Selling My System

This ad is appearing in the Facebook Marketplace as of July 25, 2017.

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Aquasprouts aquaponics indoor garden aquarium

Raise fish and grow plants simultaneously! Enjoy the aquatic cycle of nature with the AquaSprouts aquaponics aquarium setup. You can reap the benefits of your own indoor, edible garden through the symbiotic relationship of plants and fish known as the nitrogen cycle.

I’ve used this tank, with the help of two goldfish, to grow jalapeño peppers, basil, cilantro, lemon balm, and peppermint, but it certainly isn’t limited to these plants. It’d be great for any student or adult who is interested in learning about the sustainability of the environment or from someone who wants to have their own year-round garden. Since the process is natural, you can eat these plants. Larger systems are used commercially to raise fish, including tilapia, for consumption in restaurants, fruits such as strawberries, as well as for other plants and vegetables.

The tank itself has been featured on AquaSprouts’ Instagram account.

How It Works

1. You feed the fish
2. The fish digest the food and then poop in the tank, which ultimately creates a chemical called nitrites. These  turn into nitrates later. Higher concentrations of these naturally-occurring chemicals are deadly to fish if not filtered out regularly.
3. Fortunately, plants love nitrates. So, in an aquaponics system, the nitrate-rich water is pumped onto the plant bed, the plants use the nitrates for fuel, and the water, now nitrate-free, is returned to the tank so the fish can breathe. In a traditional aquarium, removing nitrates would be done through a combination of constant filtering, periodic water changes, and various treatments based on the results of water tests and analysis.

The Kit

My fully-functional kit includes:

• AquaSprouts Garden Instruction Manual
• AquaSprouts growbed and light bar.
• 10 gallon acrylic aquarium tank
• Submersible pump
• Water syphon
• Clay substrate where the plants will grow
• Water syphon (for water changes)
• Two 45-watt LED grow lights
• 15 amp 24-hour 3-prong timer for the submersible pump
• HyderFarm 7-day digital timer with two 3-prong outlets (for the lights)
• Whisper 10 aerator/air pump
• Nat Geo 50 watt aquarium heater with adjustable temperature setting
• Nat Geo 25 watt aquarium heater (when water changes are needed)
• Mag-Float aquarium cleaner
• Tetra 6-in-1 water test strips which can measure pH, NO2, NO3, KH, GH, and CL.
• API Ammonia test kit (NH3/NH4)
• API pH UP (helps to raise the pH if it is too low)
• Organic fish food (since you’re eating the plants, don’t use food from the pet store).
• Condensed experience as recorded from my blog, http://h2oponics.blogspot.com.

Some life changes have prevented me from being able to keep the system, but my loss can be your gain. Together, this system would normally cost $400, but you can begin your introductory adventure into aquaponics for much less.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLt6J-LAf9u/

If you're interested, you can either go to Facebook, send me a direct message, or a comment. I will get in touch with you.

Au revoir, aquaponics world!

Good Bye

As interesting as it was to successfully grow vegetables and herbs through an aquaponics tank, the time has come for me to exit the experiment.  I was going to do so eventually, but unfortunate circumstances have forced my hand. I'm a little sad about it, but it'll pass.

The original reasons were that I was attending trucking school in order to get my CDL license and become an over-the-road (OTR) trucker. I wouldn't be able to take care of the fish or the plants if I fell into this profession.  However, another event occurred to make my exit less graceful.

While the tank had good condition being in my bedroom, the noise every 45 minutes from the submersible water pump weren't conducive for sleeping. So, I had to move the tank to reduce the noise. Unfortunately, I moved the tank from the ideal environment of my darker bedroom to my office, which has more sunlight. As a result, the algae bloomed too much, and I couldn't control it. Ergo, the two goldfish died.

I created a rule not to name the fish because of their short life span. However, these fish did last about one year. I feel that I should have named them though. They did do a good job feeding my crops above them, so they should have at least been honored in this way. How about Laurel and Hardy? I'm sure that the lack of names didn't matter to them, but I'm sorry that I couldn't keep them alive. A toast to Laurel and Hardy.

The School and Journey to the CDL A

The first part of this school consisted of instruction and preparation for taking the necessary tests to get our permits along with the optional endorsements. The instruction here was a mix of rote via test, instructor anecdote, and various videos. Tight tabs were kept on time, and besides the lack of a syllabus, it seemed professional enough. This part was rather easy for me, partly because I had read the CDL (Commercial Driver's License) manual ahead of time and got my permit, albeit with no endorsements. Overall, the students passed the test on the first try, but others struggled. It took some many times to pass the General Knowledge test, even with two weeks of instruction. The General Knowledge test is the gateway for being able to take the other tests required to get a Class A CDL.

The second part of the school wasn't what I expected. The first day had us listening to a instructor who was more interested about preaching his personal story, and bromides about not doing drugs (didn't we pee into a cup for this?) than about teaching us the finer details of how to drive a truck. We were handed a bunch of photocopies from two chapters of a book and basically had to fend for ourselves to understand things. Some students, who had previous experience in other trucks, seemed to do well. Others, like myself, had some trouble.

Many of the instructors' maturity level hadn't extended beyond those of high school students. The singling out of some students by some instructors for ridicule without provocation along with encouragement for students to join in, was very unprofessional as well as disconcerting. There is a difference between P.C., professionalism, and manners that this school didn't care to understand. In my opinion, ridiculing students doesn't help them learn, but it may make the instructors feel better about themselves somehow (if that was their goal).

From the fourth day onward, the days' instruction was divided into practicing four maneuvers: straight-back, offset, 90º back, and blind-side parallel park. Some students would be diverted from this schedule for additional shifting and driving instruction on the road. We would take turns with each maneuver, with the instructor telling us exactly what to do each time.

Regarding this section, it was really discouraging to me that no extra attention, with the exception of one or two driving instructors, bothered to spend more time with a student to help them reach the proper level of achievement needed to succeed. There was little evaluation of our performance on each attempt. I felt like I was flailing. I could perform the maneuvers in this method, but I felt that it didn't help me to understand it so that I could do it myself. I did get better, but I felt like there was a faster, more encompassing method to learn this other than by rote.

Throughout all of the classroom and track instruction, recruiters would interrupt it in order to pitch their company to us.

To summarize, I did not like this school and would not recommend it. The rote method of learning, by itself, doesn't do it for me. I need the Why of what I'm learning along with the How. I wasn't doing as well as I wanted, but the instruction and instructors, overall, offered little encouragement; just a repeat of steps devoid of the details needed in order to do it yourself.

There was one instructor whom I thought was exceptional. Unfortunately, he wasn't in charge and I'm sure he didn't have any input into hiring either.

Ultimately, my experience really soured me on the trucking profession. I felt that I could have succeeded with better instruction, but I don't think the profession itself is the right one for me. It's not one where I could be happy and content. I think that I would get bored of it in a hurry.

Sure, I like the idea of being autonomous, but the monotony of the job would do me in even though it can pay well. It's rather disappointing that I spend over $4,200 to find this out.