What did you initially build / test? What does your prototype look like and how will you improve on it?

We initially built an ebb-and-flow aquaponics system. We will be planting and adding fish to this system soon. Our prototype looks home-made and not too beautiful. However, it does look like it does its job. We may improve upon this by reconsidering the holder tubs that we are currently using. The current tubs are blue and plastic. The scaffolding that we are using is a sparse wooden construction that we recently put together. We could brainstorm the type of message we want to convey through the aesthetic of our aquaponics system.

What do you plan on doing in the upcoming week?

1. Improve the system in the following two ways
   1. Find a way to effectively filter the water
      1. Possible solution: we’ve implemented the microfiber cloth bag + sand solution, seems to be viable.  Water is clear after running filter system overnight.  Again, it’s very janky and not aesthetically pleasing but it is functional.  We can remedy the aesthetics later
2. Find a way to reduce pump flow
   1. The major issue facing the system currently is the fact that the grow bed floods too often. The ideal flood frequency should hover somewhere around 1 flood per 1 hour (+- 5-10 minutes).  Currently the system is flooding once every 10-15 minutes.  This could possibly be remedied by attaching a 1” ID PVC end cap to the end of the vinyl tubing and drilling a small hole in the end of the cap, effectively increasing flow resistance, leading to lower flow rate.
3. Buy fish
   1. Coby will be going to china town today to possibly pick up some live edible fish.  He will also be getting water dechlorinators and any other material required to cleanse Houston city water in a way that can support aquaculture.
4. Write a step by step guide as to how we built this system
   1. Including all of the setbacks and solutions to those setbacks.
5. Piece together the video journal

Fig 2. Drilling a hole to accommodate the tank connector. (Ft. Manlin, Cesar, Onur, Coby, and Mike, filmed by Christina)

Fig 3. Completed functional medium-low fidelity prototype.  All of the functionalities associated with a working system are complete, now it’s a matter of tweaking it to optimize plant and fish growing conditions.  This picture shows the low-fi filter system, located on the top tank (small bag looking thing tied to the upright PVC pipe).