A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

open classroom

hi all. im in salt lake city currently and we have this thing called an open classroom. i dont know if you all have something similar where you are but it is basically an elementary school that is open to parent involvement and has a tuition trade out for hours volunteered. they have a very large concrete play yard that pretty much only has a couple of basketball hoops and a very small stand alone greenhouse. sadly there is no ground to plant any thing from the greenhouse into and im thinking about trying to start some aquaponics for their cafeteria.. if anyone has any design suggestions to make a system more kid friendly and educationally awesome i would love to hear them. stuff like how to build a fish tank rather than buy one, and how to make a viewable section to it also. or what plants are children interested in, stuff with big flowers like squash?, large vines like tomatoes?, what kind of vegetables are easy to get into a cafeteria diet that children will eat like carrots? thanks for any input

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Permalink Reply by Aaron on February 14, 2011 at 5:02am

As a newbie myself I'm not 100% with designs etc.. however just using my knowledge as a teacher I believe the best design is one that is low to the ground would be best for the younger students and anybody in a wheelchair. Maybe an in-ground tank (maybe not an option with the concrete) or a very low tank (2 feet or less). Maybe like a kiddy pool? The set up is up to you. I'm looking at flood and drain systems but maybe if you have space nft might be a better bet. Its all good. One thing to think about is zoning regulations and such. Check what is allowable on that land first and then design accordingly. Keep me up to date! - Aaron

Permalink Reply by aaron steil on February 22, 2011 at 11:40am

thanks all that raises quite a few good questions...mostly about how to work it into an educational environment...and how to get the most from the experience of aquaponic gardening rather than just in terms of production values

Permalink Reply by Jim Troyer on July 1, 2013 at 12:08pm

How's it going Aaron!

I heard the first lady has a program to fund growing in classrooms... (hope you're unionized)...

No soil, no problem! Carrots, scallions, etc., grow great in wicking beds, so does corn. Kids will love tall things and big vines like melons start pumpkins now for h'ween. Large plants and tubers will love wicking beds. If you really want to power up the wicking beds use fish tank water instead of hose water, be sure to out-gas the chlorine before using hose water.

If you are just starting out with AP...

The biggest and best recommendation I can make is to use a larger pump and pipe size than it would seem to need. I have settled on 1.5" PVC pipe. It's plentiful and there are lots of fitting choices. Go with a 300-700 gallon fish tank to eliminate temperature swings and short term water quality issues.

Rule number 1: Don't over stock the fish, they grow fast and will keep up with the first season's plant growth. No more than 1 fish per 10-15 gallons of water, you will want the extra room when they grow up. Use this equation for pump sizing: (tank size x 2)1.3 = pump size in gallons per hour. (700 gals x 2 ) 1.3 = 1820 gal per hour. This accounts for head height and only running half an hour for each hour on a timer and using a stand pipe grow bed which is the simplest and most fool proof method by far. This should also eliminate the need for am aeration system, water movement is king, create a splash where ever you can (feed lines and return lines)

I prefer a two level stand pipe arrangement. Set the lower water level at about 3"; higher stand pipe at 7"; use 8-9" of media in containers placed in a grow tank. It's a raft/media hybrid system; you can move the plants around for planting etc, and still get the benefit of the media, works great. Be sure the containers drain well so the water can flush through ( I use 2L soda bottles with slices made from an angle grinder (1/4" wide 2-3" long) near the bottom.) The second system I built uses a decommissioned jacuzzi that was free and a 5' kiddy pool for $15 at Ace Hardware. The pool sits on 4x4 post laid across the top of the jacuzzi. Totally simple, put a submersible pump in the tank, protect the fish with a cage around the pump. A milk crate with screen works well.

Remember this is a forever project. Fish need to have the plants replaced right away after harvest, stagger your crops if possible to keep a more even plant load.

good luck,

Jim

Permalink Reply by Jack Dunbar on August 26, 2014 at 11:53am

Hi... I've often thought that this would be awesome in my sons school. My son Kenny is only 5 but he has shown a lot of interest in our AP setup in our basement. I'm not a teacher but my trade is a nuclear pipefitter but I have almost a year of setting up and running AP. I would love to share what we've learned with our school but I'm not quite sure where to start... What is age appropriate? I'm sure there are people on this site who have schools that have AP and I would like to hear from them with any guidance, grants available etc,etc. Aaron, I'd like to hear more about parent involvement/tuition trade off ?