Aquaponics setup at Kelmscott High School

tonyabalone

Kelmscott High School is in the south eastern area of Perth. The school has a farm attached to it where agricultural studies is taught. I was asked to help set up an aquaculture shed where aquarium fish, yabbies etc can be raised and studied by the students. An aquaponics setup has now been established and barramundi are now thriving. I was there friday on a cold and wet winters day but the water temperature in the tank was 28 C, perfect for barra. Through Challenger Tafe we have donated a large fish tank and 15 barra (about 800 - 1000 g).

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growout beds above and tank below.jpg [ 101.94 KiB | Viewed 7962 times ]

If any teacher in the area would like to visit and take their class to Kelmscott then give Gary Lane a ring on mob. 0439900134.

As stated before I am also happy to show schools through the aquaculture centre at Fremantle which now includes several aquaponics setup. If interested then phone me on 92398015

RupertofOZ

Nice to see more schools getting involved with aquaponics....

I take it the tank is heated to keep it at 28 degrees.... what sort of heating is required to keep it at that temperature???.... is the room heated as well???

And as the system appears to be indoors... what sort & quantity of lighting is used??

Lastly... how big is the "large" tank.... and what other bio-filtration are you using for the approx 10-15kg of biomass??

RupertofOZ

And how about setting up a seperate thread showing the Challenger aquaponic systems... photos of course.... and explaining how they're set up, stocked, and generally performing...

Burnsy

If anyones school is planning on visiting Kelmscott, Westfield Primary are 800 metres down the road and you would be welcome to combine visits.

tonyabalone

Hi Rupert,

the grow beds are flood and drain with expanded clay. The tank is 2000 Litres and the school is slowly adding fish as the system becomes conditioned. We will put more barra in later when the system is ready. The room is air conditioned and I'm sorry but I'm not sure about the lighting details. I believe though that the lights were donated by the police. Apparently confiscated stock from drug raids.

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Barra loving the 28 C at Kelmscott HS.jpg [ 52.33 KiB | Viewed 7917 times ]

Burnsy

I assumed only one grow bed as that was allI could see but you say Grow beds. How many in total and are they all BYAP beds?

tonyabalone

There are three Burnsy. Is it you and your school that is visiting The Aquaculture Development Unit in Fremantle next month?

Burnsy

tonyabalone wrote:

There are three Burnsy. Is it you and your school that is visiting The Aquaculture Development Unit in Fremantle next month?

I contacted you last week, looking to visit in August. Just awaiting to confirm camp itinerary and I will let you know exact date and time.

RupertofOZ

OK... so the tank temperature is purely maintained by ambient air temp from the heat output of the lights and a reverse cycle aircon.... :shock:

What have they got the room temp set at... 35 degrees :lol:

With a total of 1500L of growbeds as bio-filtration... I assume that's the only bio-filtration, as you didn't mention anything else.... and a 2000L tank with approx 10-15kg of biomass already stocked...

You must have supplemantary aeration.... but I figure you must also be feeding between 500-750gm of feed a day.... and at near max metabolic/respiration rates...

You reckon three new growbeds in a brand new uncycled system will cope with water filtration and oxygenation demands????.... and maintain acceptable water quality parameters???

And how much more biomass do you think you can stock with the setup as it is??

Chappo

HSM on it's way

RupertofOZ

Actually... just realised ... I worked out the feed rate at 5% of biomass...

At the size they are... they might only be feeding 2% of biomass.... which would make it about 300+ grams a day..... still a lot for new growbeds...

Are these the Barra that BYAP donated to Challenger... and have been on-donated... :lol:

tonyabalone

Rupert most of the fish have come directly from Tafe after being bred and raised there. The recent additions ( 4 fish from memory) were from Challenger Tafe via Backyard Aquaponics. I had made arrangements with Joel to take his large Barra off his hands as they were outdoors in very cold water. Joel said they were of no use to him at this time of the year. I said that I would replace the fish with the younger barra. later in the year that we have coming through the system.

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barramundi fry 40 days 001.jpg [ 122.64 KiB | Viewed 7844 times ]

I contacted Kelmscott and told them that I had left some barra for them in the tank at Backyard Aquaponics but they would have to pick them up as it was easier than me taking them all the way back to Tafe and then delivering them myself to Kelmscott. This they subsequently did.

RupertofOZ

Nice gesture Tony....

What are your thoughts regarding the filtration issue and subsequent increase in stocking?

tonyabalone

Rupert the three beds are all that is available. I've just been informed by one of the teachers that he and his class paid for two of them. It would be nice to have more but there is no more room in the shed, which by the way is a coverted piggery. This of course limits the final stocking density.The tank and growbeds have been in operation for a few months now and the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate have been monitored and so far so good. Fish have been gradually added and if anything Phil the farm technician who looks after the shed(amongst his many other jobs) has been underfeeding to ensure the system is not overloaded. I've been occasionally taking dissolved oxygen readings (I'm only there for about 90 minutes each week) and the water is usually around 95% saturated). As for the final stocking density I don't see it getting more than 10 kilos per cubic metre as being a school come school holidays etc it just means more work for Phil if the stocking densities are high. The cost of feed is also a factor and Phil is coming to see me on monday to pick up some barra. feed.
The whole system will be closed down in early December and started up again in february when schools back.

RupertofOZ

Ah... ok.... apologies... had the impression that the system was basically new... and perhaps uncycled...

So about 20kg of biomass ultimately... shouldn't be a problem...

As the growbeds are draining directly back to the tank... and as you didn't indicate any other aeration... it's good to have an actual DO reading that high.... verified with a reliable meter...

Long been held that a basic aquaponics system was sufficient for aeration... and some testing had confirmed that... but worthwhile data indeed...

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics