Aquaponics is a type of farming that is both easy and practical. It involves growing fish and plants together in a symbiotic environment where the waste from the fish fertilizes the plants, which clean the water for re-use by both. It’s a sustainable way to grow food, but it comes with several considerations like what type of system to use, how much space is available, and how many fish can live in such arrangements.
If you want to grow your food plants at home, here is how to build an aquaponics system step by step guide. For all those people looking to avoid hustling, five simple tips for deciding the right aquaponic for you are detailed here.
- TOOLS
The first thing you’ll need to consider is supplies. You can go all out here, but if you’re starting up, you might want to keep things simple and spend your money on the right tools. The aquaponics system has several parts that will require regular maintenance and cleaning, so it’s best to have the right tools for that. Buying one extensive set with everything required is ideal.
- The Container
A suitable container is the first thing you’ll need, but it depends on how much space you have available. For example, if you plan to grow only a few plants, you can get away with using a 5-gallon container. But if you want to get started on a small scale aquaponics system and garden, 10-20 gallon containers are recommended. The bigger the container, the more area for growing crops, which means more fish and less composting space required.
- Fish Tank
If you own aquariums that do not have plants long enough to grow inside, you can use them for aquaponics. Aquariums are designed for growing fish, and their filtration needs will be perfect for your aquaponics system. You can go for several different kinds of aquarium for your aquaponics setup like standard shape, cubical, and the best are rare fish tanks which only a few people have because they’re costly. Besides that, there are also various fish tanks, such as glass and acrylic, being the best options.
- Grow Bed
This is the most critical component of your aquaponics system because it’s the basket where you’ll put all the fish and plants. Ideally, the material of your grow bed should be inert, lightweight, and should have good drainage. If you’re growing vegetables in your aquaponics system, then you can use any material as long as they’re porous so they can help hold plant roots.
- Growing medium
It would help if you had a growing medium to help plants retain some oxygen in their root zone for better growth. It’s a suspension of solids that can hold air and moisture. Fluorite, peat moss, vermiculite, and coir are among the most common mediums used in aquaponics. They do an adequate job at holding nutrients in a plant’s root zone and reducing and filtering the water flow to the fish.
While setting a new aquaponic system, make sure to consider all these points to get the best output for your efforts and develop a top-end system.
