Aquaponics Upgrade: Designing and Building
Transcript of Aquaponics Upgrade: Designing and Building
Aquaponics Upgrade: Designing and Building
Max Hornick, Jennifer Lyon, Collin Cronin, Amy Kobylarz, Sean Westley
Design Goal:
● Create a durable, low maintenance, highly efficient, low energy/resource usage, and adaptable aquaponics system that can demonstrate outdoor and commercial potential
Building:
● Alternative hydroponic systems
○ Vertical grow towers and deep water culture (DWC)
● LED grow lights
● Filtration
○ Radial flow separator/settler (RFS) and sand gravel-filled particulate biofilter
● FIsh tank viewing window
Vertical Grow Towers
● Grow plants in towers with water running down them
● Optimizes space
● Cost efficient
● Performs nitrification, solids filtration, and mineralization
Deep Water Culture
● In deep water culture systems, plants grow in rafts floating over a pool of water
● Does not clog with solids
● Inexpensive
● Durable
● Easy to clean and sanitize
● High success rate in past years
LED Grow Lights
● Blue lights for vegetative growth
● Red lights for flowering and fruiting of plants
● Energy efficient
Radial Flow Separator/Settler (RFS)
● Mechanical filtration by redirecting water flow and using gravity to filter heavy waste solids
● Captures solids better than swirl/vortex filters
● Materials are easily accessed and relatively inexpensive
Sand and Gravel filled Particulate Gravel Filter ● Use slow flow rate and high surface area of gravel and sand to create ideal
conditions for bacteria growth that converts ammonia into nitrate
● Materials are easily accessed and relatively inexpensive
● Superior biofiltration
Fish Tank Viewing Window
● Allows people to easily observe the fish
● Yellow Perch
○ Native to Michigan
○ Tolerate poor water quality
○ Reproductive reliability
○ Require less heat energy
○ Known to be successful in outdoor aquaponic systems