Ray Aquaponics

2011-10-07T10:26:00.001-04:00

LOOK at the new team ...

2011-10-07T10:23:00.002-04:00

The Crawfish are almost here! We will upload photos of the Bonsai wheel and the Crawfish.

The Hydroponic Wheel is doing good too! We just planted new plants, and we are ready for the Strawberries!!

Shutting Down For The Summer!

2010-06-01T10:25:00.003-04:00

We are finally shutting down for the summer! The bonzai wheel is empty, and we will soon finish cleaning up! We will be icing the fish soon, and giving away the last bit of catnip and chives(the mint died). Of course, I did not help selling lettuce, because of my allergies and my cold...

Mrs. Wallace and Mr. Sparaer Saved The Day

2010-04-26T10:26:00.007-04:00

Last week, we had spring break. On Wednesday, all of the school's power was shut off. Mrs. Wallace came in, moved all of the fish into one tank, and kept the power running! She came back three times, traveling from Fulton, to here, a LONG distance! Also, Mr. Sparaer came in and fed the fish every day! Thank-you!

We goofed!

2010-04-08T10:33:00.002-04:00

As we told you in the last post, we got rid of a system due to the motor not running, but we didn't realize that it was really the OUTLET that had stopped working! Mr. L. fixed the problem though, but we might not add the system back to the tank. Also, the boy that we had kicked out is back and the boy we recruited is gone!

Changing

2010-03-16T10:09:00.004-04:00

We've gotten rid of someone for a while, and added 3 extra people temporarily. The one person was not working enough and 2 of the extra people can come in at a better time than we can. The other will be working with me opposite of the remaining girl. We now have a total of 5 students working on the systems, but only two people come in at once, which is very helpful, since, in the past, they've had about 6 people working on the same things at the same times. That is not a good thing. Also, the fish have started breeding and we have gotten rid of the system we introduced a while ago, due to the motor not working and it being so hard to clean anything in the tank.

Got rid of this system

We got rid of the nasty tomato plants!

2010-03-04T10:10:00.010-05:00

One plant
being cut apart(left).
Me cutting the plant
apart (right).

That plant wasn't worth all the trouble. We're replacing it with cucumbers!

The roots of the heirloom tomato plant (left)Me taking the system apart (right).

Our new system!!

2010-03-03T10:27:00.003-05:00

Our new system is basically a dripping system. The water comes into it through a tube, then drips back into the tank. In it, we have mint and lettuce seedlings. We may be adding more plants to our inventory, because the dreaded tomatoes did not grow! We are thinking about adding cucumbers and cilantro!

Goodbye Fish!

2010-02-15T10:02:00.003-05:00

During the break, Mr. l is going to ice a bunch of tilapia because we cant keep up with the filters and their waste.

Sale!

2010-02-10T15:22:00.001-05:00

We finally had that sale, but we are done. Keep ordering!

In The News

2010-01-29T17:00:00.005-05:00

B'ville: Growing lesson bears lettuce
Maurice Lepine 01/14/10
At Ray Middle School, seventh-graders Racheal Miller, left, Jeremy Schutz, center, and Cicely Ekross make up the technology department’s hydroponic/aquaponic team. Since the beginning of the school year, the trio has maintained Ray’s hydroponic and aquaponic systems during their study halls. On a daily basis, the dedicated students clean fish tank filters, feed the fish and care for and harvest plants. The students are growing hydroponic lettuce to sell to the school’s staff members to raise money that will fund an educational summer trip to Oswegatchie Camp in the Adirondacks.

Sale!!!

2010-01-20T13:34:00.005-05:00

We sold more bags today but not many. Any teachers at ray: contact mr lepine, or leave a comment, if you would like some lettuce! We work at a first order first serve basis, so we can not get lettuce to everyone during one sale. Anyone who orders will be put on a waiting list, so order even when we're not selling. Thank you.

Peppers and Tomatoes

2010-01-12T13:36:00.002-05:00

Peppers Tomatoes

More Plants

2010-01-12T13:32:00.003-05:00

catnip and mint mint

2010-01-11T14:03:00.002-05:00

Lettuce Chives

the 2009-2010 team!!!!!

2010-01-11T10:17:00.001-05:00

we're crazy for hydroponics/aquaponics!!!!!

What's Growing

2009-04-21T10:08:00.002-04:00

We decided to plant some "different" plants to put into our plasma pockets. We decided to plant radishes. Check out these pictures.

Fish Attack

2009-03-11T13:14:00.004-04:00

This a video of our Tilapia eating lettuce.I guess they like it too!

Bonzai Wheel

2009-03-09T14:49:00.003-04:00

Our bonzai wheel is the fullest it has ever been! Everything thing is growing good and fast. So we are going to sell lots of lettuce in the upcoming months.

The Plasma Ponix

2009-03-03T10:31:00.002-05:00

In our lab we made a new system for our fish tank. It works by having a pump pump water to a three opening nozzle. We control the water flow by turning the knobs and it drips down to the two level plant pockets. We are currently growing radishes and cilantro.

Float System

2009-01-09T10:28:00.003-05:00

Remember the post called Our New System. Well we did something new with it. We put it in the new fish tank. Instead of putting nutrients into the bin, the plants take it directly from the tank water, thus cleaning the tank.

The Drip System

2009-01-05T10:19:00.002-05:00

Remember the drip system from our earlier post? Well, currently it is growing hot peppers and cucumbers like crazy. The first couple of weeks after we set it up it was not working to well now it is growing every thing really fast.

The New Tank

2009-01-05T10:06:00.003-05:00

One of our beloved teachers in our school was courteous enough to give us a fish tank that she had in her basement. We are very grateful for this tank because our other tank was getting very dirty and unhealthy for our fish. It is a 55 gallon vertical tank and we badly needed it. We transported half of the fish in our other tank to the fish won't be over crowed. Everybody on the team is thankful for Mrs.Ramin and the tank she gave us.

The Fish

2008-12-01T10:19:00.002-05:00

The fish in our tank are growing really big. We are feeding them and cleaning their filters every other day. so even though they are becoming a lot of work they are growing our plants and that is exactly what we want them to do.

The Lab

2008-11-14T10:26:00.002-05:00

Every thing in our lab is doing great! The fish tank is growing the cucumbers and the Bonzai wheel is growing the lettuce like crazy. To all the Teachers at Ray you can stop down by the Tech lab any time to see any of our equipment.

Our Sale

2008-11-14T10:16:00.002-05:00

On Thursday We came around selling all of our lettuce. It was a great success ! Now in a few weeks the lettuce will be ready and we be coming around again. Since we cut the heads right they will be ready to go soon!

Hanna Probe

2008-11-10T10:28:00.003-05:00

We use this probe to test the conditions of our fish tank to make sure they're right for our fish. The probe measures mS/cm, ppm, pH, and degrees Celsius. All you do is stick it into the water, turn it on and it measures these four things that are important to the health of our fish

Our New System!!

2008-11-05T10:22:00.002-05:00

In our lab we a new hydroponic system. It is a plastic bin filled with water with foam floating on the top. It has an aerator that pumps water through holes and into cups with lettuce, peppers and cucumbers. I think it is really neat!

Tilapia

2008-11-03T19:31:00.007-05:00

Tilapia have nearly one hundred species and belongs to the cichlid family. These fish inhabit fresh and brackish water all over the world. Also they are very popular in the united states for seafood platters. Tilapia are omnivorous but usually feed on soft aquatic vegetation. Where these fish are introduced they often become an invasive species and take over that whole area of water and wipe out all other fish. This is not so good.

What are hydroponics and aquaponics?

2008-11-03T13:37:00.006-05:00

Hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil or natural sunlight. The plants receive they're nutrition through enriched water. in order for the water to become enriched we add nutrients to the water. Adding all the nutrients individually would be a nightmare so we ad mixtures of nutrients called zeta A and zeta B. The light needed for photosynthesis is provided by a powerful light bulb.

Aquaponics uses fish waste to deliver nutrition to plants that are grown also without soil or natural sunlight. the water containing the waste is transported to the plants and passes through their roots where they are absorbed. The now cleaner water is then cycled back into the fish tank. The light again comes from a light bulb. This method of growing plants has the additional benefit of raising fish that can also be eaten. :(

The Fish Tank

2008-11-03T12:55:00.005-05:00

In our lab we have a 55 gallon fish tank holding 19 tilapia that eat and produce waste. We have a submersible pump that pumps the water through two troughs. In each trough we have hot peppers and cucumbers. The plants then absorb the ammonia and nitrates that are essential for the plant to grow and found in the fishes waste and use them. Thus growing the plants without dirt and keeping the tank clean .

Our Equipment

2008-11-03T10:18:00.005-05:00

The top picture is our drip system that drops water onto the plant seedlings. The picture on the bottom is the system on top of the fish tank that has water pumped into it and it absorbs the nutrients from the water.