If You Build It They Will Come.........

NOTE:  To those that read this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the pictures in the post.  To see the actual blog you need to go to:  http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com

NOTE: I want to thank those of you new followers that have requested to be a part of my posts.  I have had many people express interest in my project and I want to thank you. For those of you that receive my email posts and do not read it often or prefer to read it at my actual blog on the Internet please let me know. I have more requests than email slots and would rather put someone in that reads the posts.  No weirdness.  Just let me know.

If You Build It They Will Come.........

Many of you reading this will recognize the above picture.  This is a clip from the movie Field of Dreams.  In the movie, Ray, played by Kevin Costner hears the voice "If You Build It They Will Come."  Some exciting things have transpired since my last post that brings to mind this famous line.  I had some goals when I started this project and although I never knew when or how they would transpire I just reminded myself to get it started and then worry about the rest later.

Small Sidetrack

I believe so may people never start.  We come up with all types of problems or roadblocks that stop us before we ever get started.  I have learned that one of the hardest parts of any project or endeavor is just starting.  

For example, my wife, two years ago, just decided to start.  She has always wanted to explore her artistic side and didn't due to all the unforeseen problems that may lie ahead.  She determined in her mind to just start and has just celebrated her 100th post, sold some of her art pieces, and just had her first "give away".  I am so proud of her.  She just decided to start.  Check her blog out.   http://sadieinspired.blogspot.com/

Back to my project:

When I got started I had no clue how my goals would come to fruition.  Therefore, I just keep moving along.

One of the goals was to bring this project to local schools for project based learning.  I showed one of our physics teachers my blog and he had a vision that was much grander than mine.

If You Build It They Will Come.........
 
One thing led to the next and tomorrow we have a preliminary meeting with two of our biology teachers, the physics teacher, and me on how we are going to build a comprehensive interdisciplinary aquaponics project at our school site that will include some of these goals;

1. eighth to twelfth grade project based study on various aspects of the aquaponics project that will be divided into biology, physics, and chemistry.
2. Research the most cost effective and energy efficient design to be used as a model for low income areas.
3. Prepare students for national scholarships and competitions.
4. Provide fresh produce to our district food services department to fund our project.

We have a great school with great teachers and I am so excited that we will be bringing aspects of this project to our school.  More to come later.....

Today's update.

I took some of the small sprouts and planted them in the 2" pots and then transferred them to the empty holes I had in the Styrofoam.  Everything is stable in my system.  I am waiting for the weather to start warming up so things will begin to take off.

The only thing I need to add to the system in Iron.  I see that some of the plants that are up are turning a bit yellow.  This is due to lack of iron.  I will find and add iron soon.

My son helping with the transplants.  Both of us in pajama pants.  Too cool!

They are dropping the 2" pots into the holes

Update / Journal entry

NOTE:  To those that read this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the pictures in the post.  To see the actual blog you need to go to:  http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com

This post will be a summary of different aspects of this project

Fish

One of the fish appeared to have a "white" round spot between its eyes.  It was taken out today and quarantined spending the night in the garage.  Our fish quarantine facilities is a 5 gallon bucket with a small aquarium pump that is left in the garage.  I will observe when I have time this week.  I may need to take a biopsy scrape from its head.

Water Quality

I take readings once a week.  My readings include;

• General observations 
• Dissolved oxygen
• Temperature
• Ammonia
• Hardness
• pH
• Alkalinity
• Nitrite
• Nitrate

The concern is the high nitrite and nitrate.  This is why I am rushed to get plants in the system to take clean the water up.

New Procedure

I needed to get plants in the water now.  The nitrate is up and I need plants to utilize this and clean the water.  Therefore, I went to Home Depot and bought four plants.  A banana pepper, Anaheim chili, cayenne pepper, and bell pepper.  I carefully removed them from the pot and washed all the soil away.  I cannot plants these plants into the Styrofoam because I do not know the substrate.  If there is contaminant in the soil them this could wreak havoc on my system.  Therefore, I removed all the soil, placed the plant in one of the net pots I use and then added the coconut noir/vermiculite mixture. I then ran the roots out the bottom and placed in the system.  The two that I put in last night looked great this morning.

Seedlings

My second batch has been very successful.  I decreased the water, took the plastic covers off and moved them on the counter of the kitchen sink (my wife loves this).  No, I have not controlled for the differences.  I will do this in the future.  I just need to get these plants going.  I have had great success on the sprouts.

1st Batch:  9 Pak Choi, 1 leek, 8 Swiss Chard, 3 corriander, 4 Spinach  

2nd Batch:  tomatoes (100%), jalapenos (80%), serranos (100%) bell peppers (100%), squash (80%), cucumbers (100%), basil (75%), oregano (75%), beans (0%)

3rd batch (3/11/2012, All plants are outside.

• 7 corriander
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 squash
• 8 leeks
• 9 green onions
• 9 beans

Below are winter and or spring plants.  They will not do well in the summer.  I am planting them for practice and testing purposes. (Greenhouse cover placed on these)

• 4 romaine (test)
• 5 arugula (test)
• 4 lettuce GL (test)
• 5 lettuce bib (test)
• 7 spinach (test)

Layout

I will construct a small 2 x 4 square foot area to plant a few plants in the soil for some control.  This first go around I will not perform everything as an experiment.  I am in the testing phases.  If I feel, through my initial testings, that one procedure or method is better than the other THEN I will test it through experimentation.  The plant box will act as a semi control and for initial testing.  The reason it is not a full control is due to many factors.

I will not replicate.  A good experiment replicates and controls all other variables.  Therefore, I would need at least three of the same plants in the raft and the soil of one species.

Also, I am not controlling for the water used.  If I wanted to say that the raft system is better than the soil then I would need to use the same water to control for that.  I will not waste fish water to water my plants, as of today.
 

Out........

Fish Dissection: Male or Female?

NOTE:  To those that read this post on your phone, through school, or email you may not see the pictures in the post.  To see the actual blog you need to go to:  http://www.theaquaponicsproject.blogspot.com


You may recall that in my post, Fish Suicide, I had discussed the importance of teaching my son or daughter how to find answers instead of giving them. I asked my daughter, "Is it male or female?"  She answered "I don't know daddy tell me."  I used that opportunity to allow my daughter to "Google" it and find the answer.  After much sifting we did find pictures of the Tilapia genitalia and therefore had the resources needed for our dissection of our little tilapia.

Females have two openings (not including the anus) and males have one opening

As a former high school biology teacher I have dissected almost everything under the sun from starfish to cow eyeballs. This allows me access to borrow the tools I need and the experience to dissect the fish.

The whole set-up.  Ipad for anatomy, dissecting scope, gloves, dissecting tray, and tools

One of the things I took for granted was animal preservation.  In high school, we receive our animals for dissection in preservatives so as to keep all the anatomical features intact.  When our fish was found dead next to our outside tank, we should have dissected it right then.  Instead, I put it into the freezer and found out that this is definitely not the way to preserve.  My specialty in college was entomology (the study of insects) and our easy way to preserve for pinning the insects was to put them into the freezer.  This is not the way to preserve our fish. Therefore when we finally got around to opening our fish it was nothing but mush.  No swim bladder, intestines, heart, liver, or stomach. Bummer. We will need another sacrifice in the future to continue our internal anatomy lesson.

We did go through the external anatomy which included all the dorsal, caudal, anal, pelvic, and pectorial fins.  We also looked at the eyes, mouth, operculum (gill cover), lateral line and then looked at the scales and gills under the microscope.

Of course, we started with the question, male or female?  After looking at the comparisons of our picture reference and the actual anatomy of our little fish my daughter determined that the fish was male. 

My daughter looking at a picture of male and female Tilapia

My daughter determining the sex of the fish.

Cut number one.

I think her face expression says it all.  Remember the inside was gushy mushy. 

Budding young scientist with ipad.

Our adventure continues......

Failure...

This is a continuation of my last post.  I had eluded to the fact that I wanted to discuss FAILURE.

I refuse to write a dissertation within this post so I will attempt to be brief.  Failure is so misunderstood in my experience.  It seems sometimes that we, in education or life, tend to have a distorted view of failing.  Failing is the one of the greatest things we can do.  It is the path to success.  How can you understand success without failure? 

I have used the example of learning to ride a bike to describe failing.  What if we were afraid to fail or stopped when we failed?  We would never have learned to ride a bike?  Failure is necessary.

So, in regards to this project.  We look forward to the failures that lie ahead.  Those hiccups will allow us to ask better questions and start new paths of discovery.  I am thankful that my plants died the first go around.  After a bit of research my plants suffered from "damping off."  A common fungus problem with new seedlings.  We have a new seedling approach and now know what to look for. My daughter will understand through this project that failure is necessary but it is how we respond to that failure that defines us. 

For those of you who do not see the pictures I will quote.  It is the last scene from Meet the Robinsons.  

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long.

We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... 

and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

Walt Disney