Online Aquaponic Course
Course Code
BHT319
Payment Options
Upfront & Payment Plans
Delivery
Online & Correspondence
Duration
100 Hours
Aquaponics Production programs have been developed in response to industry demand and are specifically designed to equip graduates with work-ready skills. Each participant will be trained and assessed in theory and in practical tasks. Real-world exercises are used throughout the program.
Aquaponics is the integration of hydroponics with aquaculture technologies.
• Hydroponics is the horticultural process of growing plants in mediums other than soil.
• Aquaculture is the culture of aquatic organisms (such as fish and crustaceans) for commercial purposes under controlled or partly controlled conditions.
There are 10 lessons in this course:
- Introduction
- What is aquaponics
- History of aquaponics
- Why aquaponics
- World food
- Urban farming
- Cost benefit analysis
- Is aquaponics organic
- The aquaponics system
- Can it be used with salt water
- Types of Systems:constant flow closed reciprocating, open, deep water, floating raft
- Outdoor or indoor systems
- Barrel ponics, wick, NFT, etc
- Advantages and disadvantages of aquaponics
- Scale of operation
- Aquaponic System Options
- Recirculating systems
- Non recirculating (open loop systems or micropnics)
- Components of commercial fish rearing systems
- Aquaponic sub systems
- Deep water culture (DWC)
- Intermittent flow (Ebb and flow)
- Nutrient film technique (NFT)
- Gravel bed systems
- Barrel ponics systems
- Equipment: commercial and backyard
- System components
- Tanks
- Aeration devices
- Solids removal: clarifiers, solids tanks, filters,screens
- Biofilters
- Sump and pH adjustment tank
- Water heaters and chillers
- Greenhouse houses and fish rearingfacilities
- Alarm and back up systems
- Hydroponic grow beds and types of media
- Maintenance, water monitoring and adjustment
- Organic vs non organic
- Combining worms with growing beds
- The Science of Animal and Plant Growth
- Plant growth factors
- How plants grow
- Plant structure: roots, stems, leaves, reproductive parts
- Biochemistry and aquaponics
- Biochemical processes in a cell
- Photosynthesis
- Mechanisms of nutrient uptake
- Plant nutrients
- Role of pH in plant growth
- Animal science
- Bony fish (Osteichthyes) and their biology
- Crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp and prawns
- Nutrition and Controlling Growth
- Water soluble chemical compounds: ions
- Less water soluble chemicals
- Complex chemical compounds
- Understanding nutrient formulae
- Hydroponic nutrient formulae
- Atoms, elements and componds
- How are chemical names written
- What does a plant need
- Calculating formulae
- Mixing nutrients
- Case study
- Symptoms of nutrient deficiency
- Nutrients in aquaponics
- Variables in aquaponics: conductivity, ph control, oxygenation, beneficial bacteria in aquaponics
- Selecting and Managing Animal Production; Fish and Crustaceans
- Choosing what to farm
- Climate
- Water
- Finance
- Scale of operation
- Other resources
- Market
- Availability of animals
- Risk considerations
- Overview of main species to grow: in Asia, South Africa, Australia, U.K., Europe, North America, South America
- Trout: Rainbow, Brown
- Bass
- Tilapia
- Catfish
- Barramundi
- Carp
- Mullet
- Sunfish
- Eels
- Marron
- Other species: ornamental fish, crustaceans and molluscs, lgae
- Sourcing fish and crustaceans
- Fish food
- Which type of fish food to use: pellets, live food, daphnia, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, earthworms, oil meals
- Other food
- Fish food production: beef heartlegumes, seafood and vegetable mix,
- Earthworms: setting up, adding worms
- Compost: understanding, making, conditions for compost production
- Fish health
- Common pests and diseasesin aquaponics
- Penaeid shrimp diseases
- Fish diseases
- Salinity and system health
- Setting up an Aquaculture System
- Choosing the right sized system
- Selecting the right components
- Setting up the system
- Getting started
- Threats to the system
- Using a greenhouse
- Greenhouses: passive systems, active systems
- Active solaqr heating
- Greenhouse management
- Controlling the growing environment
- Light control
- Air temperature control
- Root temperature control
- Relative humidity and vapour pressure deficit
- Controlling humidity
- Carbon dioxide and oxygen
- Computer controls
- Aquaponic Plant Culture
- Selecting media for aquaponic plant culture
- Types of media Growing seedlings
- Seed sources
- Sowing seed
- Seed propagating media
- Sowing seed direct
- Vegetables in aquaponics
- Herbs
- Successional planting
- Flow charting a crop
- Controlling plant growth: stopping, spacing, disbudding, trimming, training
- Pollination
- Pest, disease and other crop problems: overview, identification
- Pest, disease and disorder control in aquaponics
- Applications and Opportunities
- Aquaponics for profit
- Economic thresholds
- Harvest and post harvest management of fish
- Harvest and post harvest management of vegetables and herbs
- Harvested crop physiology: fruit ripening, respiration, when to harvesy
- How to prepare salad mixes from harvested vegetables: chlorine levels in water for washing produce, preventing bruising and rots, packaging
- CA and MA storage
- Chilling damage and storage temperature
- Harvesting and grading vegetables
- Fruit grading systems
- Marketing
- Managing an Aquaponics Venture -including a PBL
- Case study: University of the Virgin Islands system
- Case study: North Carolina State University system
- Case study: Speraneo system
- What is an aquaponic trial?
- Running an aquaponic trial
- Research methodology
- PBL Project: Create and present a plan with specific strategies for improving the crop production of an aquaponics system in terms of amount and quality of produce harvested based on a clear understanding of the system’s requirements and its location (greenhouse or open air; temperate, subtropical, or tropical climate)
- Troubleshooting
- Water supply problems
- pH problems
- Algae growth
- Dirty, cloudy water
- Water imbalances; high levels of ammonia or nitrite
- Imbalances in gases
- Fish troubleshooting
- Controlling salinity and nutrients without damaging fish
- Plant troubleshooting
- Diseases
- Pythium in aquaponics
- Pests
- Environmental physiological disorders
- Nutrition problems in aquaponics
- Deficiency symptoms
- Correcting nutrient problems in aquaponics
- Fruit set management: pollinationfloral initiation, fruit growth
- Flower and fruit development problems
- Fish eating plant roots
- Power losses
- Clogging with sediment
- Fish to plant imbalances
- Pathogenic contamination issues
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
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