Learning Aquaponics
My wife and I have lived in the mountains of southern Colorado for the past fifteen years at 7700 feet and gardening has always been a challenge. We have such a short growing season, it makes it difficult to say the least. We also have to haul our water in to fill our cisterns.
We have dreamed for years of having a greenhouse as that would be the only practical way to extend our growing season. Then we started researching and reaching out on the internet and found out how to build a low-cost greenhouse that are easy to erect and maintain. In the process of much research and online studying, we came across the concept of Aquaponics . This has led us to believe we came across the practical solution to producing our self-sufficient food supply.
More Observations on Aquaponics
One of the most important benefits of home aquaponics is that it is cheap to set up and run the system. At home aquaponics use around 2% of the water that a normal organic garden would use and due to the low power pumps used in home aquaponics the energy bill is also very little. You could also set up an alternative energy source for your system which means you could get free energy to run your system. Another important benefit that comes with aquaponics systems is the amount of work required to maintain the system.
As well as saving money and your back by having at-home aquaponics, you will also find that your plants will grow much faster and the fruit and vegetables will taste amazing. This is simply because your plants are getting everything they need much easier than they would from soil. Some areas are unfertile and you would have to make the earth fertile before you can start an organic garden – that isn’t the case with aquaponics. You will also not have to worry about common pests attacking your plants.
An important consideration when you are researching which aquaponics design to use, is to determine if you desire to scale up your system at a later date. Many people can envision either increasing the size of their harvests of fresh fish and vegetables, or even growing their system into a commercial aquaponics business.
Of the different forms of aquaponics system, flood and drain is the best type for the beginner. It is the simplest system to understand, setup and maintain and it enables you to raise the widest variety of produce. Versatility and simplicity are the definitive characteristics of this kind of system.
The technical definition of Aquaponics comes from the integration of two terms. Aquaculture refers to the growing of fish in a re-circulating system. And the Greek word Ponos which means the growing of plants, with or without a growing media.
Simply put, in Aquaponics fish are raised in tanks. The water from the fish tanks is then pumped through the growing media of the plants for water and fertilizer. This is a old way of growing utilizing a modern system of pumps to move and aerate the water. Bacteria in the growing media convert ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. This is an excellent source of fertilizer for the plants. The nutrient rich water is absorbed by the roots of the plants and is filtered and pumped back to the fish tank as clean water. Many people also utilize worms in the growing media to have an even more efficient growing media.
Many of the reasons for Aquaponics is it gives the piece of mind of knowing you can provide food security for you and your family You raise all the vegetables you love and raise a source of protein by raising fish for consumption too. For us one big plus with this type of system compared to traditional gardening is it has an extremely low rate of water consumption. Aquaponic’s uses roughly 10% of traditional soil grown vegetable. The fish have to have a fairly stable water temperature depending on the fish and their water tanks help create heat in the winter to help keep the greenhouse warm.
This is an excellent way to grow organic produce, all waste is reused in the system. Another advantage for plant growth is less energy is expended in root growth and more in vegetable production, since the roots are provided a constant flow of nutrients in a controlled fashion. You also have no soil borne parasites , tilling or weeding in this type of system. All of your growing containers can be raised off the ground to do away with knee and back pain associated with traditional gardens.
There are many different types of fish you can raise that are well suited to Aquaponics. Some people choose to grow ornamental pond fish like Asian carp, Koi, or Goldfish. While these will work , I want to use this system to produce food. My two favorite type of fish to raise are Catfish and Tilapia because of their taste and short harvest time. They also are fairly hardy fish to grow. Other fish that do well are Trout, Bass, Yellow Perch, and Bluegill. They all require different temperatures and will probably require heating systems for the water tanks in the winters. Whatever type of heater you use, make sure you have a settable thermostat to maintain a constant water temperature.
When it comes to plants you can grow just about anything as you would in any garden. But some plants really thrive in a Aquaponics system such as tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, lettuce, strawberries ,squash, watercress, onions, beans of all kinds and potatoes to just name a few.
For those who want to be truly independent or are off grid, there are a lot of options available ranging from DIY solar panels, to dc water pumps to rigid Styrofoam insulation to help insulate the fish tanks. This is not just a weekend project to set up, but anyone with normal household tools and a good set of instructions can do this and thrive by this type of system.
Small Scale Aquaponics
It’s obvious Ann Forsthoefel of “Aqua Annie” is excited by aquaponics,
News About Aquaponics
Aquaponics
