ACS Distance Education - Aquaponic Production

[Jason Razillard]

Greetings y'all,

Been eying up aquaponics for the past year or so, and have decided to dive in deep this coming fall/winter to prepare myself to start my first outdoor greenhouse system in the early Spring.  I'm unsure if this path will lead me into a commercial venture, but I'd like proceed forward as if it was by researching and obtaining as much information as possible.  I've come across a distant learning aquaponics program offered by ACS Distance Education:

www.acs.edu.au/courses/aquaponic-production-607.aspx

Does anyone have experience with this program?  

Thanks,

Jason

[Jeff S]

I've never taken any AP classes not to say they wouldn't be useful. I find there is so much information online especially on YouTube that's the only training I receive. I like the info that Nate Story provides on the Bright Agrotech YouTube site. You'll get all the nuts and bolts info on aquaponics there. System design and construction info is all over YouTube as well. Just find what will work for you and go for it. If you're not "mechanically inclined" then a course could be the right way for you to go. Check with Sylvia at aquaponicgardening.com. 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Seems expensive for no hands on experience. The  teachers do not list any Aquaponics experience although they have a lot of horticulture experience. If your looking for a course with some hands on experience from the leaders in the field I recommend the Pentair course with Dr Rakocy and Dr Lennard coming up in November. I attended and learned a lot, and got to ask question directly to the Docs. Pentair is also there to help you design a top notch system.

http://pentairaes.com/aquaponics-technology-and-design-workshop.html

[Jeff S]

I see you're in Ashville. There's a guy in Statesville that I've been following on YouTube that holds classes. Would be a much more economical way to start. http://www.growdinner.com/HandsOnClasses.htm#Commercial Class. I'm originally from Wilmington but live near Detroit now.

[Jason Razillard]

Thanks for the replies and sorry for my delayed response to the thread I started. 

I've had some contact with Grow Dinner Aquaponics, and have registered for their Nov 1st one-day class.  Going to research Pentair and their course offering some more, thanks for the introduction to them being an educational option.  The $1350 price tag is a bit daunting though.   For those who took the course, do you feel that price of the course was representative of the experience and education provided?

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

I have done Nelson & Pade's course and then Pentair's course several months later. Nelson & Pade was like high school while Pentair was like an Ivy league college. The best part was coming to the course with all my ideas and concepts and being able to bounce them off of Dr. Rakocy and Dr Lennard as well as being able to talk to the staff a Pentair for practical engineering advice about pumps, plumbing and aeration. If you think about it, the price is well worth the mistakes you may avoid by taking advantage of the exellent combination of resources. It might be worth while to get your basic education to formulate ideas and come with a design idea for refinement and adjustment.

Jason Razillard said:

Thanks for the replies and sorry for my delayed response to the thread I started. 

I've had some contact with Grow Dinner Aquaponics, and have registered for their Nov 1st one-day class.  Going to research Pentair and their course offering some more, thanks for the introduction to them being an educational option.  The $1350 price tag is a bit daunting though.   For those who took the course, do you feel that price of the course was representative of the experience and education provided?

[Jeff S]

My advice would be to take the Grow Dinner course and start with no more than a IBC set up. Cost is minimal and will give you experience (and questions) to take to a more advanced course if needed.

[Jason Razillard]

Does anybody have information if they are planning another one of these 4 day workshops in 2015? 

[Jason Razillard]

Contacted Pentair, and they responded with that they usually host an April and November workshop course.  Looks like I'll start with the grow dinner course, possibly see what this distance learning course is about, and keep reading up/following videos.  There's decent space in my kitchen to have an indoor setup, so that looks like where I'm heading for the winter.

[Jeff S]

I don't know what your budget is like but for the price of the Pentair course alone not to mention travel, lodging, etc. you can build a 16 X 20 greenhouse with all the components for a really nice aquaponics set up. Sure you need the knowledge of what to do with it but that can come with time. I still think an IBC set up is your best starting point. You can cover it with a simple hoop house.