Home Published Articles

Tech Talk

At Aquatic Equipment and Design, our expertise goes far beyond supplying equipment—we're your partners in building and maintaining successful aquatic systems. With decades of hands-on experience, we help you design, set up, and troubleshoot systems tailored to your unique operation. Our Tech Talks are built to share practical insights, answer common questions, and help you get the most out of your equipment—because we don’t just sell parts, we help you make them perform.

How To Measure Un-Ionized Ammonia Sampled From An Aquatic System

The majority of nitrogen present in the fish feed and added to the culture system will be released as a dissolved form into the aquatic system. Ammonia is the principle nitrogenous waste product excreted by aquatic organisms and is excreted across the aquatic organism’s gills into the water. Ammonia levels have to be monitored frequently and carefully managed because ammonia can be highly toxic to aquatic organisms. The good news is simple water quality test kits and procedures using color discs can help the farmer quantify the concentration of toxic ammonia present in the system so informed decisions can be made, if necessary.

Clean Your Aeration Diffusers Regularly Aquaculture

Procedure To Clean Your Aeration Diffusers Regularly

A fish farmer operating a recirculating aquaculture system will need to maintain efficient oxygen transfer rates to ensure their fish continue to grow and extend the life of the low pressure aeration system (i.e. regenerative blower).

How to Calculate a Feed Conversion Ratio in Aquaculture

A large portion of the fish farmer’s operational cost is allocated to the price of the fish diet. The fish diet is fed to increase growth rates and maintain fish health in high-density aquaculture environments. The farmer needs to make sure he or she is optimizing feed use, reducing costs, and minimizing the environmental impact by not overfeeding. In aquaculture, a low Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) is particularly desirable to reduce the volume of feed required and thus, reduce production costs and improve farm profitability.

What Are Common Diseases and Pests of Lettuce, Basil, And Cucumbers Grown In Aquaponics?

Humans are not the only organisms that find lettuce, basil and cucumber a tasty treat and despite your best efforts your crop can become affected by disease or pests.The best form of defense against plant disease and pests is the farmer’s shadow, meaning the farmer needs to be actively looking for the presence and signs of disease and pests in and around their production area.

What Are the Basic Water Quality Parameters to Monitor for Aquaponic Systems

What Are the Basic Water Quality Parameters to Monitor for Aquaponic Systems Aquaponic systems require regular monitoring of water quality on a weekly basis to ensure good fish and plant health.

Ultraviolet (UV) Light Technology in Aquaculture

Disease can have serious impacts on fish growth and health; thus, maintaining a disease-free aquatic system is desired for the productivity and profitability of aquaculture operations. Four major categories of disease-causing organisms include: bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.

How to Identify and Cement Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Pipe for Aquaculture Purposes

This tech talk will introduce the process of identifying and joining polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe using primer and cement. Plastic pipe made of PVC is commonly used in aquaculture applications to contain and direct the flow of untreated or treated water and pressurized gasses in and around the production system.

How to Cycle a Biofilter | Aquatic Systems

In order to maintain optimal water quality parameters, specifically with dissolved nitrogen waste products, an aquatic system must have a functioning biofilter. A biofilter is a specific unit within the system’s process flow where water is directed and treated using beneficial microorganisms intentionally grown on specific media. It can be a challenge to jump-start and cycle a biofilter in a new aquatic system.

Ozone… How Do I Apply It

What do we do with the ozone once it's been made? The possibilities are endless. The effectiveness of ozone correlates directly with the amount of ozone over a period of contact time, usually expressed as mg/L x CT. An example is 1mg/L for 2 minutes contact time. In this column we will discuss some of the most common options for ozone contact and injection.

Dissolved Oxygen Instruments

Dissolved oxygen levels in water are dependent on several environmental factors, including temperature, altitude (barometric pressure), salinity. There are a variety of meter types available for use in the field these days, from the simple dissolved oxygen and temperature to the all-inclusive multi-parameter units.

TESTING, TESTING AND MORE TESTING....

No matter how well a system is designed or installed, there will always be times when water quality will have challenges. It is critical to be able to test the water to understand the actual challenge.

Ozone Contact, Waste Not, Want Not…..

As things continue to heat up and Aquaculture Industry it is becoming more and more important to understand the key pieces to success. One piece to be in successful is to avoid waste. As we all know, the lower the production cost, the more possible profit there is to be had and a quicker return on investment.