AQUAPONICS

HISTORY OF AQUAPONICS

Aquaponics is a term that was coined in the 1970s, but the practice has ancient
roots although there is some debate on its first occurrence.
The earliest example of one branch may be the lowland Maya, followed by the
Aztecs, who raised plants on rafts on the surface of a lake in approximately 1,000 A.D.
The Aztecs cultivated a system of agricultural islands known as chinampas in a
system considered by some to be the first form of aquaponics for agricultural use.
Chinampas are networks of canals and stationary artificial islands in which they
cultivated crops on the islands using nutrient-rich mud and water from the canals.
In the early chinampa systems, plants were raised on stationary (and sometime
movable) islands in lake shallows. Nutrient-rich waste materials dredged from the
Chinampa canals and the surrounding cities was then used to manually irrigate the
plants above.

Animal housing located over fish ponds to utilize manure as fish food
 The earliest example of another branch can be found in South China, Thailand,
and Indonesia, where the cultivation and farmimg rice in paddy fields in combination
with fish are cited as examples of early aquaponics systems.
These polycultural farming systems existed in many Far Eastern countries and
raised fish such as the oriental loach, swamp eel, Common and crucian carp as well as
pond snails in the paddies.
The ancient Chinese employed a system of integrated aquaculture in which
finfish, catfish, ducks and plants co-existed in a symbiotic relationship.
The ducks were housed in cages over the finfish ponds, and the finfish
processed the wastes from the ducks. In a lower pond, the catfish live on the wastes
that have flowed from the finfish pond.
At the bottom of the system, the water from the catfish ponds was used for
irrigated rice and vegetable crops.

WHAT IS AQUAPONICS?

Are you wondering what is aquaponics? The most simple definition is that it is the
marriage of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants)
that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. The fish waste provides an
organic food source for the growing plants and the plants provide a natural filter for the
water the fish live in.

The waste of the fish from the fish pond becomes the nutrients for the plants and the
plant in return remove these nutrients from water ,purifying it for the fish.

While aquaponics is not a perfect answer to every agricultural challenge, it does

present a very useful and effective solution to a number of the flaws in standard
agriculture. The delivery of nutrients to plants through a liquid substrate that allows their
roots to absorb all the nutrients they need without having to go out and compete with
other plants in the soil allows plants to be planted in much closer proximity to each other
 Why did we chose aquaponics?

It allows food to be grown year round even in harsh climates.

All the products are organic.
An abundance of food can be grown in a relatively small space.
Aquaponics systems are suitable for a wide variety of fish and plant
species
Its a cheaper way to grow because one doesnt have to buy fertilizer.
Because of the lack of soil, the risk of contracting soil-borne diseases from
farming is eliminated.
Aquaponic growing centers can be built nearby places that sell food,
thereby reducing the distance that food has to be transported.

POSSIBLE TYPE OF PLANTS IN AQUAPONICS

Many plants are suitable for aquaponic systems, though which ones work for a
specific system depends on the maturity and stocking density of the fish. These factors
influence the concentration of nutrients from the fish effluent, and how much of those
nutrients are made available to the plant roots via bacteria.

Green leaf vegetables with low to medium nutrient requirements are well adapted
to aquaponic systems, including chinese cabbage, lettuce, basil, spinach, chives, herbs,
and watercress.

Other plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, have higher nutrient
requirements and will only do well in mature aquaponic systems that have high stocking
densities of fish.

Plants that are common in salads have some of the greatest success in
aquaponics, including cucumbers, shallots, tomatoes, lettuce, chiles, capsicum, red
salad onions and snow peas.

Some profitable plants for aquaponic systems include chinese cabbage, lettuce,
basil, roses, tomatoes, okra, cantaloupe and bell peppers.

Other species of vegetables that grow well in an aquaponic system include

watercress, basil, coriander, parsley, lemongrass, sage, beans, peas, kohlrabi, taro,
radishes, strawberries, melons, onions, turnips, parsnips, sweet potato, cauliflower,
cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant as well as the choys that are used for stir fries.
Fish (or other aquatic creatures) that can be used in AQUAPONICS

Freshwater fish are the most common aquatic animal raised using aquaponics,
although freshwater crayfish and prawns are also sometimes used.[18] There is a
branch of aquaponics using saltwater fish, called saltwater aquaponics. There are many
species of warmwater and coldwater fish that adapt well to aquaculture systems.

In practice, tilapia are the most popular fish for home and commercial projects
that are intended to raise edible fish because it is a warmwater fish species that can
tolerate crowding and changing water conditions.[16] Barramundi, silver perch, eel-
tailed catfish or tandanus catfish, jade perch and Murray cod are also used.[15] For
temperate climates when there isn't ability or desire to maintain water temperature,
bluegill and catfish are suitable fish species for home systems.

Koi and goldfish may also be used, if the fish in the system need not be edible.
Other suitable fish include channel catfish, rainbow trout, perch, common carp,
Arctic char, largemouth bass and striped bass.

How aquaponics changes the game?

Waist-high aquaponics gardening eliminates weeds, back strain and small

animal access to your garden.
Reuse resources currently considered waste. In aquaponics there is no
more toxic run-off from either hydroponics or aquaculture.
Aquaponics uses only 1/10th of the water of soil-based gardening, and
even less water than hydroponics or recirculating aquaculture.
Watering is integral to an aquaponics system. You cant under-water or
over-water.
 Fertilizing is also integral to an aquaponics system. You cant over-fertilize
or under-fertilize.
Gardening chores are cut down dramatically or eliminated. The
aquaponics grower is able to focus on the enjoyable tasks of feeding the
fish and tending and harvesting the plants.
Instead of using dirt or toxic chemical solutions to grow plants, aquaponics
uses highly nutritious fish effluent that contains all the required nutrients
for optimum plant growth. Instead of discharging water, aquaponics uses
the plants and the media in which they grow to clean and purify the water,
after which it is returned to the fish tank. This water can be reused
indefinitely and will only need to be replaced when it is lost through
transpiration and evaporation. Two primary methods of aquaponics
growing are most widely in use today.

The raft based aquaponics growing system uses a foam raft that is floating
in a channel filled with fish effluent water that has been through filtration to
remove solid wastes. Plants are placed in holes in the raft and the roots
dangle freely in the water. This method is most appropriate for growing
salad greens and other fast growing, relatively low-nutrient plants.
The second method is called media based aquaponics because plants are
grown in inert planting media (gravel, expanded clay pellets, coir, etc.).
The media provides both the biological (ammonia based waste) and
mechanical (solid waste) filtration, so requires far less maintenance than
raft-based systems. Large, fruiting plants are also grown much more
successfully in media based systems than in rafts.
The third method is called hybrid aquaponics, which is a combination of
the two. The media beds become the pre-filter for the solid waste before
the water enters the raft systems. This hybrid system style is the focus of
The Aquaponic Sources AquaBundance systems because it provides
planting flexibility, high productivity and low maintenance.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Aquaponics

Significant reduction in the usage of water (compared to traditional soil

methods of growing plants) as all water is recycled through the system and it is
not necessary to discard or change any water (under normal conditions). It has
been reported on various forums and websites that water usage is around 90%
lower than traditional soil gardening.
Growth of plants is significantly faster . In aquaponics the plant roots are
watered (flooded) at least once an hour in most system and have constant
access to high levels of nitrates that are in the water. Though soil gardens can be
set up to provide good levels of water and the required nutrients.
Aquaponics grown vegetables are bigger and healthier then when grown in
soil. There is no indication that the same could not be produced in a well
managed soil garden.
There is no need to use artificial fertilizer to feed the plants. In the perfect
system this is probably true though some aquaponics owners add "supplements"
such as iron to their system to compensate for non-ideal environments (e.g. high
pH systems). Fertilizer in the traditional sense is not used and indeed using
fertilizer would likely harm or kill the fish. There is no need to dispose of fish
waste or provide an artificial filtration system Filtration needs to be provided
for the same reasons in aquaponics systems - though in a lot of systems the
filtration serves as the medium to grow the plants and the plants remove the (less
toxic to fish) nitrates from the system.
Significant reduction in land is required to grow the same crops as traditional
soil methods.As water and nutrients are constantly provided it should be possible
to grow plants close together with the main requirements for spacing being
access to light.
It's organic. We guess if the fish are fed organic feed and food grade plastics
are used then this could be the case. Though there seems to be little good
evidence to show that non-organic crops are necessarily unsafe or less healthy
then organic ones.
Yummy - fish for dinner every night. In fact, somewhere in the order of 90% of
the produce from an aquaponics system will be from the plants - so unless you
have a very large system you will be more likely to be eating fish once a week or
once a month.
Reduced damage from pests and disease. Many aquaponics system owners
do have problems with pests and as there are fewer options available to control
pests (i.e. pesticides can not be used as they could harm or kill the fish) some
plant damage is accepted.
No weeding or bending down on the ground required. Many backyard systems
are setup so that the grow beds are at waist height (to allow gravity return of
water to the fish tank) so this allows for a pleasant way to inspect and harvest the
plants. In addition the system pretty much looks after itself - it waters itself and
once established provides a great environment for both fish and plants to grow.
DISADVANTAGES

Can be expensive to setup as the system requires pumps, tubing, and

tanks/beds. This is certainly true though it doesn't necessarily need to be.
Setup requires technical knowledge of aquaponics systems and hence is
possible to make mistakes. True - there are stories around of people who loose
fish and give up on their aquaponics system early on and there is some
knowledge required to establish the necessary bacteria within the system.
Water needs to be constantly monitored to make sure the water quality is OK
for fish. This is certainly the case during the first couple of months. After the
system has matured water testing is usually carried out only once a week unless
there are problems.
Seems very complicated for the amount of fish . Yes keeping a
healthy environment for the fish is where most of the complexity lies within the
system. Water needs to be free of toxins (especially ammonia and nitrite) and
also have enough oxygen for the fish you are keeping. This can involve adding
extra aeration sources and making partial water changes to improve water
quality. Stocking fish at a lower density will in most cases reduce the pressures
on a system and make it more tolerant to changing conditions and less likely to
suffer from the above problems - though this means you will have less fish to eat.
Aquaponics requires electric energy input to maintain and recycle water within
the system. In most cases you will need to provide electricity to run a water pump
and possibly aeration pumps as well.
If one or more components fail this could lead to the loss of fish and or
plants. In this regard you are dependent on using reliable technology (and back
up systems) to ensure that your fish, which require oxygen in the water, remain
alive an healthy. Your plants are likely to be unaffected in the short term, as the
growing medium will likely retain more then enough moisture, though if the fish
are not provided enough oxygen, they can suffer and die. This is the same
situation for aquaculture systems.
You can't grow root crops. You can grow pretty much anything in an
aquaponics system from fruit trees to root crops, though depending on the type
of growing medium potatoes and carrots may grow into some weird shapes. Most
people focus on growing leafy vegetables.
Ok so you don't have to add fertilizer or nutrients but you do have to provide
fish food. Yes you do, the fish eat the food and their waste is used to produce
nutrients for the plants. Of course you also have to feed fish in an aquaculture
system and in an aquaculture system fish waste is not used in such a productive
way. Fish are some of the best animals at converting food into body mass
(different fish species vary) and so are an efficient way of producing meat and
protein. Most people buy commercially available fish food for their fish although
many people supplement this feed by growing worms, duckweed and other
plants and animals.
CONCLUSION

As a summation, we therefore say that Aquaponics is more practical than hydroponics

and aquaculture because Aquaponics is simpy the combination of the two. Through this
AQUAPONICS we can invoke two useful products in its most natural way . The
production of fish and vegetable at the same time is really possible.

What makes it different? It is unique because of the organic food cycle occurs in it, and
its way of planting without the dirt or most of the diseases and pests that may come into
it. Aquaponics offers people not only to become sustainable, but also offers people to
create sustainable businesses.

So organic food shouldnt just for financially wealthy, it should be accessible to

everyone. Lets start build and make aquaponics at home!!