[slideshow]

by Apon Research Students

Slimy fish squirmed between our fingers as we tried to avoid their spikes while getting accurate data for our Aquaponics research project. Today was our first four and a half hour official research block. We started the session with a harkness discussion ranging from the positives and negatives of tilapia to our goals for the future of Aquaponics. We followed this discussion by doing hands on work with the tilapia. It was a new experience for all of us because we had to learn the basics for capturing a sample population of fish from the tanks. In order to do so, we plunged half our bodies into the dirty fish water with big rusty nets in our hands. We also learned how to weigh and measure all of the fish. This was difficult at first, but our perseverance paid off and we managed to get a firm hand on the fish only after getting pricked by their spikes a few times. We ended the data collection with 50 healthy tilapia fish back in their tank and precise data to tell us how big the fish are, how quickly they are growing, and how much food to feed them. Overall, this was a successful first week and the Aquaponics team is ready to adventure into the world of sustainability.