Tomas' Environmental Science Blog: Honors Report

Tomas Pena

Honors Project Write Up

My project for Environmental Science is an aquaponics system. The system I built is designed to sustain fish and plants efficiently. There have been many challenges with this project, but I feel the knowledge I gained was worth it. I had the aquaponics system designed to have goldfish in a small aquarium as a sort of attraction in the class. The plants growing would be a bonus, providing cleaner water for the fish. The fish would provide nutrients for the plants in turn.

The issues I’ve had with the project include starting up without necessary materials, and also setting up the aquarium incorrectly. I rushed to get the aquarium set up with fish in it. This did not turn out the way I had intended though. I did not have a filter for the water and the plants I set up did not have adequate lighting. Within the first few weeks several goldfish died, and I had to remove one plant because it was wilted and dying. Now there are 3 surviving goldfish, who have gotten used to the aquarium. More fish will be brought later from the fish store to inhabit my aquarium.

I recently supplied a light and a filter for the system. The light should allow the tomato plant growing in the system to have enough required daylight for photosynthesis. The filter should prevent the water in the tank from getting over polluted from excess fish waste. This thus helps the system in case something goes wrong within the system. Now it has reached a ‘homeostasis’ of sorts, but to be sure, I’m going to add more fish and wait for the plant to grow.

Aquaponics can be done in many ways, so this project has many different solutions to tackling problem. Which is why I will continue to work and modify my project. Maintenance is key, and my objective is not to have a “final product” or a fullgrown plant or fish to eat from it, my project is about testing out an aquaponics system, learning how it works, and being able to educate people on it as well.

Here is how I approached the project:

The first two weeks I made did research and designed an aquaponics system. I had to get a list of materials to retrieve, and also a note of how I would put together the system to work. My first problem arose when I did not know exactly what to do as far as the design went for my project. Going to a hydroponic store and seeing their aquaponics system gave me the idea of what to use in the project. The next two to three weeks was used to retrieve the materials. A pump, tubes for piping, canisters to hold plants, clay medium, and an aquarium with the normal aquarium gear was bought and brought back to the class. I had gotten the fish and seedlings a few days afterwards, starting up the system. The shock of transfer killed off a couple of the goldfish on the first few days. Later I had to buy an automatic feeder which could feed the fish during Thanksgiving break. And afterwards, I’d gotten a hold of the aquarium day light and filter. A timer was provided by Lia.

If I had to say something to anyone hoping to follow in my footsteps, know what you’re getting. Get everything before hand and set up the tank before transferring the fish and plants.