Hillbeartoe
Well Known Member
In short Aquaponics is the combination of Aquaculture (the propagation of fish for food) and Hydroponics (growing plants in a soil free medium where the plants get all nutrient from the water).
The down side of each hobby are as follows.
Aquaculture:
The only real down side is that you have to do frequent water changes. In a healthy system the fish eat food and produce waste. That waste is toxic and once the filtration system has established itself the waste is turned into Nitrate (pure plant food, but we will get to that.).
In order to keep the Nitrate level down you need to discard roughly 20% of the water, sometimes bi-weekly, and replace with fresh water. Most hobbyists know that this is a great pick me up for their plants indoors or out doors but most just dump it in the yard or down the drain. That can equal wasted water.
Hydroponics:
In Hydroponics the water used needs additives to create the nutrient base for the plants to thrive. They are expensive but what most people do NOT know is that the nutrients are Toxic. So if you are growing food plants in your Hydroponic system, 2 weeks prior to harvesting you need to clean the water and all of the water delivery systems out and flush the system and plants with fresh water for 2 weeks before the food is edible!!!!
The water removed from the system is toxic and is disposed of. Not only wasted but tainted water . For all of you hot house Hydroponic food buyers, you food was toxic a couple weeks ago....
How it works.
Materials;
A container, 12" deep is best. Length and with depend on design but deep is the important factor.
Rock works best, nothing smaller than 1/2" because it can clog with sediment. 3/4" would be ideal but some people grow in broken brick fragments and even lava rock.
A large container for the fish, this is where design becomes fun because you can use almost anything fish/food safe. Some people use old bath tubs and even hot tubs.
A pond pump that has the ability to move water vertically, head pressure. Not all pumps can do this no matter how many gallons per hour they say they can move.
Various plumbing supplies. Again this varies depending on design.
Fish, TILAPIA work best because they are a warm water fish that can handle a lot of water quality issues. Did you all know that Tilapia are African cichlids? If you believe in this kinds stuff, scholars believe that it was Tilapia that Jesus fed the masses. They even have their own hieroglyph! But anyways use Tilapia.
Biology;
The way this all works is, you feed the fish. They in turn produce waste (Ammonia) that is toxic. Once the Ammonia is present in the system a bacterium called Nitrosomonus becomes present and eats the Ammonia which in turn produces it's own waste called Nitrite. This is also toxic to the fish and humans as well. Once the Nitrite is present in the system another bacterium called Nitrobactor becomes present and eats the Nitrate, the Nitrobactor's waste becomes pure plant food Nitrate! This is called the Nitrogen cycle. The Incas were floating reed beds with plants on lakes thousands of years ago... they knew what was up.
Result;
In the process of cycling the water through the grow beds the the physical and chemical waste produce by the fish is filtered by the rocks and absorbed by the plants and returns the water to the fish clean and even drinkable!
On top of that the fish are edible as well.
The plants never go through a period of toxicity and the water is not tainted nor wasted.
Simple, feed the fish, add water that is lost from evaporation and plant Transpiration. Eat the food.
This is something I would like to take down to PP and get people started on considering the water issues.
I have been reading on the subject and applying what I have learned to my own system. It has been very successful and I have managed to design a system that uses mostly recycled inexpensive materials.
It makes no sense to use expensive grow beds and aquatic tanks. No matter how well it works it would be the most expensive lettuce and tomatoes in the world and you would never recover your investment.
I have a Youtube channel that I have had running for over 2 years that has monthly updates from the beginning explaining how it all works and how I overcame issues in the process. I have over 100 videos free of charge and over 100 subcribers from all over the world.
Please look into it. I am not trying to pump my numbers, only to help educate and help design. If I could make a living out of it someday that would be great but I would love to help anyone interested.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRjOFkxBD7xNdtsZ5-s81g
The down side of each hobby are as follows.
Aquaculture:
The only real down side is that you have to do frequent water changes. In a healthy system the fish eat food and produce waste. That waste is toxic and once the filtration system has established itself the waste is turned into Nitrate (pure plant food, but we will get to that.).
In order to keep the Nitrate level down you need to discard roughly 20% of the water, sometimes bi-weekly, and replace with fresh water. Most hobbyists know that this is a great pick me up for their plants indoors or out doors but most just dump it in the yard or down the drain. That can equal wasted water.
Hydroponics:
In Hydroponics the water used needs additives to create the nutrient base for the plants to thrive. They are expensive but what most people do NOT know is that the nutrients are Toxic. So if you are growing food plants in your Hydroponic system, 2 weeks prior to harvesting you need to clean the water and all of the water delivery systems out and flush the system and plants with fresh water for 2 weeks before the food is edible!!!!
The water removed from the system is toxic and is disposed of. Not only wasted but tainted water . For all of you hot house Hydroponic food buyers, you food was toxic a couple weeks ago....
How it works.
Materials;
A container, 12" deep is best. Length and with depend on design but deep is the important factor.
Rock works best, nothing smaller than 1/2" because it can clog with sediment. 3/4" would be ideal but some people grow in broken brick fragments and even lava rock.
A large container for the fish, this is where design becomes fun because you can use almost anything fish/food safe. Some people use old bath tubs and even hot tubs.
A pond pump that has the ability to move water vertically, head pressure. Not all pumps can do this no matter how many gallons per hour they say they can move.
Various plumbing supplies. Again this varies depending on design.
Fish, TILAPIA work best because they are a warm water fish that can handle a lot of water quality issues. Did you all know that Tilapia are African cichlids? If you believe in this kinds stuff, scholars believe that it was Tilapia that Jesus fed the masses. They even have their own hieroglyph! But anyways use Tilapia.
Biology;
The way this all works is, you feed the fish. They in turn produce waste (Ammonia) that is toxic. Once the Ammonia is present in the system a bacterium called Nitrosomonus becomes present and eats the Ammonia which in turn produces it's own waste called Nitrite. This is also toxic to the fish and humans as well. Once the Nitrite is present in the system another bacterium called Nitrobactor becomes present and eats the Nitrate, the Nitrobactor's waste becomes pure plant food Nitrate! This is called the Nitrogen cycle. The Incas were floating reed beds with plants on lakes thousands of years ago... they knew what was up.
Result;
In the process of cycling the water through the grow beds the the physical and chemical waste produce by the fish is filtered by the rocks and absorbed by the plants and returns the water to the fish clean and even drinkable!
On top of that the fish are edible as well.
The plants never go through a period of toxicity and the water is not tainted nor wasted.
Simple, feed the fish, add water that is lost from evaporation and plant Transpiration. Eat the food.
This is something I would like to take down to PP and get people started on considering the water issues.
I have been reading on the subject and applying what I have learned to my own system. It has been very successful and I have managed to design a system that uses mostly recycled inexpensive materials.
It makes no sense to use expensive grow beds and aquatic tanks. No matter how well it works it would be the most expensive lettuce and tomatoes in the world and you would never recover your investment.
I have a Youtube channel that I have had running for over 2 years that has monthly updates from the beginning explaining how it all works and how I overcame issues in the process. I have over 100 videos free of charge and over 100 subcribers from all over the world.
Please look into it. I am not trying to pump my numbers, only to help educate and help design. If I could make a living out of it someday that would be great but I would love to help anyone interested.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRjOFkxBD7xNdtsZ5-s81g