Aquaponics
deals with growing food in your own house in a very eco-friendly
manner. It is done by using the mechanism of recycle and reuse. In
this the fish waste is utilized as the source of natural fertilizer
in hydroponics to grow plants on the bed of Styrofoam sheet. This
system is completely devoid of soil. They basically use the
hydroponic methods like lava rock or hydroton for the growing
purpose.
What
are the basic requirements to start an Aquaponics garden?
There
are only a few methods of setting up your own indoor Aquaponics
garden. Nowadays many stores provide you the whole Aquaponics kit but
that will be pricey. You can also purchase it in bits and pieces,
then just combine them according to the way you want the setup to
look like. It’s really interesting to know that you can also make
one by using recycled material or by using the old useless drum of
your house. You just need to be more creative and sustainable.
Parts
needed to setup you own Aquaponics garden:
- You need to arrange for a hydroponic growth media such as lava rock or hydroton.
- A drain kit that will maintain the constant flow in the system.
- A hydroponic flood tray is must as it will serve as the growth bed.
- A water pump to push the water up into the upper tub.
- You need two large huge water tubs which hold sufficient water for the fish and the other one should have the capacity to submerge the growth bed too.
- Arrange the fishes and seeds. You can go with the seedling in case you are beginner. Fish can be purchase from the local shop if you are not willing to eat them.
- An effective air pump along with the air stones.
- If you are making the Aquaponics garden inside the house you, may need a source of light.
What
kind of fish should be used in Aquaponics garden?
The
selection of fish entirely depends on the fact that whether you are
interested in harvesting the fish or not. If your intention is to use
the fish as food you can surely go with the edible species. Tilapia
is considered as the best fish to harvest in an indoor Aquaponics
garden. As they are of high density, you can manage to have many fish
in small amount of water. In addition to it they grow quickly and
taste really good. The protein level in them is also quite
satisfactory. Their reproduction is also quite rapid.
In
case you are not willing to harvest the fish for food, you can surely
go with the gold fish. They considered as the dirty fish and will eat
the plant litter and residue. In this way they will help in
maintaining the cleanliness of the tank for you.
