Aquaponics

The USU Technology and Engineering Education (TEE) Aquaponics Lab is a teaching lab where students apply integrative STEM concepts to raise fish and plants in a recirculating closed-loop system. Aquaponics combines hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aquaculture (raising fish) in a recirculating sustainable agricultural system where waste (total ammonia nitrogen, TAN) produced by farmed fish is transformed by beneficial bacteria through the nitrification process into the nutrients for plant growth. Aquaponic systems are self-contained ecosystems where water quality is continually monitored and adjusted to ensure a balance is maintained between the needs of the fish, beneficial bacteria, and plants to maintain a healthy system. 

The TEE Aquaponics Lab supports two courses in the Technology and Engineering Education program at USU: TEE 2200 – Aquaponic Systems (BPS) and TEE 5200 – Advanced Aquaponics. Both courses are open to students from any major, and TEE 2200 meets the USU Breadth requirement for Physical Science.

Curriculum

1. Introducing Aquaponics

  • 1-1 - Explain the benefits of aquaponics
  • 1-2 - Explain the symbiotic relationship within an aquaponic system
  • 1-3 - Explain the nitrification process within an aquaponic system
  • 1-4 - Follow safety practices

2. Develop/Implement a Standard Operating Procedure

  • 2-1 - Implement a fish health management operating procedure
  • 2-2 - Implement a water quality management operating procedure
  • 2-3 - Implement a feeding practices procedure

3. Designing/constructing an aquaponic system

  • 3-1 - Select an aquaponic system configuration (e.g. CHOP)
  • 3-2 - Establish a ratio of fish tank volume to grow bed area
  • 3-3 - Select pump size
  • 3-4 - Build grow beds
  • 3-5 - Build bell siphons
  • 3-6 - Build swirl filter
  • 3-7 - Build bio-filter
  • 3-8 - Build fish tank

4. Operating an aquaponic system

  • 4-1 - Perform a fishless cycle (establish beneficial bacteria)
  • 4-2 - Maintain swirl filter
  • 4-3 - Maintain bio-filter
  • 4-4 - Maintain water level
  • 4-5 - Maintain temperature
  • 4-6 - Maintain pH
  • 4-7 - Monitor total ammonia (ppm)
  • 4-8 - Monitor nitrite (ppm)
  • 4-9 - Monitor nitrate (ppm)
  • 4-10 - Monitor dissolved oxygen (DO) levels
  • 4-11 - Monitor iron (ppm)
  • 4-12 - Monitor salinity (ppt)
  • 4-13 - Monitor room temperature and humidity
  • 4-14 - Clean system

5. Raising fish

  • 5-1 - Select a species (e.g., fish)
  • 5-2 - Acclimate fish
  • 5-3 - Feed fish
  • 5-4 - Monitor fish for diseases
  • 5-5 - Euthanize fish
  • 5-6 - Harvest fish
  • 5-7 - Prepare fish

6. Growing plants

  • 6-1 - Select plants
  • 6-2 - Set-up lighting system
  • 6-3 - Sprout seeds
  • 6-4 - Propagate cuttings
  • 6-5 - Grow plants
  • 6-6 - Harvest plants
  • 6-7 - Prepare plants
Contact Information

Joseph Furse

Joseph Furse

Assistant Professor | Technology & Engineering Education

Applied Sciences, Technology, & Education (ASTE)

Phone: 435-797-1802
Office Location: Industrial Science 112-D