DENVER (CBS4) – Some believe it’s the future of farming because it uses only a fraction of the water. “The fish waste provides the nutrients to the plants,” explained J.D. Sawyer, owner of Colorado Aquaponics. Sawyer and his wife Tawnya have created a system of grow beds and […]
The Boulder News Team kindly featured Colorado Aquaponics’ Flourish Farms at GrowHaus. Check out this great video for the full story!
Meet Jack Ikard. A young gentleman with a passion to feed minds and fuel curiosity with aquaponics. Jack was introduced to aquaponics by his environmental science teacher during his junior year of high […]
Establishing the nitrogen cycle, AKA ‘cycling’, can be the hardest part of aquaponics, in part because the activity is all invisible to the naked eye. Aquaponics cycling, however, is the most crucial and probably the most difficult part of aquaponics – but it really isn’t that hard if you can be patient! We hope that […]
Just how do some greens grow exceptionally well in aquaponics? Well, we’ll tell ya. Fish produce waste that contains ammonia, which is then converted into nitrates by two important nitrifying bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira). Nitrosomonas bacteria create nitrites as a byproduct of their consumption of ammonia. […]
To review, carbonates “buffer” or modulate the movement of pH in your water. Buffer strength indicates how well the water in a system resists pH change when either an acid or a base is added. You can measure buffer strength using an API GH and KH test kit, and strengthen your buffer by adding […]
The good news – fish waste broken down by bacteria is a surprisingly complete plant fertilizer. However, aquaponic systems are routinely deficient in a few nutrients – primarily potassium, calcium, and iron. We routinely address the potassium and calcium deficiencies by buffering (raising) our system’s pH with compounds based on those elements. But what should […]
Most of us aquapons know that the health of all the creatures in our systems (fish, plants, worms, and bacteria) depends on proper pH. We also know that we are targeting pH in the 6.8 to 7.0 range but that we don’t have to worry about adjusting it until it goes down to 6.4 or […]
What makes you passionate about aquaponics? I’m sure an answer (or many) jumped to mind, from conserving water, to abundant nutritious food, the fish greeting you each morning or the empowering feeling of growing your own food. We love all of those things too, but what makes us passionate about aquaponics is being able to […]
The onset of the economic downturn may have proven to be a blessing in disguise for one of Denver, Colorado’s poorest inner city neighborhoods. Like so many other accomplished professionals, JD Sawyer was laid off from his job as the Director of Operations for Johnson & Wales University Denver campus in 2009. With extra time […]
