OK, so I have some news to tell and also I find myself in need of help from the all of the people on this forum. A little background on me - I am a high school teacher of Biology, Environmental Science, and Physics as a mid-size private school in Dallas, TX. Since I started at this school, I have been working to convince my superiors that the creation of an comprehensive Aquaponics program would be a great thing for our students...

Well I just got the work yesterday that we are moving forward with this. So here is the deal, I have support from all appropriate parties. We are now at the phase where the formal proposal needs to be written and presented to the Board of Directors. While I have explained the concept fully to the people I have talked to, it seems that the Board is going to want a written formal proposal that includes a budget, site design schematic and usage plan. Well I have the usage plan completed, I have been told to "shoot the moon" in my proposed budget.... Meaning I am going to write this as if money is no object. (Well in truth, maybe as if it were a small relatively minor object.)

So here is where I need your help -- I need some help designing this system. I will be the first to admit that I am very much a newcomer to the whole idea of AP. I have a basic working idea of how things go together and what they will encompass for a large system... But as the school will want this pretty much designed to the hilt BEFORE it is built, I currently find myself out of my element.

Current Constraints:

Total Space designated for the program: 20 ' x 20' (it will be on top of a concrete slab - a.k.a a portion of the school parking lot)
Proposed Greenhouse: 14' wide x 10' tall x 16' long (Single door in middle of the 14' side)

I would like to have the entire system inside the greenhouse, but it might be possibly to have an external fish tank. The difficulty with that is that temps will get down to the low 30's F on a regular basis and below freezing is quite common for short periods of time... Another difficulty is that I need this to be a TEACHING space. That means that I need to be able to get at least 10, but preferably 20 students inside this greenhouse at a time.

We will be raising tilapia and basic vegetables / herbs. All produce raised will be donated / sold in order to provide food and monies to local charities. We currently plan to breed our own tilapia inside the school in another system... (Set up at a later date)

Initial questions:
1. Do I need to ask for a bigger greenhouse? With a completed system running, will I be able to have my class inside at the same time?
2. I have estimated about $5000 to build the system from scratch - I do want to use recycled/repurposed materials. But I am not opposed to buying new if needed. I would like to have a system where I can tell my kids to "MacGuyver" a solution based on materials at hand...


So here is my situation... I need your help. All designs will be considered, and all people who collaborate on this with us will be recognized in all of our materials. Thanks in advance for the help that you can give. I am going to xpost this on Practical AP and the BYAP forums to hopefully get a greater audience.

Green Phoenix