Zoo Utilizing Fish Waste and Water to Develop Animal Meals

The Cincinnati Zoo is using sustainable farming strategies in an effort to be much less depending on outdoors sources to produce meals for Zoo animals.  Along with rising meals for animals on the Zoo’s Bowyer Farm, we’re additionally excited to start out rising meals for animals proper right here on the Zoo with our Aquaponics greenhouse!

What’s Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a closed-loop agricultural system through which fish are raised in a tank. Water from the fish tank is repeatedly pumped as much as a bio-reactor, which is a flowery phrase for a small filtration system that primarily homes micro organism; that micro organism converts ammonia from the fish waste into types of vitamins for vegetation; water exits the bio-reactor and is dispersed via trays housing vegetation, which take up the vitamins. The water then falls again into the fish tanks so clear that it makes for blissful, wholesome, hungry fish. We feed the fish and thereby maintain the entire cycle going.

Take a look at batches from the flood and ebb system have been producing harvests for the previous couple of weeks! Proper now the manufacturing numbers are nonetheless small, however we’re engaged on scaling them up. We’re at present seeing between 6-10 cups of lettuce and 2-3 cups of dill per week proper now, and hopefully, quickly we’ll have extra. Our staff is engaged on including another vegetation into the rotation quickly as properly.

Thus far, Reptile Home and Training Animal Ambassadors have been getting small check batches. Looks like the animals approve!

Friends can see the Aquaponics greenhouse on the deck of Base Camp Cafe. The Zoo aquatics staff continues to be understanding some particulars and getting the programs operating totally, however it’s getting there. Hold a watch out for progress!