Why

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

Greetings. A couple of times  @Bob has requested more information on how our system works. Good and fair questions. However, I wanted to take a moment to delve into the why of our aquaponics rather than the how. We will get to the how but a little later. I’ve been in the science/art/business of aquaculture now since 1980 and my partner Jim and I working on it since 1998. The Holy Grail has always been to find a method to move it (aquaculture) cost effectively into urban areas. Aquaponics clearly is a Sustainable way to do this. The primary focus of this current project was to increase the general public’s access to aquaponcs and to determine if backyard aquaponics could actually help to feed a family of 4 and by how much? So to answer these two questions, here are a few of the things we set out to accomplish:
 
1.            Keep the costs down as far as possible.
2.            Use 100% off the shelf materials (if it takes longer than 2 days to get it or if MUST order it you don’t need or want it (does not include fish and shrimp but that would be good too))
3.            Make it big enough to potentially feed a family of four and to make 1 to 1 comparisons to a “square foot garden” to create an honest judge of how effective the technique is.
4.             Keep design, construction, operation and maintenance as simple, fast and easy as possible (KISS) (1 to 2 days construction time)
5.            Use as little energy as possible and to replace needed energy with solar applications if possible.
6.            Make the system as resilient as possible (power, failures, mechanical failure, disease, temperature fluctuations, nutrient deficiencies, pH fluctuations etc).
7.            Capture as many operational synergies as possible. (find those situations where 1 + 1 = 4 and maximize them.)
8.            Determine new planting schedules
9.            Develop techniques to grow foods people actually eat or sell within their communities. 
10.            Maximize safety
 
March 2013 will mark our 24^th month of work and we have actually accomplished much of what we set out to do. To do so though we have broken a number of the aquaponics rules as suggested by this internet site, but have and will have learned a lot. We will be hosting more classes soon as well as watch out for some upcoming news releases. However, so the public can have access to the results of our work beyond reports at scientific conferences like Aquaculture 2013 (If they accepted the abstract, Aquaponics and STEM education in Phoenix Arizona), or blog postings, we are working on a book about our experiences.
 
More later.
 
 

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

I forgot. Criteria number 11: Scaleable. 

[Chris George]

Good post Dr. Brooks.....!  Scaleable (that's where I come in).  I'm also thinking about trying a littler system in a collapsible side kiddie pool using 20 gallon containers down the road (would be 'very' affordable).  Now that the weather has cooled a bit, I'm finally going to get busy with the final logistical 'site' problems for my 12' system.  I semi-designed a solar water heating set up but it needs more thought.  I'd like to get a stable temperature of 75 or so throughout the winter (wish me luck, right??).  Looking forward to more classes, any idea when the next one might be??

[Bob Campbell]

Good luck with your book.  I'm getting that the fish are kept in the barrels which I would guess have holes to allow a certain about of water to circular through diffusion.   How do you keep fry from escaping the barrels and how is your pump set up? 

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

Greetings Bob and thank you. We use a forced circulation system so as far as escapes currently we just use simple screens on the outflow pipes. However the current design is way to vulnerable to power failures. We get huge dust storms here. Though we are only 5 miles from downtown Phoenix we still have lost power for hours at a time. So a redesign is in process.

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

P.S. At least for this very specific circumstance I think we have eliminated or mitigated all of the following concerns as expressed in the "Rules of Thumb" page of this site and in Sylvia's book. (http://community.theaquaponicsource.com//page/aquaponic-gardening-r...)

System type– Media bed is recommended for new, hobby growers.  Why not NFT or Deep Water Culture (AKA raft orDWC)?

• A media bed performs three (3) filtering functions;
• 1. mechanical (solids removal)
  2. mineralization (solids breakdown and return to the water)
  3. bio-filtration
• Because the media bed also acts as the place for plant growth,it basically does everything all in one component – making it allsimple.
• Media also provides better plant support and is more closely related to traditional soil gardening because there is a media to plant into.
• The cost of building the aquaponics system is lower because there are fewer components.
• It is easier to understand and learn.

[Bob Campbell]

Is this your answer to my question about how and if you keep the fry from escaping the barrels, and the pump arrangement in your system?

Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. said:

P.S. At least for this very specific circumstance I think we have eliminated or mitigated all of the following concerns as expressed in the "Rules of Thumb" page of this site and in Sylvia's book. (http://community.theaquaponicsource.com//page/aquaponic-gardening-r...)

System type– Media bed is recommended for new, hobby growers.  Why not NFT or Deep Water Culture (AKA raft orDWC)?

• A media bed performs three (3) filtering functions;
• 1. mechanical (solids removal)
  2. mineralization (solids breakdown and return to the water)
  3. bio-filtration
• Because the media bed also acts as the place for plant growth,it basically does everything all in one component – making it allsimple.
• Media also provides better plant support and is more closely related to traditional soil gardening because there is a media to plant into.
• The cost of building the aquaponics system is lower because there are fewer components.
• It is easier to understand and learn.

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

No. The answer before the one you quote was. Anyway, we try to use all male populations to inhibit breeding. Secondly we use a series of filter screens on the outflow pipes to prevent fry escaping into the larger system. Yet to be tested though because we have had no breeding so far. As to how is the pump set up? If I understand what you mean correctly, we currently use a classic design of water (submersible) pumped to where the fish are at 400 gph, gravity flow to a clarifier and then gravity flow out to raft system. The tanks are closed though there are a number of diffusion augmented designs we are looking at for future applications.

[Chuck Goecke]

I noticed in that primer on Aquaponics they mention ammonium chloride as a good source of ammonium ions in fishless cycling.  While this is fine, an equally good source of ammonium and probably much more readily and cheaply available would be ammonium sulfate, the fertilizer.  You just have to look for pure ammonium sulfate, not one of the more balanced fertilizers with the other nutrients too.   I've used this for salt water and african ciclid aquariums as well as my AP tanks.  

They also mentioned human urine, which i've used also.  There is a risk not so much from bacteria (most people's urine is sterile), but from any drugs/supplements/vitamins they take.  They also mention that ammonium isn't readily available from urine for a long time.  I disagree.  Urine has nitrogen in the form of Urea which is just ammonium carbonate, and in solution form, presents ammonium ions immediately.  There should be no need to brew some nasty old urine.  The issue with drugs, etc in the urine is the greatest, since we now hear about things like birth control drugs, antibiotics and many other common drugs now showing up in the lakes downstream of sewage processing.

[Bob Campbell]

Thanks I missed the previous post.  So I guess one barrel is a clarifier and the other a fish barrel?  Isn't there a colonial  saying about shooting fish in a barrel?   

I think I'm piecing your system together little by little, and I hope you will be willing to share the new design.  

Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. said:

No. The answer before the one you quote was. Anyway, we try to use all male populations to inhibit breeding. Secondly we use a series of filter screens on the outflow pipes to prevent fry escaping into the larger system. Yet to be tested though because we have had no breeding so far. As to how is the pump set up? If I understand what you mean correctly, we currently use a classic design of water pumped to where the fish are at 400 gph, gravity flow to a clarifier and then gravity flow out to raft system.

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

Greetings Chuck. Did you post your comment under the right thread?

[Chuck Goecke]

Probably not.  It didn't seem like that Primer linked to above was accepting any comments.  Looking back, I guess it was the post about "Fishless Cycling"(http://theaquaponicsource.com/2010/11/01/starting-your-aquaponics-s...), linked to in the "Rules of Thumb" primer.  Since the last comment on that post was over a year old, I presume it has been closed to further comments.    

Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. said:

Greetings Chuck. Did you post your comment under the right thread?

[Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.]

Chuck, it was a good post however and there are many people interested in this subject. If interested, please join the Arizona Aquaponics group and repost there. I think they would like to hear your comments.

Bob, " piecing your system together little by little." Hmmn. Always more than meets the eye. Book soon. ;-)