by Anna Larson-Cheng, April 13th, 2018
On Tuesday, April 10, the A1 Aquaponics class took a trip to Ghandi Mahal, an Indian restaurant located in South Minneapolis. The goal of the field trip was to view and learn about the restaurant's aquaponics system. Aquaponics is when you create a symbiosis between fish and plants. The fish waste will provide nutrients for the plants, while the plants filter the water, which can then go back into the fish tank.
While waiting for the bus that would bring us to Ghandi Mahal, we came up with many questions about the aquaponics system such as: What materials were used to build the aquaponics system? What kind of fish do you use? How many plants do you grow?
We arrived at the restaurant and took part in their absolutely fabulous buffet. After eating, we toured the aquaponics system with its cattle trough of live fish and four raised beds growing healthy, green plants. The water from the cattle trough of fish is cycled through the plant beds. The plants take the nutrients from the fish waste and the water filtered by the plants is cycled back into the cattle trough.
After our tour, we took a picture outside of the restaurant and ran--on full stomachs--to the light rail, which we were about to miss. We made the train, and got back to school in plenty of time.
Overall, I think the trip was rather successful. We learned a lot, and had a great experience
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written by Lydia Chung, April 26th, 2018
Hello! This is an update from the A1 Aquaponics crew.
This week, we’ve been very busy! We finally set up the fish tank and are letting it fill with healthy bacteria. Our biologist crew has been contacting companies to purchase fathead minnows from, while our botanists have been faithfully monitoring our plants and creating beautiful watercolors of their growth. Our botanists have also been working on hanging up grow lights to keep the plants happy! In addition to all of this work, we’ve set up a page on Donors Choose to help us fund our water filtration system. Please help us by donating here!