BC Green Games

Vote Aquaponics! Spread the word! (Watch the video on this link its great fun to watch)

http://www.bcgreengames.ca/project/aquaponics-schools550
We at R.E. Mountain Secondary School have noticed that both famine and shortage of water are not only local, but worldwide issues as well. We have constructed a system made of plants in a deep water culture and a media rock bed that filter out the biologically produced ammonia, converting it into nitrate for the fish below. Imitating nature’s nitrogen cycle of filtration, we’ve created a sustainable environment for both the fish and the plants to grow in. Using this clever device of our earth, we’ve begun to develop a way to help the community and hopefully impact the globe as well-- so vote for Mountain Aquaponics if you want to support us in our journey!

Fish Field Trip

It may have been a lazy day for the rest of the students, but we at Mountain Aquaponics found it the perfect opportunity to bring our system to all of the different teachers gathered at a pro-D day event. However, this was easier said than done. As cars and large amounts of water in uncovered containers aren’t entirely the best of friends, most of the club gathered together to drain everything-- to mobilize the whole system. Our trip to and from Kwantlen Polytechnic University was a huge success and so much fun; we managed to meet so many new teachers that provided such positive feedback and support in aquaponics and the idea of having their own systems in their classrooms. Enormous shout-out and thank-you to Gary Jones, Co-Chair of the School of Horticulture at KPU. Thanks so much for providing us with this opportunity to share our passions to teachers across the district. With this, our team has discovered that our aquaponics can go far-- both literally and metaphorically!

Worms!

There are new members in the Mountain Aquaponics System-- and they go by the name of earthworm. Worms are detritivores, which are organisms that consume detritus (decomposing matter) as nutrients. Since there has been lots of rain going on these days in Vancouver (aka Raincouver), the worms have been coming out of the ground. We at Mountain Aquaponics have seen this as a perfect opportunity to go out and collect some of them to put in our system. Although earthworms may not directly affect growth efficiency of the plants, they do play quite a large role in enriching soil, or in our case, the media rock. Other than consuming the detritus, they burrow holes into the ground, loosening the rock so that the roots of the plants have a place to grow. As well, they shift the position of the rocks, which can mix around the bacteria in different areas for an even distribution of the nutrients in the growing bed. Lastly, the organic waste that they produce add to the bacteria in the growing bed, creating an even more nutrient-rich environment for the plants go grow in.