Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment. It's a combination of Aquaculture & Hydroponics, that fish and plants are grown in an integrated system, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two. Aquatic animal effluent accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank. An Aquaponic system uses the water from the fish tank to circulate through a grow bed where the plants are grown.
It is not a new system. Aquaponics is a farming method inspired by ancient farming systems from the Aztecs to Egypt. The method based on the recycling of nutrients in nature. In the aquaponic fish tank, the fish consume food and excrete manure, algea grows in the nutrient-rich water and uneaten fish food falls to the bottom. These unused nutrients would build-up and contaminate the fish tank, but instead are recycled as a liquid fertilizer for plants.
The effluent rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but this is correspondingly toxic to the aquatic animal. The Plants are grown in a way, which enables them to utilize the nutrient rich water. The plants take up the nutrients, reducing or eliminating the water's toxicity for the aquatic animal. When the water clean, it's returned to the aquatic animal environment and the cycle continues. Aquaponic systems do not discharge or exchange water.
The systems rely on the relationship between the aquatic animals and the plants to maintain the environment. Water is only added to replace water loss from absorption by the plants, evaporation into the air, or the removal of biomass from the system. Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor units to large commercial units. They can use fresh or salt water depending on the type of aquatic animal and vegetation.
Photo: assignmentglobal.wordpress.com
The technology associated with aquaponics is complex. It requires the ability to simultaneously manage the production and marketing of two different agricultural products. Until the 1980s, most attempts at integrated hydroponics and aquaculture had limited success. However, innovations since the 1980s have transformed aquaponics technology into a viable system of food production. Modern aquaponic systems can be highly successful, but they require intensive management and they have special considerations.
The plants are a natural biofilter for the fish waste. Beneficial bacteria in the gravel and on the roots have a key role by recycling the wasted nutrients into food absorbed by the plants, while cleansing and purify the water. Without these microorganisms the whole system would stop functioning. Uneaten food and food-scraps from people are also recycled back into the system. Earthworms metabolize the fish waste solids, old plants and food scraps from your table. There is no waste and no pollution. The waste products of each organism, fish, plants and people, becomes food for another in a continuous cycle of life.
Sources: attra.ncat.org, growseed.org, wikipedia.org,
Aquaponics System is Natural For Natural
6:55 AM
ThanateTan
