Organic Food and Fresh Fish From Aquaponics: Easy Way to Go Green

Aquaponics is one of the most sustainable system that produces fresh organic vegetables while you are raising sustainable freshwater fish. It is getting popular between enthusiasts who love tasty fish and vegetables, also for people who would like to take action toward self-sufficiency.

One of the main advantages of aquaponics is its sustainable mechanisms. It removes the inconveniences of conventional gardening and fishfarming. Practically, you don't have to water the plants, you don't have to clean the fishwater. With this technique, you'll save tons of water while you enjoy organic vegetables and fresh fish.

Interested? Here is a brief description of how a aquaponic system works. Fish are kept in a tank and fed daily. While they are growing, they produce waste products in the water. The water becomes contaminated by the fishfood leftovers and their waste products as they grow. That's when the vegetable gardens come to rescue. The dirty water is pumped up to the elevated garden beds above the tank and it will be filtered by the garden beds. What's clever about the system is that the dirty water actually has essential nutritions for the plants to grow, so while the filteration is happening in the garden beds, the plants feed on the nutrients to grow further.

The filtered water will go back to the water tank. When this happnes the water is clean enough for the fish to live in, also the whole water movement causes the water to regain oxygen, which is essential for fish to live as well. This cycle repeats several times a day to support continuous growth for the fish and plants.

As you can see, this technique is very sustainable and there is very little waste in an aquaponic system. There are many enthusiasts around the country who are already experiencing the success.

Aquaponics is like a hybrid of two traditional farming techniques, aquaculture and hydroponics. It is much like hydroponics in a sense, but aquaponics is organic and there are fish attached to it. It might sound a little complicated at first but once you understand the basic concept, it is actually a simple system. Here are a short list of common myths on aquaponics,

Myth 1: Aquaponics needs lots of space 

This is actually the opposite. The most common type of aquaponic system has garden beds above the fish tank, it is a way to maximize a small sapce.

Myth 2: It is difficult to set up the system 

The concept of aquaponics might sound sophisticated if you are new to this idea. But once you have a good understanding of it, it is not hard to set up a system.

Myth 3: It is expensive 

One of the reasons for the popularity of aquaponics system is its flexibility. You can use recycled materials to set up the system, and the running cost of it is very minimal.

Depending on your needs, aquaponics system can be scaled up or down. The flexible production of fresh fish and vegetables (or fruits if you prefer) is very attractive. You can find experienced aquaponics practitioners around the country to get help especially when you are just starting out with this new boom. This is a system that can be modified for your individual preference. If you have a passion for safe fresh food, aquaponics is definitely the choice for you.