Interview with Brent Meins in April 2020
Brent Meins took some time to give us a tour of his system and answered many questions for us to help with our blog and research. He lives in New Mexico and works on his aquaponics system as a hobby. His career is in Explosives Engineering and he is currently pursuing his PhD. Brent's system provided us with a great example of the many possibilities of engineering an aquaponics system.
Greenhouse surrounding the aquaponics system. Photo provided by Brent Meins
Brent walked us around his backyard system which began back in 2016 at a previous home. He had just started the system and was able to transport it to his new house where he continued to grow and develop his structure. After the move Brent was "impressed on how well the plants were growing and just excited about the idea of engineering it to make things work really well."
Greenhouse Construction
As his first winter approached he decided it would be necessary to build a greenhouse around his structure to maintain heat within the system. Brent was able to build a 12'x24' structure to house his system and decided to devote more time to his aquaponics which greatly impacted his passion and interest in the project.
The greenhouse itself began with plastic sides and roof panels. Eventually the plastic siding were replaces with removable windows that can become detached during the warmer months. Most materials were purchased from a local greenhouse supply store and were easily accessible.
Inside the Greenhouse
Brent explained to us the main importance of his greenhouse. It was essential that he maintained a 70 degree temperature to benefit the plants, but most importantly, his Tilapia fish population. Four years ago he began with 50 fish and they have reproduced yearly to populate his system. He was hopeful that the original fish will be sufficient to maintain a steady level of fish in the system. After the fish reproduce, he separates the smaller fish until they have grown enough to survive with the larger fish. This reproduction allows Brent to harvest the mature fish every year to enjoy, in addition to the wide variety of fruits and vegetables growing.
The variety of plants Brent has growing in his system was quite extensive. This includes tomatoes, parsley, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, cilantro, lettuce, strawberries, and mint. The mint plant, which had been especially successful, had even resulted in the perfecting of his family's mojito recipe. Outside of his greenhouse in the summer months he has been successful in growing watermelon, cantaloupe, and squash. After walking through this impressive variety of plants, we could not think of many crops that would not thrive in this environment.
Inside the growing beds these plants sit in hydroponic clay balls that Brent highly suggests using. Before switching to the clay material he had also attempted to grow within chips of lava rock. Although it had worked, a major disadvantage to this material was the difficulty in reaching through the rock to access plant roots or to move plants around. He then showed us how simple it was to scoop out the clay balls and pick up a plant. Although the clay balls were more expensive, he suggested investing in them to make planting easier.
Plant beds inside the greenhouse. Garden outside of the greenhouse for larger crops.
Photos provided by Brent Meins
Engineering Aquaponics
Some of Brent's successes within his system was his ability to apply his engineering knowledge to aquaponics. He was able to add in features to allow his system to be self sustaining for about a week at a time. This was especially important for Brent since his aquaponics is not his full time job. When traveling for work, his system can continue to thrive on its own. Some of the features he implemented to automate his system include fish feeders, endurance filters to remove fish waste from the tank, automating distributors, and automating the water inputs. The filters and distributors are extremely important in order to remove the fish waste continuously from the water and to distribute this to the plant beds.
A main challenge that he has faced is the physical constraints of his greenhouse. He is now restricted in his future development due to the size of the greenhouse. However, Brent has been able to efficiently structure and organize his system to its maximum capacity over the years. He has previously addressed this concern by implementing both vertical and horizontal pvc pipes with slots for the plants to grow from. It was clear from our tour that there is no wasted space within his system.
Brent was extremely helpful and informative, his interview provided us with a better understanding of how to advance a home aquaponics system as well as engineering agriculture.
Filtration and fish tank within the greenhouse. Photo provided by Brent Meins
Sources:
All information provided in this post was from our interview with Brent on April 3, 2020. He provided all photos from his personal system