The average person’s food supply chain has become more industrial and opaque in recent decades, which has led to a reaction against this view of food production. Instead, there is a movement that supports small home gardens and emphasizes the importance of knowing where food comes from. This movement includes hobby gardeners, homesteaders, and those who prefer local farmers’ markets over large grocery stores. Growing one’s own vegetables is a way to avoid potentially harmful pesticides, weed-killers, and fertilizers used in commercial growing processes.
Although it may sound intimidating, the purpose is not to scare you away from consuming lettuce or fish. Rather, the intention is to emphasize the incredible fact that there exists a simple, affordable, and easily attainable solution for both challenges. Furthermore, this solution can be implemented right in your own backyard. In essence, the answer can be described in a single word: aquaponics!
What is Aquaponic Gardening?
Aquaponic gardening is an increasingly popular practice among families, enabling them to establish a self-sufficient ecosystem that produces vegetables, fruits, flowers, and other plants with minimal upkeep needed.
Aquaponics was defined by The Aquaponic Gardening Community as follows:
Aquaponics involves growing fish and plants simultaneously in a constructed ecosystem that recirculates and utilizes natural bacterial cycles. The process converts fish waste into plant nutrients and does not require the disposal of water filtrate or the use of chemical fertilizers. This method of food cultivation combines the positive qualities of aquaculture and hydroponics while being environmentally friendly and natural.
Aquaponic is essentially a food production system that combines aquaculture, involving the raising of aquatic animals like fish, prawns, or snails in water, with hydroponics, where plants are grown in water instead of soil. The ultimate objective of the aquaponic method is to establish a self-sustaining system of food.
Both aquaculture and hydroponics demand constant intervention for maintenance. This means that in aquaculture, it is essential to remove fish waste before it reaches hazardous levels. Similarly, hydroponics necessitate consistent replenishment and balancing of chemical nutrients to prevent plant death. In contrast, with aquaponics, the two systems harmonize to establish a self-sustaining environment.
Why Aquaponic Gardening?
Aquaponic gardening is known for its efficiency, making it a cost-effective and sustainable option. In comparison to traditional soil-based gardening, regular hydroponics demonstrates greater efficiency by enabling plants to be grown in close proximity. Surprisingly, this hydroponic system uses substantially less water, about 90%, compared to a traditional garden. The reason behind this is that nearly all of the water in the hydroponic system directly nourishes the plants, preventing water loss to factors like evaporation, animals, and weeds.
In aquaponics, the system becomes even more efficient as the nutrients required by the plants are provided by the waste produced by the fish. The accumulation of ammonia in a regular aquarium can be toxic, whereas in an aquaponics tank, bacteria and composting worms break down the waste into nitrites and nitrates. Although these compounds are also toxic in a regular fish tank, they are exactly what hydroponic plants need to grow. The plants eliminate the nitrites and nitrates and utilize them to support their growth, thereby oxygenating the water and creating an environment in which the fish can flourish.
How Does It Work?
Aquaponics is not excessively difficult. Waste produced by fish is converted into nitrate and ammonia. If these substances accumulate excessively, it can harm the fish. Nonetheless, the nitrate and ammonia serve as a fertilizer for the plants and prevent the excessive build-up. As the plants absorb the nutrients, the water is cleansed for the fish.
Once the system is properly established, only minimal water quantities are necessary to sustain its operation. When the water evaporates naturally, it must be replenished. Tilapia is the most widely utilized fish in aquaponics systems due to their low maintenance requirements and high reproductive rate.
Before You Get Started
Before beginning the process of collecting tanks, pumps, and fish, there are several factors that require consideration.
In what location will your system be situated? Numerous aquaponics systems can be transported (although it may take an entire afternoon to relocate them) and are ideal for regions where outdoor gardening is restricted due to seasonal limitations. It is necessary to take into account the size of your system and find a suitable place for it. Could it be a greenhouse? A basement with lighting? Or perhaps on a different property? All of these options will depend on the dimensions of your aquaponics system.
The timing of when you start your aquaponics system is important, as many fish hatcheries do not ship fish in the winter months, certain plants are difficult to establish during colder times of the year, and it takes time for bacteria to grow in your aquaponics ecosystem.
Who will have the responsibility of attending to the system? Are there any children in the vicinity of the system? If there are, this might affect the height at which you construct the system, whether it includes windows, and the frequency of cultivation you desire, among other things.
How to Set Up an Aquaponics Tank
Setting up an aquaponics tank, as stated by Everything Fishkeeping, is simpler than it may seem. Once the system is established, it essentially becomes self-sustaining. Naturally, you will need to monitor the system, but tasks such as gardening, like weeding, fertilizing, and watering, are handled by the system. Likewise, the usual water maintenance required for a regular aquarium is managed by the plants, eliminating the need for weekly water changes. All that is required is feeding the fish and allowing them to provide sustenance for you.
The tank, along with a filter and an aerator pump, form the fundamental components of any aquaponics setup. Depending on the preferred water temperature for your fish, you might require a heater, and in case a greenhouse is unavailable, lights may be necessary. Aside from these, the only other essential items you’ll need are your fish, plants, and a colony of composting worms, which play a crucial role in the process.
Common Questions and Problems
- What kinds of plants can I grow in my aquaponics tank? Almost any kind of plant can thrive in an aquaponics setup, which is part of what makes them so popular and versatile. Anything from iceberg lettuce to heritage tomatoes to small berry bushes can grow a bumper crop in a fish tank. Plants that generally don’t do well in an aquaponics tank include those that require acidic soil to flourish, like blueberries. Aquaponics tanks usually need a neutral pH for the health of the fish, and it’s hard to get the pH of water low enough for these plants anyway.
- What kind of fish should I keep? While edible fish are the kind most commonly kept in an aquaponics tank, any freshwater fish that can thrive in a regular fish tank can do well with aquaponics. The one thing to watch out for is fish that can be overly aggressive with plants, as these obviously won’t be great tank mates for your vegetable garden.
- How big should my tank be? Any size you want! Aquaponics is totally scalable, so while the minimum recommended tank size is usually 10 gallons (45L), you can make your setup as big or as small as you like. Larger setups will be slightly more expensive to maintain, mostly because of the additional energy to run the filter, aerator pump, and any heaters, but because the system is self-sustaining, the usual exponential rule that applies when scaling up a fish tank doesn’t work here. A 50-gallon (227L) aquaponics setup isn’t much harder to run than a 5-gallon one (22L).
- How will I know if something is going wrong? If your plants or fish start looking ill, acting out of sorts, or dying, it’s time to check the parameters of your water and start troubleshooting your aquaponics setup.
Building the Structure
Before purchasing fish or adding water, it is crucial to ensure the proper construction of your system.
Typically, the grow bed is positioned above the fish tank with water being pumped up from the fish tank into the grow bed. It is important for the volume ratio of the grow bed to fish tank to be equal. If you choose to include an additional growing bed, a sump tank with extra water will be required.
When selecting tanks and other construction materials for your structure, it is important to ensure that they are both waterproof and capable of bearing heavy loads. The accumulation of gallons of water can swiftly exert a substantial weight on your structure, hence it is advisable to refrain from using plastic containers.
To ensure the safety of the food you will be growing, it is important to use materials that are non-toxic and suitable for food purposes. Therefore, the structure should be built using materials that are non-toxic and inert to avoid any contamination of the food.
A lot of individuals utilize tanks of various sizes, such as 50 gallons, 30 gallons, or 250 gallons, to accommodate their fish and other aquaponics supplies.
What Kind of Plants Should I Grow?
Almost all plants can thrive in an aquaponic setting, except for those with specific pH requirements that are significantly higher or lower than 7.0. Therefore, plants such as blueberries or azaleas will not flourish in a pH-balanced environment.
Carrots and potatoes face difficulties in reaching maturity when grown in an aquaponics system, whereas salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries thrive remarkably well in such an environment.
The usual method of growing plants involves placing them in a structure made of rocks, through which water flows.
Aquaponics is an incredible concept that may appear too good to be true, but actually isn’t. If you have an interest in sustainable, locally produced food, or simply intrigued by the idea of conducting a fascinating experiment in your backyard or garage, you might be prepared to embark on the remarkable journey of aquaponic gardening.
