New addition makes a splash

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2017 (3109 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s something fishy going on at Concordia Village, and residents are thrilled.

On Sept. 26, over 80 staff and residents at Concordia Village Centre (1125 Molson St.) attended a presentation by Eugene Kenny of Ecosystems by Design.

Ecosystems by Design has been designing and building custom, self-contained ecosytems since 1992. Much of the technology Ecosystems by Design uses has been developed by Kenny, who described in detail how Concordia Village’s new 325-gallon aquarium ecosystem functions.

“Basically, you decide on the top predator, and we build the ecosystem around it,” Kelly told the crowd.

Flora and fauna are selected, and slowly the ecosystem is populated from “protozoa to high end consumer.”

“It takes between a month and a year to set up,” Kelly explained. “Everything starts small, and takes about a year to get fully self-sustaining.”

“We started talking about adding an aquarium about a year ago,” said Leah Meilleur, Concordia Village’s assistant director of finance and HR, who helped spearhead the project.

“We took it to the board, and they approved the idea,” added Bruce Henderson, director of finance and HR at Concordia Village.

A bit of an aquatics buff, Meilleur had heard about Ecosystems by Design, and felt that the self-sustaining system would make for a great fit at Concordia Village.

Using a unique composting mechanism to input nutrients into the system, the upkeep of the aquatic system is very limited compared to a standard aquarium set up. Only about 10 per cent of the water needs to be changed out every week or two, compared to 40 to 50 per cent with a normal aquarium, Meilleur said. And, apart from adding compost, there’s no need to “feed the fish.”

“They may enjoy a handful of supplemental food, but they don’t require it,” Meilleur said.

The evolving ecosystem also allows for residents and visitors to experience something new every day when observing the aquarium.

“There’s a lot of excitement,” Meilleur said.

“The residents just love it,” Henderson added. “Right now, it’s just getting started. In another couple months, it’ll be completely different.”

Resident Don King agreed.

“Most of us come by fairly often to see what’s going on,” King said. “It’s something we can show off to our family when they visit.”

The aquarium was installed in August, and Kenny has been adding to the ecosytem on a weekly basis. Feeder fish like guppies and platies feed on mealworms and red wigglers, while larger fish like puffers feed on the smaller fish. For the most part, higher end predators have yet to be added, but are coming soon.

Recently, though, there was a little more excitement than Henderson had expected, when he and a number of residents unwitting witnessed a brown lobster had it out with a crab.

“I’m sorry so many residents witnessed the massacre,” Kenny joked.

“Sometimes, it’s not so pretty,” Meilleur admitted. “But that’s life.”

For more information on Ecosystems by Design, visit ecosystems.mb.ca

Facebook.com/TheHeraldWPG
Twitter: @heraldWPG