Aquaponic Production

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • What is aquaponics
   • History of aquaponics
   • Why aquaponics
   • World food
   • Urban farming
   • Cost benefit analysis
   • Is aquaponics organic
   • The aquaponics system
   • Can it be used with salt water
   • Types of Systems:constant flow closed reciprocating, open, deep water, floating raft
   • Outdoor or indoor systems
   • Barrel ponics, wick, NFT, etc
   • Advantages and disadvantages of aquaponics
   • Scale of operation
2. Aquaponic System Options
   • Recirculating systems
   • Non recirculating (open loop systems or micropnics)
   • Components of commercial fish rearing systems
   • Aquaponic sub systems
   • Deep water culture (DWC)
   • Intermittent flow (Ebb and flow)
   • Nutrient film technique (NFT)
   • Gravel bed systems
   • Barrel ponics systems
   • Equipment: commercial and backyard
   • System components
   • Tanks
   • Aeration devices
   • Solids removal: clarifiers, solids tanks, filters,screens
   • Biofilters
   • Sump and pH adjustment tank
   • Water heaters and chillers
   • Greenhouse houses and fish rearing facilities
   • Alarm and back up systems
   • Hydroponic grow beds and types of media
   • Maintenance, water monitoring and adjustment
   • Organic vs non organic
   • Combining worms with growing beds
3. The Science of Animal and Plant Growth
   • Plant growth factors
   • How plants grow
   • Plant structure: roots, stems, leaves, reproductive parts
   • Biochemistry and aquaponics
   • Biochemical processes in a cell
   • Photosynthesis
   • Mechanisms of nutrient uptake
   • Plant nutrients
   • Role of pH in plant growth
   • Animal science
   • Bony fish (Osteichthyes) and their biology
   • Crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp and prawns
4. Nutrition and Controlling Growth
   • Water soluble chemical compounds: ions
   • Less water soluble chemicals
   • Complex chemical compounds
   • Understanding nutrient formulae
   • Hydroponic nutrient formulae
   • Atoms, elements and compounds
   • How are chemical names written
   • What does a plant need
   • Calculating formulae
   • Mixing nutrients
   • Case study
   • Symptoms of nutrient deficiency
   • Nutrients in aquaponics
   • Variables in aquaponics: conductivity, ph control, oxygenation, beneficial bacteria in aquaponics
5. Selecting and Managing Animal Production; Fish and Crustaceans
   • Choosing what to farm
   • Climate
   • Water
   • Finance
   • Scale of operation
   • Other resources
   • Market
   • Availability of animals
   • Risk considerations
   • Overview of main species to grow: in Asia, South Africa, Australia, U.K., Europe, North America, South America
   • Trout: Rainbow, Brown
   • Bass
   • Tilapia
   • Catfish
   • Barramundi
   • Carp
   • Mullet
   • Sunfish
   • Eels
   • Marron
   • Other species: ornamental fish, crustaceans and molluscs, lgae
   • Sourcing fish and crustaceans
   • Fish food
   • Which type of fish food to use: pellets, live food, daphnia, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, earthworms, oil meals
   • Other food
   • Fish food production: beef heart, legumes, seafood and vegetable mix,
   • Earthworms: setting up, adding worms
   • Compost: understanding, making, conditions for compost production
   • Fish health
   • Common pests and diseases in aquaponics
   • Penaeid shrimp diseases
   • Fish diseases
   • Salinity and system health
6. Setting up an Aquaculture System
   • Choosing the right sized system
   • Selecting the right components
   • Setting up the system
   • Getting started
   • Threats to the system
   • Using a greenhouse
   • Greenhouses: passive systems, active systems
   • Active solar heating
   • Greenhouse management
   • Controlling the growing environment
   • Light control
   • Air temperature control
   • Root temperature control
   • Relative humidity and vapour pressure deficit
   • Controlling humidity
   • Carbon dioxide and oxygen
   • Computer controls
7. Aquaponic Plant Culture
   • Selecting media for aquaponic plant culture
   • Types of media Growing seedlings
   • Seed sources
   • Sowing seed
   • Seed propagating media
   • Sowing seed direct
   • Vegetables in aquaponics
   • Herbs
   • Successional planting
   • Flow charting a crop
   • Controlling plant growth: stopping, spacing, disbudding, trimming, training
   • Pollination
   • Pest, disease and other crop problems: overview, identification
   • Pest, disease and disorder control in aquaponics
8. Applications and Opportunities
   • Aquaponics for profit
   • Economic thresholds
   • Harvest and post harvest management of fish
   • Harvest and post harvest management of vegetables and herbs
   • Harvested crop physiology: fruit ripening, respiration, when to harvest
   • How to prepare salad mixes from harvested vegetables: chlorine levels in water for washing produce, preventing bruising and rots, packaging
   • CA and MA storage
   • Chilling damage and storage temperature
   • Harvesting and grading vegetables
   • Fruit grading systems
   • Marketing
9. Managing an Aquaponics Venture -including a PBL
   • Case study: University of the Virgin Islands system
   • Case study: North Carolina State University system
   • Case study: Speraneo system
   • What is an aquaponic trial?
   • Running an aquaponic trial
   • Research methodology
   • PBL Project: Create and present a plan with specific strategies for improving the crop production of an aquaponics system in terms of amount and quality of produce harvested based on a clear understanding of the system’s requirements and its location (greenhouse or open air; temperate, subtropical, or tropical climate)
10. Troubleshooting
    • Water supply problems
    • pH problems
    • Algae growth
    • Dirty, cloudy water
    • Water imbalances; high levels of ammonia or nitrite
    • Imbalances in gases
    • Fish troubleshooting
    • Controlling salinity and nutrients without damaging fish
    • Plant troubleshooting
    • Diseases
    • Pythium in aquaponics
    • Pests
    • Environmental physiological disorders
    • Nutrition problems in aquaponics
    • Deficiency symptoms
    • Correcting nutrient problems in aquaponics
    • Fruit set management: pollination, floral initiation, fruit growth
    • Flower and fruit development problems
    • Fish eating plant roots
    • Power losses
    • Clogging with sediment
    • Fish to plant imbalances
    • Pathogenic contamination issues

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• To understand the nature and scope of aquaponics, communicate with aquaponic experts effectively, develop and maintain an aquaponics system, evaluate problems and find sensible options for dealing with problems in an aquaponic system.
• Discuss the nature and scope of aquaponic culture.
• Compare a range of different aquaponic systems.
• Explain scientifically, the factors that contribute toward both the quantity and quality of growth, of both plants and animals, within an aquaponic system.
• Explain how to manage the availability of nutritional elements to plants and animals growing in an aquaponic system.
• Select animal species that are appropriate to grow in different types of aquaponic systems.
• Describe how to manage animals growing in an aquaponic system.
• Design an aquaponics system.
• Discuss the management of different plant species in an aquaponics system.
• Discuss both commercial and amateur applications for aquaponic systems.
• Develop a management plan for a specified aquaponics enterprise.
• Identify and evaluate problems within an aquaponic system. Determine options for addressing identified aquaponic problems.

• Water conservation – water use is reduced significantly in recirculating aquaponics as it is being continually cycled through the system.
• No need for chemical fertilizers – the fish provide fertilizers for the plants to grow, while the plant roots provide additional filtration of the water for the fish to live in.
• Fish waste used in cycle – ammonia is removed from the system by filtration
• Less land space required – plants and fish are grown in close quarters.
• Can grow food all year round – this will vary depending on your local climate and the location of the aquaponics system (inside/outside)
• Faster growth of plants – a trial carried out in Canada noted that aquaponic growth rates can exceed hydroponic plant growth by up to four times for particular vegetables and herbs.
• Lower susceptibility to disease – as the aquaponics plants are not grown in soil, they are not prone to soil-borne bacterial disease. Fish in aquaponic systems are also less susceptible to pathogens that are common to aquaculture systems.
• Reduced ecological footprint for crop production.

Disadvantages of Aquaponics

• Cost –per unit area, it is more expensive than other forms of farming (but remember, being more intensive, what is spent on equipment is to a greater or lesser degree, saved on reduced property costs)
• Technologically Complex –requires more expertise to run properly than traditional farming. You may need to spend more training staff or on consultants and technical services (eg. water analysis, advice on plant and animal health problems. You are on the one hand taking greater control over the growth of plants and animals, but because you are taking that control away from nature, you are removing buffers that nature may normally have in place for dealing with problems. Potentially an aquaponics system is more productive than a natural system, but it is also susceptible to greater risks.
• If operated on a large scale it may lead to depletion of some natural resources that are required to run the system. Feed for fish or crayfish is made from less valuable animal products. Over use of natural resources can be a problem, and may end up leading to an increased cost for those feeds. The world may simply not be geared to rapid expansion of aquaculture. It may become necessary for larger scale aquaculture farmers to grow their own feed for fish or crayfish (eg. vermiculture)
• The options for configuring a system are very diverse. As with many new ideas, all sorts of people can be attracted to aquaponics, for all sorts of reasons, and despite their passion, they are not always balanced in their understanding of the industry. Because it is relatively new, sound tried and proven technologies do dot yet exist; and the level of research underpinning the industry is as yet nowhere near as sound as what might be found in other areas of farming.

• Support:  communicate directly with staff, including experienced and well respected aquaponic and hydroponics experts. Answering you is our top priority.
• Different:  if your training is different, you stand out
• Resources:  We've been teaching hydroponics since the 1970's, we have put together a unique collection of people and intellectual property. The principal John Mason is author of several books on hydroponics and aquaculture; including "Commercial Hydroponics" published by Kangaroo/Simon & Schuster (over 60,000 copies sold). One of our other staff is Dr Lyn Morgan, international hydroponic and aquaculture consultant for over 30 years.
• Flexibility:  more options for how, where, when and what you study
• Learning is top priority: what you learn changes you for life. Everything else is secondary
• Better value:   Compare our cost per study hour.
• Reliability:  Established since 1979, and being independent means we have avoided the stresses suffered by many other institutions