Aquaponic Gardens – What are the Advantages of Aquaponic Gardens
Do you like fresh vegetables and fish? Aquaponic gardens can give you both. They fit well with any type of home and are great for anyone of any age. They aren’t without their needs though. This system is a combination of principles from aquaculture and hydroponic gardening. It provides for a unique and efficient way to grow plants and fish at the same time.
Do They Require Maintenance?
Just like a regular vegetable garden, aquaponic gardens need daily care. A few minutes of care each day will ensure that you will be receiving bounty from your garden for a good long time. Aquaponics relies on the process of aeration to properly oxygenize the water. Without this process your fish and plants can not survive and thrive. Proper aeration provides dissolved oxygen which is necessary for your fish to breathe. Fish, just like animals on land need oxygen to live. Without it the fish die throwing the balance off in the aquaponic system causing the plants to eventually die out as well.
The oxygenation process also serves another purpose. Fish excrement by itself is made up of toxic ammonia. The aerated water decomposes this ammonium toxin into nitrates which in turn provides food for the plants. Without this transformation the plants have nothing to feed on, the fish die from the polluting ammonia and the aquaponics system fails.
What Equipment is Needed?
The major equipment needed for an aquaponic garden is minimal. You can start with one tank which should be no more than 20 square feet and include the aeration system, some netted pots and fish. You also need to be able to monitor the water conditions daily and make adjustments as required. That’s it.
One of the other major advantages to this system besides fresh and organically grown vegetable and fish is that the system can be set up so that your working height is right at waist high or the best working height for you. That means you don’t have to be bending over or on your hands and knees in the dirt to get your crop.
What Species Fish Do You Need?
Some of the fish listed here might surprise you and this is certainly not an exhaustive list by any means. But here are some of the more popular.
Smallmouth Bass
Crappie
Chinese Catfish
Tilapia
Koi
Largemouth Bass
Bluegill
But remember there are many more suitable fish for an aquaponic system.
So we covered the good side of things so penicillin ampicillin what buy generic levitra online are the downsides. Well the downsides are minimal depending on your lifestyle. As stated before, the system must be monitored every day. Like any farmer, there are no days off. Accommodations must be made if you want to go on vacation for example. The other issue to consider is that the aeration system must be running all of the time. If the electricity goes out you could have problems without a backup system to keep the water clean.
Aquaponic gardens may just be the gardens of the future today. A few minutes a day to take care of the fish and harvest your crop may just be too easy. Imagine also if you set up more than one tank. You may just have the beginnings of a new career or at least an additional income you can derive from selling fresh veggies. You could scale this system to what ever size you wish big or small.
You can build your own aquaponics gardening system and begin enjoying fresh vegetables and saving money. Learn how here.
Tagged with: Advantages • Aquaponic • Gardens
Filed under: Aquaponics System
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!