Aquaponics and Earth

Our Flagship System (Garden)

Almost everyone that is successful in the area of aquaponics and earth systems has what we might call “a flagship system” or product. With the Speraneos it was bioponics, for Travis Hughey it was barrelponics,  for Mike Sipe it was selective and enhanced breading of tilapia, for Patty Moreno it was urban gardening, and so on.

At Aquaponics and Earth Sustainable Living, it’s three major things:

1. Our greenhouse layout model,

2. Our tank kit, including our unique bio barrel,

3. The layout and grow systems that surround our greenhouse.

Hundreds of hours have gone into the development of these three things and we are still working on making it better all the time with new developments and additions.

The Greenhouse Layout and Contents

The greenhouse layout at AESL is an effective model that can potentially produce some 72,000 tilapia fry a year. The basic setup can grow with add-ons and eventually turn into a commercial system. Remember: when you want to expand, you don’t have to throw out the old system!

• It has three each of brood tanks, fingerling tanks, fry tanks, and observation tanks, as well as a sick tank.
• It also has individual aeration and backup in case of energy loss or breakdowns.
  • Note: You always protect your brood tanks! When you loose brood stock that are producing, it can take a long time to establish a new group of breeding fish. For instance, I went on a trip recently and our workers lost a tank of fish due to excessive heat. Prior to this, they were able to produce up to 1,000 fry every two months.

Our Aquaculture Startup Tank Kits

AESL Famous Aquaculture Startup Kit

We have developed a 200 gallon- tank kit that is the key to our greenhouse success. The kit comes complete with: a tank, bio barrel with bio filtration media, a pump, hoses, and a siphon that is easy to use. The fish are not included. It is called our Aquaculture Startup Kit (see our products page). The kit was made for several reasons:

• To have independent aeration for brood stock or a large supply of fry, fingerlings, or juveniles.
• For orphanage leaders or individuals who want to learn aquaculture techniques by first getting one of these kits for a minimal investment. We provide thorough instructions on how to set up and maintain the tank, and teach you how to keep the tilapia alive and healthy.
• In our experience, we have seen that many people start out with systems that are too BIG. With our tank you will learn valuable aquaculture lessons, and, should you decide to, you can buy more tanks and develop your system into a larger one.

These kits will soon be available for sale to help us fund our orphanage projects.

Our Outdoor Layout and Use of Various Growing Systems

Some of our goals are:

• To build as many vegetable growing areas as we can in the least amount of land possible, using the least amount of building materials and fertilizers that we can.
• We have achieved the above goal, but are always looking for new ways to expand and perfect the system in the same way that we perfected the greenhouse.

The rows between our garden growing areas are just big enough for a wheel barrow to get through. It makes for a good tour group attraction because we have a lot of systems in a small area such as: Square Foot Gardening, Raised Bed Gardens, Vertigrow, Earthbox, Barrelponics, and more.

Another goal of ours is to use fish waste water to supplement the growing systems with rich nutrients.