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AUTHORS: Brittney Adams, University Nebraska at Kearney; Nate Bickford, University Nebraska at Kearney
ABSTRACT: We are all to familiar with Murphy’s Law, the one that states what can go wrong, will go wrong. Murphy’s Law has help with some of the most important scientific finding (i.e. antibiotics), but often it just … hurts. Aquaponics is the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture. It uses fish held in tanks in combination with produce. The water from the tanks is filtered through media (gravel, sand, etc.) that house bacteria. The bacteria in turn break down the fish waste to nitrate and nitrite which is then transported via water to the agricultural produce. Aquaponics is gaining in popularity worldwide, because of its many possibilities. It can grow biomass (fish and vegetables) quickly, cut down on the carbon foot print, it has chemical free qualities, allows for zero food miles, and it can use otherwise discarded materials to maintain and build the systems, as well as increase food security decreasing food deserts in urban and rural areas. We had three different set of experiments each had 10 ten gallon tanks. Each experiment was observed for a six-month time period, nutrient readings, fish health, plants health and production weights were all recorded. Each experiment manipulated a different aspect of production factors. We began to notice that things were not working well in our systems so we made changes. The data indicated that the changes we made were beneficial for systems. This talk will show you just how bad murphy’s law can hurt.
