Adam Cohen - There's Something Fishy About Those Plants

Armed with Bachelors Degree in Marine Biology and Marine Fisheries from Texas A&M Galveston, Adam Cohen is a wealth of knowledge on aquaculture and hydroponic systems and how the the backyard gardener can apply these techniques to create their own sustainable food production supply. 

You may be wondering what exactly is aquaculture and hydroponics?

Aquaculture (also known as aquafarming) is the raising of aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, or prawns in tanks.  

Hydroponics is cultivating plants in water without the use of soil.   

When you combine aquaculture and hydroponics you get a naturally occurring symbiotic process called aquaponics.  aquaculture + hydroponics = aquaponics

In the real world, plants filter waste from stormwater and agricultural run off, helping to limit, or in some cases eliminate, the toxic waste and other harmful chemicals that too often end up in our rivers and oceans.  In the ocean fish create waste, and that waste, if captured, can be converted into fertilizer for and by plants.  The same techniques and methods that occur in nature can be simulated in an aquaponic system.  Water in a fish tank will eventually become toxic, but if  you pump that water into a solid medium, such as expanded shale with planted seeds, the toxic water will naturally be filtered by the plants and converted into organic fertilizer.  The clean water can then be recycled back to the fish tanks.   The fish and the plants take and get what they need to survive, creating a closed loop system of reciprocity, and without the use of hormones, chemical fertilizers, or genetically modified seeds.  

There are three basic types of aquaponics systems. 

Ebb and Flow - Water in grow beds go up and down.   Also known as a flood and drain system.

Continuous Flood -  Plants are in a solid medium such as gravel or clay beds and flooded with water 

Deep-water raft - Styrofoam rafts are set up to float in a relatively deep aquaculture basin in troughs 

Adam has created a prototype of a continuous flood system in his backyard in Dallas, Texas.  His system is a 750 gallon, 60 square foot garden, with 100 pounds of Tilapia (his fish of choice).  He has recently launched his own company called Green Phoenix Farms, that he hopes to turn into a non-profit in the future.  His mission is to teach people how to farm using aquaponics techniques.

Adam is part of a growing but small community of like mined people that meet once a month to discuss their adventures in aquaponics and to help those new to the idea or just curious.  He is a crusader for the cause and passionate about his hobby, turned business, even if he is not sure where this will all lead.  There is something inspiring and endearing about that kind of blind faith, and if you are around him long enough, his enthusiasm is contagious.   Who knows, he may have recruited a new disciple in me.   

If you would like more information on aquaponics or live in the Dallas area and want to know more about Green Phoenix Farms, please see the links below. 

Will Allen - “The People’s Farmer” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Allen_(urban_farmer)

Aquaponics 101 - http://www.howlingmoose.com/09-resource-fair-presentation.pdf

Travis Hughey - http://greenphoenixfarms.com/

Adam Cohen - adam@greenphoenixfarms.com