Codman system, Month 1 update!

Here's a video update of month one of our operational 120 gallon system indoor aquaponics system!

Very quickly, the Codman system has shown that it will yield the best results of any PC WApU yet - a true testament to the research that Productive Collective and you as Gateway students have contributed.

One thing we're noticing is that the bigger the system, the more stable it is and the more productive. Having over 20 fish in the tank really increases the nutrients and this thing is flying. Another aspect is access to natural light - something that we really don't have on other sites.

In particular, Codman has proved to be an excellent site - We have made a great connection with biology instructor Ed Yoo and librarian Lisa Graustein - who are equally invested in the project at this point.

Thanks so much for your great work - keep pushing towards the end of the semester!

Codman system ready for prime time!

Seedlings are transferred to rock wool blocks and are receiving initial nutrients from our aquaponics system in Davis Square.
















The Codman system is showing a good base of ammonia (fish waste in green),  decreasing nitrite levels (bacteria 1 in purple), and increasing nitrate levels (plant food in red)

Seedling prep

Took trip to GYO Stuff in Cambridge today to check in on our seedlings - Here's a shot of the basil and lettuce - ready to be transplanted. The Seedlings are growing in a rock wool plug that we will place into the larger 3" 'gro-blocks' and burry those into hydroton pots! There are a few steps to cure the blocks - so I've attached a diagram found on the products website.

Codman System is Cycling - Plants Await

Hi Gateway crew - I have been to Codman a few times this week to make sure our tilapia arrived safely, connect the lamps, and test the plumbing.

The students and faculty are thrilled and can't wait to help out with the project. So many people have asked two basic questions: what is this, and who did this! I think we should make an informative poster for them - perhaps something similar to your presentation to the other Codman Gateway team?

Last time is was there, I snapped a picture of a water test - you can see that our Nitrites have spiked and that Nitrate is forming as well - so both types of bacteria are establishing themselves in the tank.

I called the supplier for our seedlings and we will have upwards of 70 available by Friday.

Aquaponics Gardening- Step by Step Guide to Raising vegatables and fish together -by Sylvia Bernstein (Reactions from Chapters 7 and 12)

 After reading Chapter 7 and 12, I started find answers to my own question, like why would you prefer clay pebbles rather than gravel in the planting beds? What kind of plants do you needs to grow in and aquaponics system? What materials to use and where to find them them?
      Chapter 7 mentions the requirements when it comes to small system to big system.  I thought it was interesting you can figure out the size of grow beds and fish tanks from a one to one ratio it will eventually become a 1:2 once the system matures. This ratio also requires how much you feed the fish. If the the protein contents in feed increase then the waste in pounds a fish produces. The kind of fish is important to think about, Omnivorous fish has a lower protein compared to carnivorous fish. 
    Chapter 12 is mainly about plants. It mentions the unique ways of growing plants, starting plants, healthy plants, understanding pH levels and bug control. At first I really didn't understand what ph level was until I read the chart on page 165.  pH level of 6.8-7.0 is recommend because its the most common nutrients deficiency in aquaponics. The planting beds recommend clay pebbles because gravel weight more than twice gravel does allowing less force on the plant bed structure.

Chapters 10 and 11

It seemed easy to say that an aquaponics system needed fish, water, and plants but the more I read on, the more complicated the process seems to get. The specific care needs for the plants and fish make sense, but the water is what surprised me the most. The chemistry moves past the simple bond between hydrogen and oxygen to pH and beyond. Given our knowledge, as architects, about room temperature and psychometrics, it makes sense that water temperature might also have comparable considerations, I just never thought of it that way. The amount of oxygen water can hold is not only affected by temperature, but also by altitude and barometric pressure. "Oxygen is more easily dissolved into wear at low altitudes than at high altitudes, because of atmospheric pressure is higher at lower altitudes," according to Sylvia Bernstein. It was interesting to read about the different oxygen requirements of the fish based on their native environments, which related back to the importance of temperature and pressure.

Perhaps what I found most interesting about this set of readings was Sylivia's question of, "To eat or not to eat?" It seems that making every other decision at the beginning of the project is critical, but with this one you can change your mind. I enjoyed the personal story she included about her initial intentions to eat the fish and how that decision may have changed over time. We don't necessarily think about the killing and eating of animals, we usually just think about the eating part. When faced with the task of having to do the killing ourselves, that distinct line becomes more blurry. This is especially true for scenarios when we have grown and bonded with the animals as Sylvia did with her fish.

chapters ten and eleven

These two chapters helped me greatly when working on our diagrams for the presentation. I was able to get a lot of details about the water, the fish and how the two work together. Reading about koi vs. Goldfish vs. Tilapia really makes me think that aquaponics could be a huge movement once it becomes more of a 'thing' over here in Boston, especially in schools. I was also starting to wonder if there was a way to place the plants immediately in the tank instead of using pipes to transfer water. I know we're installing the raft system on top of our tank but how will this plants turn out compared to the ones on the shelves? Maybe we can even set up a system at the BAC? I'm not sure if that would even be possible but it's worth a thought right?

Aquaponics Source System Locations

I am so excited about this diagram that I couldn't wait to share it! I finally heard back from the Aquaponics Source about their system locations. Unfortunately they weren't about to give me a full list right now, but I think it does a good job at showing their systems are located in a variety of climates. There is even one in Groton, MA!

Chapters 7 and 12

Seeing the "zones" of aquaponics helped me to better understand how the system functions. The information about ratios put scale into perspective. One could not make "plate-sized" fish with a small table top aquarium, though this size seems ideal for a small crop of herbs. Though the system seems relatively simple, it is good to know that there are so many things that need to be considered before getting started including size and shape. I never would have guessed that a shallow wide tank would be better than a deep and narrow one. Chapter 12 help reinforce many of the ideas that I had about comparing soil farming and aquaponics, especially the differences in water use; More importantly, why these difference occur. Understanding that plants use energy to grow was not something that I had really considered. It makes sense that if the plant uses more energy to grow longer roots needed for finding water that they would not grow leaves as big. I liked that even though they said that most plant types can be grown using aquaponics, they explained that there are better methods for starting different types of seeds.

7 and 12

It was good to learn more about how much fish are required to keep the plants alive and many other little details. It's very important that the Bernstein pointed out the fact that these tanks once they're full with water and fish can get really heavy and how you need to take into consideration that weight when you decide to place your system. She also provided us a nice breakdown of some of the systems such as barrelponics or aquabundance. Chapter 12 helped me learn more things about insects than I truly wanted to ever know. It was very intriguing to find out that for pest control you can actually use some insects to do that for you, instead of sprays or other chemicals that would harm any part of the aquaponics system. I'm curious how an insect issue (fingers crossed we don't have to worry about that) arising in Codman would be tackled due to the location of the aquaponics system.

Reaction to Chapter 5 and 6

The quote at the beginning of the chapter reminded me about an idea that I had for part of our answer to "Why aquapomics?" "The soils are not being replenished and the land is dying." When soil farming is done properly, crops are rotated to allow for nutrients to replenish. With an aquaponics system, one would not have to worry about crop rotation. Reading the rest of the chapter taught me that the environment needed for growing is very particular. A lot of considerations need to be taken before making a decision. The main factor is temperature required for optimal bacteria growth. This factor helps determine where your system is placed. There are many inside considerations including weight, humidity, water spillage, light, and sound. These particular factors raised red flags in my mind knowing our test system is supposed to be in the library.

Aquaponics Gardening- Step by Step Guide to Raising vegatables and fish together -by Sylvia Bernstein (Reactions from Chapters 5 and 6)

         In Chapter 5 and 6 explains more in depth about location, environment, and system design.

“How much control you have over these factors depends entirely on the climate where you live and where you decide to locate your aquaponics system.” - Sylvia Bernstein (page 41) I wasn’t aware of the many elements you have to think about. Temperature, the amount of water, materials,and etc. varies according to location of an aquaponics system. 

            It was interesting to learn how there’s more than one way to design an aquaponic system. Some common systems are the CHIFT PIST, CHOP, or Hybrid Systems.  We can study these systems into our own design or better yet enhance the designs in order to accommodate the system and work properly due to climate and location.

Aquaponics Gardening. Step by Step Guide to Raising vegatables and fish together. by Sylvia Bernstein (Reactions from Chapters 1,2, and 4)

            I found myself becoming more curious and excited to learn more. They way Sylvia Bernstein writes is very enjoyable and its easy to understand. So far it has been a great source for information and inspiration in developing sustainable lifestyle.  

            After reading chapter 2, I discovered more reasoning for Aquaponics and working towards a sustainable lifestyle. Understanding the global perspective is important because  the choices we make to create a solution as a whole in society could affect earth and every living thing in it.  

“When the wind changes direction, there are those who build walls and those who build mills” –Chinese proverb (page 25)

Reaction to chapters 5 and 6

When reading through the chapters, these last two went more in depth on the external factors that can affect the system. Though I had not thought of them before, it is only logical that things such as light and water spillage xontribute to the efficiency of the system. It was also interesting to read on how external factors affect the plants and bacteria more than the fish, when I would assume that it would be the orher way around. the more I read aBout these sYstems the more I understand the labor and care that must be put into them. While going over the different types of systems available, such as the barrel phonics, it seems as though one can build a system quite easily. Though what will ultimately predict your system's productivity will depend on how much you care for them.

Chapters 5 and 6

This may be a naive thing to say but I didn't realize there was so much thought behind aquaponics/gardening/sustaining plant life. I mean yes, I understand that the things don't miraculously pop out of the ground on their own, but how many other amazing type cultures like aquaponics exist? Bernstein has refined aquaponics to details in these chapters: light sources, system types, and the generalities of "I want to start...where do I even begin?" To marry this with my precedent, Sweet Water, I'm starting to understand a little more how their system works. They partner a tank with a bed of plants. The tank is depressed in the ground so that the bed height is accessible to the human while standing. Sweet water has a flood and drain type system where the bed is above the tank. From the reading my best guess right now is that they have a CHIFT PIST  system, since there are pumps present to return the water to the plants. More research to come...

Reaction to Chapters 1, 2, and 4

Reading these chapters got me thinking about how we could use the information to tackle the task of answering our essential questions. The basics of what hydroponics, aquaculture, and aquaponics are could easily be translated into a series of simple diagrams, much like the one on page 2 that describes the aquaponics cycle. (I will work on a few drafts of these to bring for Tuesday's meeting) The section on hydroponics got me thinking that the information about the nutrients could also be translated into a diagram, specifically about their "lifecycle". This might show the energy that goes into extracting the nutrients from the earth, how far they travel, thus using fossil fuels, and the energy required to process them. Reading the chapter on world demographics and the projection of population growth got me thinking about spatial requirements. It would be interesting to see a ratio for current farming methods and methods such as aquaponics to be able to compare their ability to feed the world population. I viewed chapter 4, "Before You Start", as somewhat cautionary. It seemed to say, "Hey, remember there are a lot of things to consider before you go out and get all of the pieces. Think about them carefully."

Chapters 1,2,4

As a new comer to the whole idea of aquaponics, I found that Bernstein explained very thoroughly the founding of aquaponics and how it differs from aquaculture and hydroponics. Thinking about aquaponics at a larger scale I'm starting to wonder a few things. One, is there a natural way to get the water from the tank back to the plants and so forth, at a larger scale like evaporation. Two, Is there any way to add plant life to the currently existing fish farms to help offset the amounts of ammonium in the water. Lastly, and this is a larger than life scale: Is there anyway to crea aquaponics at a human scale, meaning, instead of fish as the benefactors (and I understand the relationship between fish and plants) is there a way we can use the philosophy of aquaponics in our daily life? Is there some type of process  we can do as humans similar to aquaponics that can help the environment more? I'm looking forward to the next chapters.

Reaction to Reading

The reading was informative and provided precise information on the aquaponics system, its definition, and how it can provide a solution tonthe increasing demand of fish and its effects on the environment. The aquaponics system is also compared ro hydroponics and aquaculture which were relatively unkown concepts to me. This method of cultivation of fish and plants is an alternative to regular farming and it is interesting to understand how much damage agriculture ican damage and contribute to global warming.

Welcome

Hello team!

Welcome to our new blog. Here you'll find a lot of resources for our Gateway project, as well as providing a place for all of us to communicate and share ideas, experiences, and work. Don't hesitate to write a post, or a comment if you have something to share!