Aquaponic system
Aquaponic system
Agrojay Innovations Pvt. Ltd.
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A commercial aquaponics system. An electric pump moves nutrient-rich water from the fish tank through a solids filter to remove particles the plants above cannot absorb. The water then provides nutrients for the plants and is cleansed before returning to the fish tank below.
Aquaponics consists of two main parts, with the aquaculture part for raising aquatic animals and the hydroponics part for growing plants. Aquatic effluents, resulting from uneaten feed or raising animals like fish, accumulate in water due to the closed-system recirculation of most aquaculture systems. The effluent-rich water becomes toxic to the aquatic animal in high concentrations but this contains nutrients essential for plant growth. Although consisting primarily of these two parts, aquaponics systems are usually grouped into several components or subsystems responsible for the effective removal of solid wastes, for adding bases to neutralize acids, or for maintaining water oxygenation.
Typical components include:
Rearing tank: the tanks for raising and feeding the fish
Settling basin: a unit for catching uneaten food and detached biofilms, and for settling out fine particulates;
Biofilter: a place where the nitrification bacteria can grow and convert ammonia into nitrates, which are usable by the plants;
Hydroponics subsystem: the portion of the system where plants are grown by absorbing excess nutrients from the water;
Sump: the lowest point in the system where the water flows to and from which it is pumped back to the rearing tanks.
Depending on the sophistication and cost of the aquaponics system, the units for solids removal, biofiltration, and/or the hydroponics subsystem may be combined into one unit or subsystem, which prevents the water from flowing directly from the aquaculture part of the system to the hydroponics part. By utilizing gravel or sand as plant supporting medium, solids are captured and the medium has enough surface area for fixed-film nitrification. The ability to combine biofiltration and hydroponics allows for the aquaponic system to in many cases eliminate the need for an expensive, separate biofilter.
Live components :
An aquaponic system depends on different live components to work successfully. The three main live components are plants, fish (or other aquatic creatures) and bacteria. Some systems also include additional live components like worms.
Plants
Further information: Rhizofiltration
A Deep Water Culture hydroponics system where plant grows directly into the effluent rich water without a soil medium. Plants can be spaced closer together because the roots do not need to expand outwards to support the weight of the plant.
A plant placed into a nutrient-rich water channel in a Nutrient film technique (NFT) system
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.
Spinach seedlings, 5 days old, by aquaponics
Other plants, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, have higher nutrient requirements and will do well only in mature aquaponics systems with 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.
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