The Aponic System: The Development Of The Aquaponics System

Abstract

Aquaponics systems are the combination of aquaculture (raising fish in a tank) and hydroponics (growing of plants in a soil-less environment) that facilitates the growth of the fish and plants simultaneously in one integrated system. The waste produced by the fish would provide a source of nutrition for the growing plants and the plants naturally filter the water in which the fish live in. Another process involved in the aquaponics system is the participation of microbes (nitrifying bacteria) and composting red worms that flourish in the growing media. They convert the ammonia present in the fish waste into nitrites, then into nitrates and the solids into vermicompost that serves are food for the plants. By combining

They achieved this by raising plants on rafts on the surfaces of lakes. However, in modern times, aquaponics emerged from the aquaculture industry because fish farmers started experimenting with other methods and approaches to raising fish, while at the same time, trying to decrease their dependence on land and minimalizing resources. In the 1970s, Dr. James Rakocy of the University of the Virgin Islands began research into using plants as a natural filter, thus laying some of the groundwork that’d later contribute to the creation of aquaponics. In the mid-1980s, the first major large scale commercial aquaponics facility, Bioshelters, was founded in Amherst, Massachusetts and is still in operation today. In September, 2011, Sylvia Bernstein’s book, Aquaponic Gardening was introduced at the first annual Aquaponics Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. It marked the first time that a complete guide to designing, building, starting and maintaining a media-based aquaponics system had been

It doesn’t require much hard work and it is much less labour-intensive than traditional farming and gardening. Aquaponics is an ideal approach to farming for those advanced in age and those with limited mobility. Aquaponics is also not a time-consuming commitment either, making it possible for the producer to perform other activities or even another job. Aquaponics is not dependent on weather conditions and also doesn’t require the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and herbicides since there isn’t the need for farmland to cultivate the