What Does Aquaponics Mean? Definition, Advantages, and Drawbacks

GHG emissions are accounted for 25% of modern agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. Agriculture relies heavily on synthetic fertilizers to create food, which may be costly and pollute the environment. Is aquaponics a viable option for agriculture? What is aquaponics, and how is it diverse from hydroponics? What are some of the advantages of aquaponics?

What Does Aquaponics Mean? Basic Definition

Aquaponics is the production of plants and aquatic animals in a sequencing batch environment, as per a report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and SmartFish.

Aquaponics is a concept that combines the words aquaculture (fish farming in a contained environment) and hydroponics (the growing of plants usually in a soil-less environment). to express a connection between plants and fish.

Small indoor units to huge commercial units are available in aquaponic systems. They might be freshwater systems or systems that contain salt or brackish water.

In other aspects, aquaponics is the production of fish and plants in a built, recirculating environment using natural bacterial cycles to convert fish waste to plant nourishment, according to the Aquaponics Gardening Community, referenced by Thorarinsdottir. This is a sustainable, ecologically friendly food-growing system that combines the greatest features of aquaculture and hydroponics without the need to waste water or apply artificial fertilizers.

Understanding Aquaponics through Aquaculture

As the consumption of seafood has grown, science has enabled food to be grown in coastline marine waters and the marine environment, according to the National Ocean Service. Aquaculture is a way of producing food and other economic items, as well as restoring habitat and replenishing wild stocks, and rebuilding vulnerable and endangered animal populations.

Aquaculture is divided into two types: marine and freshwater. Aquaculture is also defined by the FAO as the regulated growing and harvesting of fish and other sea animal and plant species in captivity. Many aquatic animals, including fish, crabs, and mollusks, as well as aquatic plants and algae, have been farmed. Aquaculture production systems have been established in different parts of the world and have consequently been adapted to diverse environmental and climatic circumstances. Open water systems (e.g., cages, longlines), pond cultivation, flow-through water channels, and circulating aquaculture systems are the four basic kinds of aquaculture (RAS).

Using Hydroponics to Understand Aquaponics

There are alternatives to growing food straight from the earth. In a transcript from an FAO study, soil-less cultures are described as a method of cultivating agricultural crops without the need for soil. Various inert growth mediums, often known as substrates, are employed instead of soil.

Plant support and moisture retention are provided by these mediums. Irrigation systems are built into this medium, delivering nutritional solutions to the root zones of the plants.

This solution contains all of the nutrients required for plant development. Hydroponics is the most prevalent form of soilless growth, which involves growing plants with bare roots on a substrate or in an aqueous media.

What is the Process of Aquaponics? What's the Story Behind Aquaponics?

Fish consume the food and produce waste, which is transformed into fertilizers that the plants may utilize by helpful microorganisms. Plants assist to filter water by eating these nutrients.

In-Depth Look at Aquaponics Design

Aquaponics is a production technique that combines aquaculture with hydroponics. The food introduced for the fish serves as the system's input in aquaponics. As fish consume and assimilate this material, urine and feces are produced, both of which are high in ammonia and may be harmful to plants and fish in large quantities.

After that, the water (now ammonia-rich) passes from the fish tank into a biofilter, along with un-consumed food and decomposing plant materials. Bacteria then decompose it all back into natural nutrient solutions (nitrogen-rich) for growing plants within the biofilter.

As we can see, freshwater aquaponics systems rely on three primary elements: freshwater aquatic animals (fish), nitrifying bacteria, and plants - all of which are interdependent to live. Plants wouldn't have a viable form of nutrients if bacteria didn't devour the fish waste, which is why natural filtering is so important. Plant growth also removes nutrients from the water, maintaining it healthy of the fish.

Benefits of Aquaponics

As per the FAO, there are several advantages to using a system design like aquaponics to generate food. What are the advantages of aquaponics?

One of the advantages of aquaponics is that it allows for a more efficient food production system while yet remaining sustainable.

Aquaponics is the production of two economic products (fish and vegetables) from a single nitrogen source (fish food).

Aquaponics is a system that uses very little water. In fact, according to Nelson and Pade, aquaponics uses just 1/6th of the water that traditional agriculture does produce 8 times higher food per acre.

Because aquaponics does not require soil, it is immune to soil-borne infections.

Aquaponics does not necessitate the use of fertilizers or pesticides.

Higher yields and quality output are synonymous with aquaponics.

Aquaponics provides more biosecurity and fewer hazards from external pollutants.

Aquaponics provides for more production control (since it is easier than soil control), resulting in lesser losses.

Aquaponics may be employed in non-arable environments like as deserts, deteriorated soil, or salty, sandy islands.

Aquaponics produces less waste since it follows nature's cyclical pattern.

Aquaponics needs labor-saving daily duties, harvesting, and planting, making it suitable for people of all genders and ages.

Aquaponics can help landless and disadvantaged households secure food and small revenues by integrating livelihood options.

Aquaponics produces fish protein, which is a useful complement to many people's diets.

Aquaponics is a fully natural process that replicates all of the world's lakes, ponds, rivers, and waterways.

Aquaponics supplies sustenance in the form of both protein  (from the fish) and veggies from a nutritional viewpoint.

Weaknesses of Aquaponics:

There are two sides to every coin. Also, according to the FAO analysis, there are certain drawbacks to using an aquaponics system. So, what are aquaponics' shortcomings?

One of the aquaponics' flaws is it is extremely expensive initial start-up expenses (when compared to both hydroponics and soil production methods).

Aquaponics necessitates extensive knowledge of the natural world. Farmers must understand not just how to cultivate crops but also how fish and bacteria function to be successful. Also required are technical abilities in plumbing or wiring.

Following up on the previous point, finding a perfect match between the demands of fish and plants (such as pH, temperature, and substrate) can be difficult.

When compared to standalone aquaculture or hydroponics, aquaponics offers fewer management choices (a problem that will be discussed later).

Management errors can swiftly bring the system down;

Daily management is required, thus the organization is essential.

It has an energy demand, hence it has energy expenses.

Regular purchases of fish feed are required.

Aquaponics consumables alone aren't enough to offer a complete diet; therefore, an efficient aquaponics system requires excellent organic solid filtration, which is performed by bacteria or algae. Ineffective solid waste disposal causes more than two-thirds of aquaponics system failures.

Taking Care of an Aquaponics System

Aquaponics is a way of cultivating crops and other plants that is environmentally friendly. The plant "kingdom" replicates nature by repurposing scraps from the animal kingdom (fish) to complete a continuous cycle. However, obtaining and maintaining the system's balance, as well as ensuring ideal circumstances for the fish and plants, necessitates careful monitoring of several factors.

The following are the primary production characteristics that must be precisely regulated to satisfy the ideal demands of plants and fish:

The temperature of the air;

The temperature of water;

macro-and micronutrient concentrations

The amount of dissolved oxygen in air and water varies

depending on the filtering technology utilized.

CO2 levels in the air and the water;

pH;

Light.

The greater the system's production, the more "perfect" these characteristics are. Insects, illnesses, and other sorts of pollution can be avoided by paying attention to these aspects. Furthermore, establishing enough surface area to build a bacterial colony to convert all of the fish wastes while maintaining an optimal balance between fish waste and vegetable nutrient needs.

Aquaponics' Potential Applications

Aquaponics systems, according to the FAO, are made up of components that come in a variety of forms and sizes. From little goldfish and herb devices on kitchen tables to bigger systems growing silver perch fish and lettuce. More complicated machines can generate tonnes of fish and thousands of plants every month on an industrial scale.

Aquaponics' Current Applications:

1. Small-scale or domestic aquaponics system

This is a 1000-liter fish tank with a 3m2 growth area, excellent for residential production.

2. Aquaponics, both semi-commercial and commercial

This entails approaching an aquaponics system from the standpoint of a market with few participants due to high startup costs

3. Education Educational sites are using small aquaponics

Systems to fill the gap among the general population and sustainable agriculture practices.

4. Interventions in humanitarian relief and food security

Aquaponics systems may be utilized by pilots in poor nations to address local people's food security demands because they operate anywhere in the world.

Aquaponic Units Design

There are three primary aquaponics systems utilized worldwide, according to Thorarinsdottir: media bedding, floating rafts, or deep water culture (DWC), and nutrient film technology (NFT). The plant roots in the NFT (in a thin layer of water) and raft/DWC systems (floating rafts in big water tanks) grow straight into the water, whereas the media beds use varied media in an "ebb and flow" process.