Aquaponics Course - Special Offer - Distance Learning
Start at a time to suit you and work at your own pace.
COURSE STRUCTURE AND LESSON CONTENT
Course Duration: 100 hours.
Start Date: Start at any time - study at a pace that suits you, and with full tutor support for the duration of your studies.
Lessons: The course comprises 10 lessons as detailed, below.
Lesson 1. Introduction
- What is aquaponics?
- History of aquaponics.
- Why aquaponics?
- World food.
- Urban farming.
- Cost benefit analysis.
- Is aquaponics organic.
- The aquaponics system.
- Can it be used with salt water.
- Types of Systems:constant flow closed reciprocating, open, deep water, floating raft.
- Outdoor or indoor systems.
- Barrel ponics, wick, NFT, etc.
- Advantages and disadvantages of aquaponics.
- Scale of operation.
Lesson 2. Aquaponic System Options
- Recirculating systems.
- Non recirculating (open loop systems or microponics).
- Components of commercial fish rearing systems.
- Aquaponic sub systems.
- Deep water culture (DWC).
- Intermittent flow (Ebb and flow).
- Nutrient film technique (NFT).
- Gravel bed systems.
- Barrel ponics systems.
- Equipment: commercial and backyard.
- System components.
- Tanks.
- Aeration devices.
- Solids removal: clarifiers, solids tanks, filters, screens.
- Biofilters.
- Sump and pH adjustment tank.
- Water heaters and chillers.
- Greenhouse houses and fish rearing facilities.
- Alarm and back up systems.
- Hydroponic grow beds and types of media.
- Maintenance, water monitoring and adjustment.
- Organic vs non organic.
- Combining worms with growing beds.
Lesson 3. The Science of Animal and Plant Growth
- Plant growth factors.
- How plants grow.
- Plant structure: roots, stems, leaves, reproductive parts.
- Biochemistry and aquaponics.
- Biochemical processes in a cell.
- Photosynthesis.
- Mechanisms of nutrient uptake.
- Plant nutrients.
- Role of pH in plant growth.
- Animal science.
- Bony fish (Osteichthyes) and their biology.
- Crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp and prawns.
Lesson 4. Nutrition and Controlling Growth
- Water soluble chemical compounds: ions.
- Less water soluble chemicals.
- Complex chemical compounds.
- Understanding nutrient formulae.
- Hydroponic nutrient formulae.
- Atoms, elements and compounds.
- How are chemical names written?
- What does a plant need.
- Calculating formulae.
- Mixing nutrients.
- Case study.
- Symptoms of nutrient deficiency.
- Nutrients in aquaponics.
- Variables in aquaponics: conductivity, ph control, oxygenation, beneficial bacteria in aquaponics.
Lesson 5. Selecting and Managing Animal Production: Fish and Crustaceans
- Choosing what to farm.
- Climate.
- Water.
- Finance.
- Scale of operation.
- Other resources.
- Market.
- Availability of animals.
- Risk considerations.
- Overview of main species to grow: in Asia, South Africa, Australia, U.K., Europe, North America, South America.
- Trout: Rainbow, Brown.
- Bass.
- Tilapia.
- Catfish.
- Barramundi.
- Carp.
- Mullet.
- Sunfish.
- Eels.
- Marron.
- Other species: ornamental fish, crustaceans and molluscs.
- Sourcing fish and crustaceans.
- Fish food.
- Which type of fish food to use: pellets, live food, daphnia, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, earthworms, oil meals.
- Other food.
- Fish food production: beef heartlegumes, seafood and vegetable mix.
- Earthworms: setting up, adding worms.
- Compost: understanding, making, conditions for compost production.
- Fish health.
- Common pests and diseases in aquaponics.
- Penaeid shrimp diseases.
- Fish diseases.
- Salinity and system health.
Lesson 6. Setting up an Aquaculture System
Choosing the right sized system.- Selecting the right components.
- Setting up the system.
- Getting started.
- Threats to the system.
- Using a greenhouse.
- Greenhouses: passive systems, active systems.
- Active solar heating.
- Greenhouse management.
- Controlling the growing environment.
- Light control.
- Air temperature control.
- Root temperature control.
- Relative humidity and vapour pressure deficit.
- Controlling humidity.
- Carbon dioxide and oxygen.
- Computer controls.
Lesson 7. Aquaponic Plant Culture
- Selecting media for aquaponic plant culture.
- Types of media Growing seedlings.
- Seed sources.
- Sowing seed.
- Seed propagating media.
- Sowing seed direct.
- Vegetables in aquaponics.
- Herbs.
- Successional planting.
- Flow charting a crop.
- Controlling plant growth: stopping, spacing, disbudding, trimming, training.
- Pollination.
- Pest, disease and other crop problems: overview, identification.
- Pest, disease and disorder control in aquaponics.
Lesson 8. Applications and Opportunities
- Aquaponics for profit.
- Economic thresholds.
- Harvest and post harvest management of fish.
- Harvest and post harvest management of vegetables and herbs.
- Harvested crop physiology: fruit ripening, respiration, when to harvest.
- How to prepare salad mixes from harvested vegetables: chlorine
levels in water for washing produce, preventing bruising and rots,
packaging.
- CA and MA storage Chilling damage and storage temperature.
- Harvesting and grading vegetables.
- Fruit grading systems.
- Marketing.
Lesson 9. Managing an Aquaponics Venture - including a Problem Based Learning Project (PBL - see more below)
- Case study: University of the Virgin Islands system.
- Case study: North Carolina State University system.
- Case study: Speraneo system.
- What is an aquaponic trial?
- Running an aquaponic trial.
- Research methodology.
- PBL Project: Create and present a plan with specific strategies
for improving the crop production of an aquaponics system in terms of
amount and quality of produce harvested based on a clear understanding
of the system’s requirements and its location (greenhouse or open air;
temperate, subtropical, or tropical climate).
Lesson 10. Troubleshooting
- Water supply problems.
- pH problems.
- Algae growth.
- Dirty, cloudy water.
- Water imbalances; high levels of ammonia or nitrite.
- Imbalances in gases.
- Fish troubleshooting.
- Controlling salinity and nutrients without damaging fish.
- Plant troubleshooting.
- Diseases.
- Pythium in aquaponics.
- Pests.
- Environmental physiological disorders.
- Nutrition problems in aquaponics.
- Deficiency symptoms.
- Correcting nutrient problems in aquaponics.
- Fruit set management: pollination, floral initiation, fruit growth.
- Flower and fruit development problems.
- Fish eating plant roots.
- Power losses.
- Clogging with sediment.
- Fish to plant imbalances.
- Pathogenic contamination issues.
Any Questions?
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