aquaponic organic

Aquaponics - Organic Gardening Plus Fresh Fish

If you are an organic gardener or looking to start a garden you may want to consider designing an aquaponics home system. The combination of aquaculture and hydroponics has created a unique marriage where you can grow fresh organic vegetables and raise fish at the same time!

In a nutshell the way the system works is your fish produce waste which of course is toxic to them but plant food for your vegetables. This creates a unique situation for plants and fish because they help one another survive, your part of the system is to monitor the water for ph levels, water levels, temperature and feed your fish.

Another major benefit of an aquaponics system is that it does not require a vast amount of real estate to operate; you can have a small table top unit in your basement or garage. However if you want to get more aggressive you can construct a much larger system in your backyard that would not only feed your family but you would be able to sell the excess produce and fish or give it to a charity to help people in your area.

There are a variety of vegetables that will thrive in your grow beds and several different types of fish including tilapia, trout and perch to name a few. There have been studies that show you can grow your plants ten times faster and use far less water than an average soil based garden. So if you are in a location where soil and water are a precious commodity then an aquaponics system is your perfect solution.

Designing your own system can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it could be as simple as a pet store aquarium in a spare room with some goldfish, with water being pumped into gravel filled pots positioned above the tank, draining through the gravel back into the aquarium by gravity. Once you have tried something simple and are confident of your technique you can progress up to a larger system with multiple grow beds and high stocking densities of fish.

If you are planting an organic garden you need to put some thought into it to get the best results, the same is true with aquaponics garden it would be beneficial to invest in a how to guide to avoid any mistakes that could kill your fish or plants.