Aquaponics: basic principles, examples

Let’s talk about such an exotic method of farming in our country as aquaponics. This is a combination of two directions – hydroponics and aquaculture, which is now actively developing in various countries. And you can even apply the principles of aquaponics at home..

Hydroponics, as Wikipedia says, is growing plants without soil, directly in water. Aquaculture, in turn, is the cultivation of snails, crayfish, shrimp, fish, that is, aquatic animals. What happens if you combine them? The result will be aquaponics – a symbiosis, a special ecosystem where aquatic inhabitants grow together with agricultural plants familiar to all of us. And they help each other.

How? It’s simple. In the process of life of fish and other aquatic inhabitants, wastes appear in the water – carbon dioxide, potassium, nitrogenous, phosphorus compounds. For the underwater inhabitants themselves, these substances are harmful, which is why you need to change the water in the aquarium quite often, put filters. But for plants, these substances are useful, because by-products of the life of fish, when exposed to nitrogen-fixing bacteria, turn into nitrites and nitrates. And we remember that plants need them for active growth. Thus, plants receive food in the form of waste products and simultaneously utilize them, and already purified water returns to the fish..

Everyone is happy – fish, plants and owners who can simultaneously grow, for example, goldfish with houseplants, carp with tomatoes, and salad with perch. The advantages of this type of farming were appreciated by the Aztecs, who grew vegetables on artificial floating islands, right in the lakes. The Chinese also used this practice, in the flooded rice fields of which there were a lot of fish..

Now there are scientific treatises on aquaponics, this option for growing food is reaching a new level. However, we are more interested in how you can use this technology at home..

As you can see in the photo, the simplest way to apply the principles of aquaponics is a self-made foam raft with holes for green onions, floating in a mini-pond with fish. Very simple. And onions will grow better than on the kitchen window.

At home, they often use ordinary aquariums with fish, on top of which they put a hydroponic system. As you can see in the photo, you can’t do without soil at all. Plants are planted in special holes, containers, where a solid carrier is poured – most often expanded clay, gravel, pebbles, crushed stone, vermiculite.

Schematic diagram of aquaponics

Of course, to do aquaponics at home, you can buy a ready-made kit – an aquarium with a hydroponic system. Such a complex already includes everything you need to grow indoor plants with fish. Or you can try to do it yourself. A typical aquaponics system will include:

1. Directly a container for fish, where they will feed and grow. This can be a tank, an aquarium, a plastic container, even an old bathtub..
2. Sump. This is an aggregate necessary for catching fish food residues, small particles, separated biofilm.
3. Biofilter. In this place, nitrifying bacteria will be able to process fish waste, converting ammonia, which is harmful to them, into nitrates..
4. Hydroponic system for plants – container with or without solid filler.
5. Pallet. The water already used by the plants will come here, which is then sent back to the tank with fish.

Since the aquaponics system is based on recycling water, there is very little waste, this is an environmentally friendly way to get vegetables and herbs..

This technology can be used to grow salads, strawberries and strawberries, basil, parsnips, onions, kohlrabi, tomatoes, peppers, radishes. The fish is bred, of course, freshwater, popular telapia, barramundi, different types of perch, Murray cod, catfish, bluegill.

An important question is how many fish and plants should a balanced aquaponics system contain? If we take into account the amount of fish food, then no more than 100 grams should fall on 1 square meter of a hydroponic system for plants. For example, if every day you feed the fish 1 kilogram of food, then the area of ​​the plot with plants can be 10 square meters..

There is another indicator – there should be 0.23-0.45 kilograms of fish per 3.8 liters of water. Which way to calculate the optimal number of participants in the aquaponics system to choose is up to you. Many farmers come to this already based on their experience..

It is very important to ensure high-quality aeration of water in a container with aquatic inhabitants, control the pH level, feed the fish stably, keeping the feed schedule and amount of feed constant, and remove solid waste in time. Also, remember that if you replace adult fish with fry, the amount of feed used will decrease dramatically, meaning the plants will begin to receive less nutrients..

In general, aquaponics implies knowledge in two sectors at once – farming and fish farming..