What Is Aquaponics || Complete Information About Aquaponics For Beginners

 During the time of rapid population growth and shrinkage of fertile agricultural land, different practices and efforts are made for the better utilization of environmental and it's components. To fulfill the gap between demand and supply different agricultural methods are brought into use. Among these methods, Aquaponics is one of the best method to harness the energy of nature and protect the quality of natural environment. 

Now let's talk about "Aquaponics". When we talk about it we must understand it's meaning and concept. Aquaponics means raising of aquatic life i.e fish and agricultural crops at the same time in symbiotic environment. It is the advanced form of hydroponics as aquaculture is included on the same system. It is the redesigned form of two systems of agriculture i.e hydroponics and aquaculture. 

Hydroponics   +    Aquaculture    ➡  Aquaponics

The main concept of aquaponics is to integrate two system of agriculture in symbiotic environment. It means the activity of one system helps other system and vice versa. In aquaponics, fish eat and produces ammonia. The beneficial bacteria like Nitrobacter, Nitrococcus, etc convert ammonia into nitrate which is easily available to the plants. The nutrients present in the solution is taken by the plant. 

One of the coolest things about aquaponics is that it mimics or copy natural ecosystem. It symbolises the relationship between aquatic life, bacteria, plants and nutrients medium that is growing as a unit in aquatic ecosystem all over the world. Through this bio-integration, aquaponics harness the energy of every single components. Exchanging the fish waste byproduct as a food for the bacteria; to be converted into natural plant nutrients and then finally recycling pure and fresh water to the fish. It is just like a nature does for every aquatic ecosystem. 

Advantages of aquaponics:- 

Aquaponics is considered as a sustainable production system. It presents a series of beneficial features for the environment. Some of the advantages are listed below:-

• Aquaponics can be practiced by landless farmer, youths and agricultural students. 
• It is ecofriendly in nature as there is little or no use of chemical fertilizers. Because fish byproduct after conversion by bacteria acts as fertilizers. 
• Efficient use of water. 
• High yield and better return. 
• Soil borne diseases and insect pests infestation in minimum. 
• It uses best of all the growing techniques, utilizing the waste of one to benifit another mimicking a natural ecosystem. So this is game changer system of cultivation. 
• Multiple crops and fish can be harvested from the same system. 
• Fish can be harvested as a additional food or source of revenue. 
• Unlike hydroponics, aquaponics never requires discharging water. 
• It can be started anywhere. You can put it on garden, greenhouse, in basement, on terrace, etc. 
• The most important thing is that you get to harvest both crops and fish from your garden. 

Disadvantages of aquaponics:- 

• Initial investment is high. 
• Require skilled and trained manpower. 
• Artificial ecosystem should be monitored regularly and carefully. 
• Roots crops can't be grown.

Materials required to start a aquaponics:-

• Fish tank
• Grow bed
• Grow media
• Air and water pump
• PVC pipe with fittings
• Water tasting kit
• EC or TDS meter. 

Who can start aquaponics:-

It can be started by anyone; who love farming and those who are associated with farming. But before starting aquaponics you must learn some basics of it. It can be started by:-

• Farmers
• Youths
• Agricultural students

Where to start:-

Aquaponics doesn't need specialized place. You can start it on your garden, if you have facility of greenhouse;you can keep it there, on terrace of your house, on your basement. It is scalable and fits on most of sizes and budgets from small countertop herb systems to backyard garden to full scale farm. 

Types of aquaponics:-  

Primarily there are three different types of aquaponics system. They are:-

1. Deep Water Culture (DWC) 
2. Media based aquaponics
3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)