aquaponic organic

Aquaponic systems can be built in different sizes from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using almost the same technology.

Aquaponic systems usually contain warm ( 18-21 Celsius) fresh water.

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture ( raising fish) and hydroponics ( growing plants without any soil).

In Aquaponics you grow fish and plants in a closed system. The fish stool provides nutrition to the plants, and the plants filtrates the water the fish live in, when the water is cleaned by the plants its sent back to the fish tank.

To have a successful Aquaponic system you need beneficial bacteria which eats the fish stool and turns it into nutrients that the plants use as food. That is, the microbes do the job of converting the ammonia from the fish waste, first into nitrites, then into nitrates that are food for the plants. This natural microbial process keeps both the fish and plants healthy. It creates a sustainable ecosystem where both plants and fish can live.

Even if the practices of fish farming and growing plants without soil have been traced to ancient times, the combination of the two is quite new.

Research in aquaponics began in the 1970's and continues today.

Here are some of the advantages of Aquaponics:

• Aquaponics makes use of the nutrient rich water from aquaculture that otherwise would have been discarded or would need to be filtered.
• Aquaponics provides an organic, natural form of nutrients for the plants.
• By eliminating the soil in plantproduction, you eliminate all soilborne disease.
• Aquaponics uses a minimum of the water that traditional field production does because no water is wasted.
• In aquaponics, plantdensity can be very intensive, allowing you to grow more plants in a given space.
• With high stocking densities in the fish tank, plants will quickly grow and develop in an Aquaponic system.
• In Aquaponics you do not usee any pesticides or herbicides, making the end product healthier and safer.
• If the climate permits or if you are growing in a greenhouse, you can grow crops in an Aquaponic system the whole year.

On a hobby scale, Aquaponics has the potential to catch on quickly. A home aquarium, with ornamental or food fish, can be combined with a mini garden, growing herbs, vegetables or flowers.

More and more backyard gardeners are setting up systems to grow hundreds of pounds of fish and all the fresh vegetables a family needs.