Showing posts with label Different Aquaponics Designs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Different Aquaponics Designs. Show all posts

Considering Different Aquaponics Designs Will Make Things Cheaper & Easier

By considering the different aquaponics designs that might suit your needs, you’ll start off on the right foot when starting your own sustainable organic garden. Many people make the mistake of rushing into building an aquaponics system, without fully considering and understanding what makes a system like this work in the first place.

Rushing into a project like this will likely result in higher maintenance and ongoing expenses that can be avoided if you take the time to set up your system properly from the very start. If you’re interested in building a home aquaponics system in the cheapest and most time-efficient manner, then part of your research should include how to use recycled materials, and how to convert household items into usable supplies.

The Most Common Designs Are All Trying To Achieve The Same Thing

Let us go on with this short post. 3 of the most common aquaponics designs that are used to set up a home aquaponics system are elevated grow beds, an aquaponics raft, and a backyard solar pond. Regardless of the basic design that you choose, you really should understand what we’re trying to accomplish first, and then choosing the right set up for your needs will become much easier.

Successful aquaponics is all about biological balance. All of your efforts will be centered on balancing the amount and number of fish, plants, and bacteria – so that each of these parts is in the right proportion to sustain the other two parts.

Aquaponics GA – YouTube
Creating a system that will sustain itself will require effort for the first few weeks and possibly months, but the payoff will be worth your efforts. Sustainable organic gardens can provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber on an ongoing basis that’s more nutrient dense and far cheaper than what you can get in a health food store.

Most of the time, you can create the proper biological balance in an aquaponics system in a week or two. You’ll first condition the water that the plants and fish will live in, by encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria.

By encouraging bacteria to grow in the water, you’ll be reducing the harmful chlorine in the water and creating the fish waste conversion system at the same time. The bacteria will decompose the fish waste and ammonia into usable nitrates that the plants will absorb through their roots. As the plants take up these vital nutrients, they’ll also clean the water for the fish.

Why The Design of the System is Important

The design of the system will ensure that the dirty water is circulated from the fish to the plants, and that the purified water will move from the vegetables back to the fish again. As an example, if you use elevated grow beds, the system will use gravity to drain the water from the vegetation back to where the fish are. This water movement does 2 things. It reduces the pH levels of the water where the fish are, while simultaneously aerating the water for the fish. Both of these processes happen naturally in freshwater rivers and lakes, and that’s why you see so many fish in these places.

The other important consideration when you’re researching which aquaponics design to use, is to determine if you may possibly want to scale up your system at a later date. Many people can envision either increasing the size of their harvests of fresh fish and vegetables, while others hope to grow their system into a commercial aquaponics business.

By taking the time to reflect on your own goals and needs, and by learning about the types of systems that can meet those needs, you’ll be in a much better spot to start building your own aquaponics self-sustaining system.

Robert Alekson has been growing organic fruit and vegetables for over twenty years. If you’re interested in learning more about the different aquaponics designs that you should consider.