Building Aquaponic Systems

Today our NOLA team traveled to the Lower 9th and were welcomed by David Young a retired police chief who founded a nonprofit community farm called Capstone. In this location he grows vegetable gardens and fruit trees for this community as food is limited. Our main task for the day was to build two aquaponic systems where catfish will be kept to grow more plants and vegetables. It was interesting to learn that in aquaponic systems the fish and plants work together in a symbiotic relationship where the fish waste provides all the necessary nutrients for the plants to grow while the plants purify and filter the water for the fish making this a self-sustaining closed system that requires minimal maintenance.

To create these foundations we used cinder blocks and glued them down with liquid nails. These foundations were a rectangular shape that had five levels in height. It was a challenging but rewarding task because these systems will now be in place for many many years and will help the Lower 9th ward.