What is Aquaponics?

Are you interested in growing your own vegetables, fruits, or plants, but don’t want to spend a small fortune on a greenhouse or a costly hydroponics setup?

If so, you may want to consider aquaponics. Using an aquaponic garden will enable you to set up a much lower-cost garden – one that will allow you to grow plants as well as fish. It’s not only practical, but it’s beautiful as well!

What is Aquaponics?

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture, and hydroponics…in other words, growing plants in a container that runs off into a fish tank (where there are fish). The water that is used to hydrate the plants comes from the fish tank, and it is purified before being used for the plants. The fish byproducts work as a form of fertilization and help to nourish the plants.

Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia  is a step-by-step guide on aquaponic design to raising vegetables and fish together

Why You Should Consider Aquaponics?

There are a number of reasons that you should consider aquaponic gardening:

1. Aquaponic systems use less water — When you water a traditional garden, the water is absorbed into the ground – where it will nourish the plants but also run off into the groundwater.  It actually uses about 90% less water than a conventional dirt garden
   where the water can run off or seep past the root zone. The plants are never stressed by to
   little water or to much water, so they grow at up to 50% faster....
2. Plants grow more quickly — Interestingly enough, aquaponic systems can make your plants grow a lot faster. Plants grow so much better using the aquaponics system. This is because they get food nutrients from the fishes continuously.There’s also no risk of depleting the soil’s nutrients, and there is no real need to use soil for growing the plants.
3. Aquaponic systems are clean and organic — Most people that run an aquaponic garden will grow only organic food and plants, as the system needs to be clean in order to keep the fish alive. If you were to use pesticides and chemicals on your plants, the chemical runoff into the tanks below would kill the fish. This style of gardening allows the plants to grow without the use of any chemicals.
4. Aquaponics saves energy — With a hydroponic growing system, you have to purchase lights, sprayers, a drainage system, and a lot more. Hydroponics will end up using a whole lot more energy, not to mention water. With aquaponics, there is really only electricity that’s used. The pump has to circulate the water, the filter needs to clean it, and there are some grow lights used. However, other than this, there is not much else that is required to set up an aquaponic garden. It will cost you about 75% less than the other types of gardens.
5. Aquaponics is much safer — When you grow plants in soil, there’s always the risk of bugs, pathogens, bacteria, and even small creatures getting into your garden. With an aquaponic garden, there’s no risk of anything getting into your plants or your fish. As long as you keep the water nice and clean, your garden should stay perfectly healthy very easily.
6. One of the beauty's of aquaponics is that it's totally scalable. The processes that work in a backyard sized system also work with a fish tank and a pot .

Top 3 Preventable Problems With Aquaponics

If you were to know some of the problems that can happen with an aquaponics system, this would allow you to help prevent them while you are building your own. There are many things that can go wrong, however, it doesn't take much to get your system running properly and effortlessly.

1. One of the most common  problems is the algae formation.The nutrient tank should be made of dark material, to limit the light exposure. Along with dark material, a lid for the reservoir is a must. Having a light proof aquaponic system is the goal in preventing algae.

2.An aquaponic system with high water pressure has an increase chance of leaking to occur. These leak issues can be avoided pretty simply by using a hydroponic system designed for low pressure pumps, like the nutrient film technique.

3. Clogging can be an issue if you are using drip systems or spray systems like in an aeroponics system. Clean it regularly.

How To Get Started?

The easiest and fastest way to set up your own Aquaponic System is to follow a simple step by step guide. Visit Kickstarter to know more about  Home Aquaponics Kit: Self-Cleaning Fish Tank That Grows Food

Here is a great article on how to use aquaponics system to support feeding the hunger program