Aquaponics – DIY systems.
Aquaponics is the practice of growing fish and plants in a closed system. Backyard systems or home DIY aAquaponics systems are now readily available in Australia.
Practiced for many years and perhaps has its origins in China, commercial systems are becoming popular and home and backyard systems are now available for purchase in kit form.
Aquaponics can provide both a sustainable form of agriculture as well as an organic system of growing fish and plants together.
How Aquaponics works
A typical home or DIY system will allow you to grow fish and a range of vegetables using the one system, nutrients from feeding fish are used to fertilize vegetables, water is circulated automatically.
Aquaponic systems consist of four sections,
- a biofilter,
- a solids removal tank
- a fish growing tank
- a hydroponic system for growing vegetables or other plants
The solids removal tank in an Aquaponics system is designed to remove solid waste from the fish tank before the water passes through the biofilter.
The biofilter in a backyard or home system is usually a gravel bed.
The hydroponic growing system is usually designed for deep flow hydroponics where the roots of the plants actually sit in water or for a NFT system (nutrient film technique) where a constant small flow (film) of water passes along channels that the roots of plants have access to.
The fish tank is for growing fish, in Australia Baramundi and Trout are popular species.
HOME GROWN AQUAPONICS
8a-8b 13 Hartley Drv Thornton NSW 2322
phone: 02 4028 6388 fax: 02 40286 399
Dedicated and original, we are the Hunter Valley’s first Aquaponic retailer and the authorised distributor of Backyard Aquaponics kits for the Hunter region.