaponic and biofloc tank culture systems that have been developed at the University of the Virgin Islands. http://www.uvi.edu/sites/uvi/Documents/AES/Aquaculture/CourseRegistration2010.pdf Information: Dr. James Rakocy, UVI, AES, RR 1, Box 10,000, Kingshill, VI 00850-9781 July, 2010 16th Annual Recirculating Aquaculture Systems Short Course July 12-15, 2010 Ithaca, New York, USA This course is intended to give a thorough coverage of the design, operation and management of water reuse systems for finfish. Information: Dr. Michael Timmons, phone: 607-255-1630, email: [email protected]

"Delivering Aquatic Solutions One Customer at a Time"

www.mightyfish.com [email protected] 407-703-3350

Mightyfish, Inc., PO Box 2151, Apopka, FL 32704

If you know of a conference, workshop, course or event that will be of interest to aquaponics

enthusiasts, LET US KNOW. E-mail: [email protected] or call 608-287-8708


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Do It

Acclimating Fish to Your SystemAcclimating Fish to Your System The concept of the Do It column is to present infor-mation on how to do specific processes in aquapon-ics. Sometimes the topics focus on building systems or installing components. In this issue, I will ad-dress the procedures for safely and gently introduc-ing fish into your system. Getting a healthy and stress-free population of fish doesn’t just happen, even if you have an excellent supplier of fish. Anytime you move fish, transport and handle fish, they get stressed. Minimizing that stress will result in healthier fish and a lower rate of loss of fish. The first step in acquiring fish is to make sure you have the proper permits to move fish and keep fish. You can check with your state authorities to deter-mine what requirements you must adhere to. Secondly, you need a supplier. In aquaponics, you can’t treat fish disease or pests within the system, so it is extremely important that you work with a reputable supplier for you fish. Ideally, you want to purchase fish that are raised in tanks, indoors rather than in ponds, outdoors. Since ponds are open to the environment, birds, amphibians, rep-tiles, snails or insects can freely enter and possibly contaminate the pond. Fish that come from a con-trolled environment generally have a lower in-stance of pest problems. But, even if your fish supplier is very meticulous in their bio-security practices, it is still possible to bring in problems with the fish. That is why the procedure you use to introduce fish is so important.

By Rebecca L Nelson

There are fish farms that specialize in raising and selling fry and fingerlings rather than selling ma-ture fish. These farms are generally set up to cap-ture, bag, box and ship the small fish in a very effi-cient manner. Typically, the fish are netted into a bag that has a small amount of water (1 –1.5 gal-lons) that has had an ammonia binder added and been pH balanced. Once the proper number of fish are in the bag, it is then filled with pure oxygen and sealed. This oxygen mixes with the water dur-ing transit, providing a sufficient level of dissolved oxygen for the fish during the trip. The bags are then put into a cooler and a box and packaged for shipment. Since these are live fish, overnight shipping is re-quired. If you live near your fish supplier, you can pick up your fish and transport them home your-self. 18-24 hours is the maximum time that the fish can survive for. Once you are past 24 hours, the fish have depleted most of the oxygen, the am-monia level starts to rise and the fish become highly stressed. I recommending initially putting the fingerlings into a nursery tank that is not connected to your aquaponic system. This way, if you do observe any serious health problems with the fish, find any snails, parasites or other problems, you can man-age it outside of the aquaponic system. This also gives you the opportunity to reduce stress by add-ing salt to the water in the nursery tank (not the aquaponic system). This is a common practice in aquaculture and fish keeping to reduce stress and build the fish’s slime coat. With tilapia, you can add


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salt to a level of 4-5 ppt. Remember, in aquaponics you can’t use salt so this is only recommended for the nursery tank. Prior to receiving your fish, check the pH of the water in the nursery tank. Ask your fish supplier what the pH of their water is and adjust yours to match, if needed. Be sure your nursery tank is ready for receiving the fish. Confirm that you can maintain the proper temperature and aeration . Be sure that any water conditioning that is needed has already been done before you receive your fish. Once you receive the fish, you want to begin the acclimation as soon as possible. The quicker you begin the process, the better. Upon the arrival of your fish, open the box and re-move the Styrofoam lid, if there is one (1). Reach in the box and lift out the bag(s) of fish. Gently place it in your nursery tank. Without opening the bag, float it in the tank for at least 15 minutes (2). The temperature in the bag will slowly shift to the temperature in the tank during this time. Open the bag and roll down the edges. This creates a float around the edge of the bag. At this point, the fish no longer has a source of oxygen, so you’ll need to supply it during the rest of the acclimation process. Place an air stone in the bag and gently aerate. Be sure that you don’t tumble the fish with the air (3). Once the bag is floating and you have an air stone gently adding air to the water in the bag, you can start adding small amounts of the water from your nursery tank into the bag. This acclimates the fish to your water and needs to be done over a 15-30 minute period. During this time, you should double the amount of water in the bag, diluting it with your water. Then, you are finally ready to release the fish into your tank (4). Gently tip the lip of the bag into the water so the fish can swim out. Be sure that there are no fish caught in the creases of the bag. The fish will typically migrate to the bot-tom of the tank until they are accustomed to their new sur-roundings. They will usually accept food several hours after the acclimation to the tank. Once you have observed the new fish for 7-10 days and they appear healthy, they can be moved into your aquaponic sys-tem. Again, be sure to use proper acclimation techniques, matching water temperature and pH when moving the fish from the nursery to the aquaponic system. This technique will help you to be successful in add-ing fish to your aquaponic system.

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Complete Aquaponic System Packages Nelson and Pade, Inc. (www.aquaponics.com) of-fers proven aquaponic systems for all applications including: home food production, small business, education, commercial and research. A diverse mix of systems are offered to meet a variety of budget, space and production requirements. All of the systems have been designed around proven concepts, equipment and fish to plant ratios and come with detailed assembly and operation manu-als. Each component has been specifically chosen to meet the system needs based on size, function and durability. By purchasing one of Nelson and Pade, Inc.'s Aquaponic Systems, you will avoid the high costs and problems associated with untested systems and home-built efforts. Rebecca Nelson and John Pade, owners of Nelson and Pade, Inc., con-sult on aquaponics and are invited to speak at conferences worldwide. In addition, they author, publish and sell books, videos, training materials and school curriculums on aq-uaponics and hydroponics. With 20+ years in this industry, soilless agriculture is their business and their passion.

Visit www.aquaponics.com to learn more! Nelson and Pade, Inc, PO Box 761, Montello, WI 53949 USA, 608-297-8708, [email protected]

From Hobby to

Commercial Systems

2009 aquaponics journal

Health & Medicine

Transcript of 2009 aquaponics journal