Our red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) have been doing well in the aquaponics showcase system. Look at this tiny baby.

The fresh tilapia and healthy pak-choi from Aquaponics.is was well received by people visiting the Christmas market in the Ocean Cluster today. Isak, Ragnar and Ragnheidur did a great job presenting the aquaponics ideology through our show case system at the cluster and pictures from our pilot systems in the industry building in Sudarvogur and the greenhouse in Akur South Iceland. Our new publication Aquaponics Guidelines was offered to those interested in establishing a system. GREAT DAY!

We have been testing red claw crayfish and marble crayfish in our aquaponics systems. Both species are doing well. The marble crayfish has been spawning without any problems and we are now observing the first eggs on our red claw crayfish.

Please enjoy our videos of moultings of both species:

Red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus)

Marble crayfish (Procambarus fallax f. virginalis)

Isak took okras home from the office system and deep-fried them southern-style. The pictures speak for themselves.

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July 3rd we made a field trip to aquaponics sites in South Iceland. We visited Hlynur in Hveragerdi, Dagur in Reykholt and of course our own site at Akur. We also came by the banana house at the Agricultural University, Solheimar and tasted the amazing tomato soup at Fridheimar. We ended up in the swimming pool in Hveragerdi and a taste of Grevens cider.

Automatic feeders from LINN have been added to the system at Akur. They provide a better control of the daily feeding. The feeding is now adjusted to approx. 1% of the biomass in each tank.

EcoPonics held a project meeting in Iceland June 11-12th back to back with the Leonardo aquaponics seminar held at the University of Iceland. Anita Fassio Project Officer from EASME took part in the meeting. The group visited the aquaponics pilot unit set up at the horticulture farm Akur in Laugaras. Thordur and Karolina welcomed the group and served their gourmet products.

The aquaponics seminar held at the University of Iceland last Wednesday was very successful with more than thirty interested participants from aquaculture, horticulture, design, research and other fields. The seminar ended with a tour to the aquaponics pilot units set up by the EcoPonics group coordinated by Svinna-verkfraedi. The slides from the seminar can be found below.

• Introduction to Aquaponics – Dr. Ragnheidur I Thorarinsdottir
• Basics – plant and fish species – Ragnar Ingi Danner
• Water Quality – Utra Mankasingh
• System design – Marvin Ingi Einarsson
• Breen Aquaponics – Enar Agirre
• Rainbow trout in aquaponics – Siv Lene Gangenes Skar
• Decoupled Aquaponics – Dr. Paul Rye Kledal
• Sustainability – Prof. Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir

When: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 – 13:00 to 19:00
Location: Askja, University of Iceland
Location details: Room 131

AGENDA
13:00-13:30 Introduction to Aquaponics – Dr. Ragnheidur I Thorarinsdottir
13:30-14:00 Basics – plant and fish species – Ragnar Ingi Danner
14:00-14:30 Water quality and filter systems – Dr. Utra Mankasingh
14:30-15:00 System design – Marvin Ingi Einarsson
15:00-15:30 Breen Aquaponics – www.breen.es – Enar Agirre
15:30-16:00 Rainbow trout in aquaponics – www.bioforsk.no – Siv Lene Gangenes Skar
16:00-16:30 Decoupled Aquaponics – www.igff.dk – Dr. Paul Rye Kledal
16:30-16:45 Student Innovation Project on interactive education material on Aquaponics – Isak M Johannesson and Arnar Snædal
16:45-17:00 Summary – Prof. Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir
17:00-19:00 Demonstration of pilot units

Everyone is welcome. Registration: svinna@svinna.is
Registration fee: 5.000 ISK – coffee included.

Link to the Facebook event

The aquaponics pilot unit further developed at Akur in South Iceland based on three 4m3 fish tanks, a drumfilter, a biofilter, sump tank and NFT pipes with okra, tomatoes and beans. The setup is shown in the pictures below.

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