Aquaponics
Throughout the winter, a specific group of students have been diligently growing and maintaining a small scale aquaponics system. I worked with two other girls, Nicole and Issy, as we tried to grow wheatgrass, green beans, and basil with our fish Hercules. The project was rewarding in the sense that each time we returned to class, there was growth. This made the frequent logs and tests bearable, as there was actually something to log about. The wheatgrass grew the fastest and most abundantly. During the early months, we got to know our fish and determined that he was stressed. Hercules was showing symptoms of lack of eating and swimming and being the physicians we are, with the help of google, decided that he was stressed. The cure was to raise the temperature of the water, which we did by making a sign asking other students not to open the window near our tank.Flash forward three months later. It is late spring. Hercules has unfortunately passed away. He had been becoming paler and paler as the days passed, he wasn't eating and wasn't able to swim. Along with his sickness, many of our plants started to dry up. Our teacher made the executive decision to put him out of his misery and so we did(placing him in an alcohol solution that killed him instantly.) we made sure to have a proper funeral in his memory.
Although Hercules didn't make it, my group now has all of the necessary skills to create a larger aquaponics system!
Although Hercules was not with us long, he was well cared for by you and your group mates! Interestingly, I got some bettas at the same time in my classroom and pretty much ignored them/fed them very infrequently--they're as healthy as can be. I also threw some Elodea in...wondering if the lack of food (less waste in the water) and the Elodea is key. At the very least, you know how to take measurements once we get the large scale system going.
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