Aquaponics: How to do it

Aquaponics is the merging of two agricultural methods; Hydroponics and Aquaculture. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a soil-less medium, using water to deliver nutrients to the roots of plants. Aquaculture is a method of growing fish in tanks. Aquaponics uses the best aspects of these two methods to grow plants and fish. Basically, you need a container for water and fish, and a container for plants, and some method of circulating water, nutrients, and gas exchange. Usually, two or more tanks are used. One holds fish, and another holds the plants. The water is pumped to the tanks, and drains back to the other. This circulates the fish waste to the plant roots, clean water is fed back to the fish, and aeration is added wherever needed.


Veteran aquaponics pros will tell you that fish and plants know what to do, and really we are just bacteria farmers. The same can be said for dirt farming, but we look at this crucial link more carefully with aquaponics. Fish excrete ammonia, along with some solid waste like the rest of us. Much of this solid waste degrades to ammonia as well, and even modest levels of ammonia are toxic to fish, bacteria, and plants.
Fortunately, there are a group of bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite (even more toxic), and another group that converts nitrite to nitrate (toxic only in very high concentration, and liquid gold when it comes to growing plants). The success of aquaponics lies in a healthy culture of these bacteria.
 
We believe these growing methods are cleaner, faster, and more water efficient than conventional agriculture. Soil-borne pests and diseases are non-existent. Warm-blooded pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella are not found in fish or fish waste, and thus their threat is minimized. Aquaponic growing generates more food per square foot, and does NOT use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

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