I've always been fascinated with aquaponics. It is efficient, sustainable and easy to run. It uses much less water than traditional farming and genetically modified products and will allow us to see to the needs of food security at a faster rate than what a solution such as food waste management would. Food produced within aquaponic systems are rich in nutrients, and unlike genetic modification have no potential risks to the health of both the environment or those consuming the produce. Aquaponics is essentially the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. When we look at combining the two, the negative aspects are turned into positives. The fish provide nutrients through their waste to the plants which in turn filter the fishy water.
Here is the setup I had back before I got my trailer (About 4-5 yrs ago)
A pump on a timer fills the beds and the bell siphon I made empties the beds into the sump tank below them. The flow of the water entering the beds must be strong enough to trigger the siphon. Once the water in the sump tank reaches a certain level it sets off a float switch which makes the water return to the main tank. The return of the water also provides oxygen to the fish. The growbeds were made using food grade IBC totes.
Just 2 months since seed and the plants are thriving! Cucumbers & tomatos is what's being grown here. Can't quite remember if there were others.
The species of fish I have here are tilapia. Many different species of fish can be grown in an aquaponic system, your species selection will depend on a number of factors but mostly temperature. For example tilapia cannot withstand cold and trout need it to be cold. Quite high stocking densities of fish can be grown in an aquaponic system.
Tomatos grown with love & fish poop! In the middle of winter _
Turning an abandoned utility trailer into an aquaponics grow bed. This was a project made in hopes of having transportable plants.
Whilst I never got the chance to do many test runs with this the trials I did do presented a challenge triggering the bell siphon. If anyone were to replicate this project or build a growbed of this size (8' x 6') I would suggest downsizing the overall capacity of the bed by a couple feet so the siphon doesn't struggle. Though with more water pressure I feel like it may have worked. Both of these experiments unfortunately got cut short due to being forced to relocate.
I dream to one day have an aquaponic rainbow trout pond setup with a greenhouse. It appears to be in the community's plans so I hope to fulfill that dream soon and post about it.
I am a big fan of sushi! I've gotten pretty good at making it. My staple breakfast is sushi rice with eggs from the chickens. It's sooo good especially warm.
Thanks for viewing! I hope you found this interesting. If you have any questions about aquaponics I know a fair bit about it.