What is Aquaponics?
Aquaponics is a technique for developing nourishment without utilizing soil. Rather, you develop plants in water. It is a sort of hydro-culture. Hydro-culture utilizes supplements broke up in the water to develop plants. An alternate sort of hydro-culture is hydroponics.
Aquaponics utilizes the hydroponics as a feature of the general aquaponics framework. Aquaponics additionally utilizes the aquaculture framework. Aquaculture includes the development of sea-going creatures in a fish tank.
Aquaponics combines hydroponics and aquaculture.
What does Aquaponic Mean?
Aquaponics is used to describe the practice of doing aquaponics.
Aqua is derived from Latin which stands for water, liquid or a solution.
Ponic is derived from the Greek word ‘ponein‘ which stands for labor.
Guide to Sizing your Aquaponics System
Understand the recommended ratios, amount of fish, and plants for your backyard aquaponics system. Perfect for starters!
Aquaponics Defenition
Aquaponic gardening is a farming method that is recirculating the freshwater from aquaculture into hydroponic systems where plants are cultivated. The plants draw nutrients from the water and is recycled for reuse for the aquatic animals.
How does Aquaponics Work?
- In the fish tank, the waste produced by the fish and fish food accumulates.
- This accumulation eventually makes the water toxic for the fish.
- Bacteria are introduced, called nitrifying bacteria.
- The bacteria convert toxic ammonia into nitrites, and then nitrates.
- The water is circulated into the hydroponics system, where the roots of the plants use these nitrates (and other elements) as nutrients to grow.
- You can harvest plants and fish.
Benefits of Aquaponics
Less Water
Aquaponics re-uses the water within the system. Therefore, it uses substantially less water than plants grown in a soil-based system (about 90% less). These systems are more beneficial for the environment as they do not produce the run-off typically produced in soil-based agriculture.
No Fertilizer
Because plants grown in an aquaponics system receive most of there nutrients from the aquaculture system(the fish), there is no need to introduce extensive fertilizer. However, the fish, which partly provide the nutrients, do require food.
Less Space
In Aquaponics, plants are able to be planted closer together. This means a reduction in land usage. Just like hydroponics, the plants are most of the time cultivated in a greenhouse.
Continuous Production
With hydroculture, you are able to produce vegetables or fruits continuously. This means that you can plan your harvest days in advance which gives you control over the production.
No Weeding
Because there will be no soil, there will be no weeds in between your crops.
Faster Growth
Plants are able to grow faster because all the nutrients are provided for the plant.
Aquaponics Systems
You have different kinds of choices for growing plants and fish in aquaponics. One will be more suited for the backyard aquaponics gardener while the other might be better for commercial systems.
The systems include:
- Media bed
- Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
- Deepwater culture of floating rafts
- Vertical towers
- Dutch buckets
- Deep flow technique of DFT
- Wicking beds
Best Fish for Aquaponics
You will need some fish for your aquaponics system. But what fish is the best for aquaponics? And are you allowed to cultivate that fish in your state or country?
Some of the most popular fish are:
- Tilapia
- Trout
- Jade Perch
- Catfish
- Shrimps
Best Plants for Aquaponics
An aquaponics system is not complete without plants. Choosing the best plants for aquaponics is quite easy. You can grow plants like:
- Lettuce
- Kale
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Basil
- Ginger
Aquaponics Supplies
One downside to aquaponics is that you need more supplies and materials to build your system.
Once you have these materials, you can start growing food in your own backyard.
Do you want to get an extensive list of supplies?
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