Our Aquaponic System

Aquaponics is the bio-technology of growing plants with nutrient rich fish waste water. We raise Tilapia fish in a 55 gallon fish tank that pumps the tank water to a three foot long rain gutter. We use the NFT (Nutrient Flow Technique) to grow plants. In the past we have grown lettuce, basil, sweet peas, green peppers and most recently we have a had great success growing jalapeno peppers! The "dirty" water from the tank provides all the nutrients that the plants need to grow. The roots of the plants absorb the nitrates and in part clean the water and then that water is recycled back into the tank.

The fish need food and clean oxygen rich water to survive. The water must be warm; Tilapia like it best around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. We have had some success and failure with the fish which require much attention and constant monitoring. The Aquaponic System is an ideal "living" example of the Technology System Diagram that we teach each semester.


We have been working on our system for the better part of three years. After getting four tiny Tilapia from the Pioneer High School FFA Chapter (Teachers Martin Krause & Jon Clayson) we began this grand experiment! SUNY Cobleskill School of Agriculture (Dr. John Foster & Dr. George Crosby & Brent Lehman) have been a great resource and provider of Tilapia fish.

This project was also supported by a grant from McDonald's® Restaurants via a 2005 Mac Grant. This grant was made possible by the MacDonald's Operators Association of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania. We would like to thank MacDonalds for providing the students of Ray Middle School with a new and exciting project!