Aquaponics and Earth

Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a re-circulating environment. In our system we currently use fish water in four ways:

1. A Simple Over-The-Tank PVC Re-Circulating Grow Station.

This is perfect for growing romaine lettuce in the cooler months. In our greenhouse, lettuce can be harvested in just a couple of weeks. It’s fun and people love to see it.

Re-Circulating Grow Station

2. Barrelponics.

We also have gravel media for growing tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables that are fertilized by nutrient-rich tilapia water. This is the Travis Hughey system and it runs on only 40 watts of power. Since the focus of our greenhouse has been on birthing and sorting fish, we have this unit outside and it’s quite a site to see. In this system we have about 100 tilapia in an underground tank with no aerators or bio-material to filter the water. The water is simply pumped up into the gravel grow beds and drains back down into the tank. The gravel acts as a filter and the returning water is aerated.

3. Garden Refresher System.

We came up with a very simple system that sits in the midst of our gardens. This over/under system is the most basic

tilapia grow tank. This fish feed on algae alone and the water re-circulates into crushed rocks, over and over. The hose that comes from the lower tank into the upper portion can simply be diverted into a water can and put directly on plants. Most of our plants react very well to this little “pick-up station.”

Garden Refresher System

4. Under-Ground Waste Water Collection.

We evacuate hundreds of gallons of water weekly from the fish tanks into underground waste containers. This water is used for irrigation, healing damaged soil, fertilization, seeding grow beds, and making compost tea. We are still exploring many more uses for this water and just need more funding to build the rest of the design.

Note:

We give special thanks to all of our partners and friends, such as Travis Hughey, Mike Sipe, Morningstar Fisherman, and many others who have given us a right to use their materials and system blueprints so we can help orphanages become self-sustaining.