New Year, New Spring

The Mountain Aquaponics system is showing excellent growth (pun intended) already this year. With yet another crop of green onions freshly sent out for donation, space had been cleared for more vegetables. In the media rock bed, more green onions have been planted and replanted, as these roots can be replanted up to twice with the same incredible growth rate. Our deep water culture tank has been filled by lettuce kale, and parsley, which is a new vegetable to the Mountain Aquaponics system. We continue to see new development every day in our self-sustainable system and we look forward to seeing what the upcoming spring will bring.

Mission: Success!

Hibernation of the Mountain Aquaponics Club’s system was a success! In fact, even without human intervention, our aquaponics system managed to thrive and develop. Bacteria in the water have worked together to create a stable environment. The nitrate (NO3) level, once at 10 ppm (parts per million), has surged to an amazing 100 ppm. There is virtually close to none of both nitrite (NO2) and ammonia (NH3), which are noxious for the system. We have harvested yet another crop of greens. Not only the green onions, but the kale that has been planted recently is growing fabulously as well. The fish are healthy, happy and kicking. All in all, it has been a successful transition into the year of 2016.

Read the previous posts to see our journey and progression!

Hibernation Sensation

School may be out for students at REMSS, but the aquaponics system must keep running! Typically, the only human intervention needed in an aquaponics is to feed the fish and, in the case of an indoor system, provide a light source. These two things were solved by our team today-- making the Mountain Aquaponics Club’s system fully self-renewable for the next two weeks’ holiday break. An auto-feeder has been installed onto the fish tank, programmed to feed the fish every 24 hours. As for the lighting, our library has some very convenient skylights positioned on either side of the room. We have placed the aquaponics system under one of them as to benefit from the natural light that comes through. Thus, our aquaponics system has gone from self-sustainable to ultra-self-sustainable for the holidays.

Bell Siphon the Belle Siphon

One of the most fascinating parts of the aquaponics system, other than the fish, is the bell siphon. The most detailed and complicated part, the bell is built out many little pieces that work to achieve the siphoning effect. Water from the deep water tank slowly filters down to the media rock bed, causing water level to rise. Once the water level reaches the top of the siphon, it starts to overflow into the siphon. However, by having a cap on the siphon, a low pressure area is created inside the siphon, drawing up water from the rest of the bed. As the water is constantly draining out of the siphon, there is constant low pressure inside of it, meaning the siphon continues to draw water until there is none left in the media rock bed and the pressure equalizes. The water then trickles back in until the bed fills up again, triggering the siphon once more. This fill and drain cycle is known as “ebb and flow.” It is important to have ebb and flow because there are various plants that require their roots to have access to air. Some essential, and harmless, bacteria also require access to air. Having ebb and flow allows the system to accommodate these plants and bacteria, which are vital to maintaining the system. So next time you see the bell siphon in action, take a moment to appreciate how much work the little guy does!

The "Green" Green Onions and More!

We had booted the aquaponics system with green onions and found that they grew fantastically. In a matter of days, they sprouted an amazing amount. The plants play an important role in eliminating the nitrogenous content (nitrate) from the water, as they absorb it as nutrients. It's an amazing feature programmed in nature that something so toxic to one organism should be needed by the other after a small transformation. When the water is returned to the fish, it is clean and ready to once again, be filled with nutrients. Hence, the plants and the fish fulfill their natural symbiotic relationship.

Green onions are really "green" because they can be regrown after they are harvested. So long as the bottom part of the plant is left, the green onion can keep growing and get harvested a few more times before its final harvest.

The other plants that are visible in the picture are lettuces, kale, and Chinese celery.

Let us know in the comments below what other plants you'd like to see grown.

Meeting Captain

Time to meet Captain! Although he might not be visible in the photo (he's camera-shy), Captain is our one-eyed fish. Missing his right eye, he is miraculously still able to swim and live like all the other goldfish. He sure is one hardy fish!

These are the 30 goldfish of our aquaponics system. Not only are they cute and energetic, they are an essential part of our ecosystem. After digesting the feed, the fish excrete the much needed Nitrogen in the form of Ammonia and Ammonium (NH3 & NH4+) into the water. The pump that can be seen in the photo pumps the nutrient rich water up to the plants.  The nitrifying bacteria transform the ammonia and ammonium into Nitrite (NO2) and then Nitrate (NO3), which is absorbed by the plants as nutrients. (More on plants in the next post.)

First Two Donations

The fruits (or vegetables, in this case) of our labour have begun to show! With the holiday season coming up, we at Mountain Aquaponics Club recognize that giving is a much happier action than receiving. We have already been able to make two donations (our first two harvests of green onions)-- one to Vineyard Church where a soup kitchen is hosted and another to the R.E. Mountain Student Council to help out with the annual Breakfast with Santa. A big thank you goes out to everyone that has helped us get to this point in our aquaponics journey. We look forward to continue providing fresh greens to groups in our community.