Aquaponics: Mixing hydroponics and Aquaculture

Aquaponics: Mixing hydroponics and Aquaculture

There is a growing trend that many news outlets have not been reporting on very often, but that is becoming an efficient way for some communities to grow more of different kinds of food. This approach is often called aquaponics, and represents a combination of hydroponics gardens and aquaculture, or the cultivation of aquatic animals for food. We’ve recently seen a number of interesting articles on aquaponics, with a focus on how to develop more of this kind of agriculture around the world.

Analyzing Aquaponics

For many of those who have seen aquaponics projects firsthand, this kind of operation seems very feasible. However, for those who are operating from a theoretical standpoint, it can be hard to envision fish and vegetables grown side-by-side.

One way to analyze what’s needed for an aquaponics project and how it will work is to look at the types of byproducts from aquaculture. This includes fish ‘waste’ products such as ammonia and nitrates – gardeners can think about how these specific elements will affect their hydroponics plants along with common nutrients like nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. In addition, growers should think about the economy of scale for aquaponics projects. Many of these projects are built on a massive scale, with thousands of fish in a greater installation, and many thousands of plants growing above them. However, for beginners, it makes more sense to start with a smaller test sample and engineer it by trial and error until the results become stable enough to really ramp up the project a larger scale.

For much more about how to set up an aquaponics project, talk to your hydroponic retailer about how they can provide you with custom tools that combine hydroponics gardening installations with fish habitats where aquatic creatures can thrive. The result might be a surprising synergy between flora and fauna that can give your hydroponics business or hobby a real boost and a lot more notoriety in your community.