Workshop:

Aquaponics Workshop @ Transnatural

Build a vertical aquaponics farm

7 Sep 2012

Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that combines the cultivation of vegetables and fish. We're sharing our knowledge and enabling people to build their own aquaponics system at home. That's why we built another tower during the Transnatural Festival on September 7. Want to participate in a workshop? Get your ticket(s) online - the next one is planned for October 10.

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Aquaponics tower - De workshop is afgerond en de Aquaponics toren is klaar voor gebruik. Hij wordt bezichtigd op het Transnatural Festival. Fay Gramberg

What is Aquaponics?

The Aquaponic Gardening Community describes aquaponics as "the cultivation of fish and plants together in a constructed, recirculating ecosystem utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish waste to plant nutrients. This is an environmentally, friendly, natural food-growing method that harnesses the best attributes of aquaculture and hydroponics, without the need to discard any water or filtrate or add chemical fertilizer."

The Mediamatic Aquaponics team is currently building an urban oasis based on this ecofriendly system.

What will you learn?

We'll start the day with an introduction to aquaponics. How does it work? How do you create a balanced eco-system in the tanks and grow beds? We'll also discuss fish, plants, and bacteria. Basically you'll get an 30 minute-long crash course in biology by our team.

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Cutting IBC's during the aquaponics workshop - Tijdens de Aquaponics workshop op het Transnatural festival worden de IBC's op maat gesneden en worden vervolgens gebruikt voor de vissen en de plantenbedden. Fay Gramberg


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ikPoll op Transnatural festival - De Aquaponics toren wordt bezichtigd op het Transnatural festival. Fay Gramberg

Next, guided by our trainers, you will learn how to build an aquaponics tank from scratch. We'll have all the necessary materials at our space, where we will build the tank together as a team. It's more or less a plumbing / carpenter training specifically focused on the type of aquaponics tank we built previously at Mediamatic. By the end of the day you will know exactly what you need to build your own tank at home, and how the eco-system of the tanks and grow beds works.

Participant Arthur made some very nice pictures of the workshop as well. You can see them on Facebook.

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Sawing pipes for aquaponics set-up - Tijdens de Aquaponics workshop op het Transnatural festival worden de pijpen voor de Aquaponics toren op maat gezaagd. Fay Gramberg

More information

The workshop took place at Nemo Science Centre from 10.00 to 18.00 hours. Want to participate on another date? Our next aquaponics workshop is on October 10. Contact Deborah Meibergen if you have any questions.