CROPKING.com's 200 Gallon Aquaponic System

cropking.com-Integrated Aquaculture and Hydroponics for theHome Hobbyist or Classroom (see Blogroll or useful links)
The Aquaponic System combines fish culture and true hydroponic plant production into one integrated ecosystem. Easy to set up and maintain, the Aquaponic System can provide you with fresh fish and produce from a clean and healthy environment year-round. It operates so well because the fish are providing the nutrients for the plants, and the plants clean up the water to make it a better place for the fish to live in. This mutually beneficial arrangement is the same as what goes on in nature, but this one is completely within your control. It’s an ideal way to get started in aquaculture and hydroponics! Growing fish like tilapia (also known as “Saint Peter’s fish,” “cherry snapper,” “silverbacks,” etc.) is easy and you can grow up to 100 lbs. in the Aquaponic System. An optional window in the tank makes learning fun because students can make observations as the fish interact with each other and the environment. The 4′ x 8′ hydroponic growing bed is terrific for a kitchen herb cutting garden, dozens of heads of lettuce or other salad greens. Imagine, fresh herbs and salads from your very own hydroponic garden! In the classroom, there’s ample space for individual student projects that simply makes learning fun and exciting. Our instruction manual shows you how easy it is to grow with CropKing! The Aquaponic System is made with durable, professional quality materials that are fully warranted. It comes complete and ready to set up with a 200-gallon fish tank, 4′ x 8′ hydroponic growing bed, an energy efficient, UL-listed air pump and hydroponic media. Optional equipment is available. The Aquaponic System package’s convenient size fits right through a standard doorway. Fresh veggies and fish year-round - CropKing’s Aquaponic System is ready now so order yours today! Literature is also available if you need more information or books on aquaculture and aquaponics.

Aquaponics- the basics from U.V.IDecember 8, 2006 at 12:10 am In Uncategorized Edit this post
Aquaculture attempts to produce marketable fish under controlled conditions, especially by providing clean water, oxygen, and feed. In closed recirculating systems water treatment is accomplished by removal of solid waste and the biological breakdown of nitrogenous metabolites. Successfully performing these tasks will increase unit production many times over an untreated system. Prepared, commercial diets of grains, fish meal protein, and vitamin/mineral supplements are fed to the fish at optimal feeding rates to ensure the best growth rate and highest production per unit. Water is continually pumped through the rearing tank and filters so that waste is removed and conditions for growth maintained at high levels. The incentives for the intensive production of fish in recirculating systems are the high cost of land, the ability to locate close to markets, and the high quality/high value crop that can be produced. The disincentives are the large capital investment required, high energy use, and the high skill level (and cost) of labor. Hydroponic systems are designed to concentrate production of a vegetable crop into areas smaller than that which would be required in field production of the same crop. This is done by providing a high level of nutrients and water to the plants. The same incentives and disincentives that apply to intensive recirculating aquaculture systems apply to these systems as well. An aquaponic system is a symbiotic joining of aquaculture and hydroponics. Nitrogen waste from fish metabolites provides needed nutrients to the vegetable crop. By removing these wastes the vegetables filter and clean the water improving the environment for the fish promoting faster growth and healthier fish. The University of the Virgin Islands aquaponic system is designed to produce 35-45 cases of lettuce each week and 700 - 900 lbs. of fish every 6 weeks. Lettuce is grown on floating polystyrene sheets in raft hydroponic culture. The variation in production of lettuce depends on the plant spacing in the grow-out area, which is dependent on the variety of lettuce grown, i.e. leaf, bibb, or romaine. The variation in production of fish depends on the stocking density and the water temperature. Slower growth rates and higher mortalities are observed at higher densities. Low temperatures slow the growth rate of tilapia.

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UVI Aquaculture Program

Facilities - UVI is located in the heart of beautiful St. Croix. The Aquaculture Program operates fifteen research-scale systems (six aquaponic and nine greenwater) as well as commercial-scale aquaponic and greenwater systems, a greenwater demonstration system with an associated vegetable garden, a fry sex-reversal system, a recirculating system for fingerling rearing and a purge system. The program annually produces about 20,000 lbs. of tilapia and a variety of vegetables

First Year Photos