aquaponic

aquaponics diy

Did you ever dream about growing your own food like the farmers did, only without all that extra work? You probably have heard the term hydroponics before, and even if you haven't, I'd like to talk to you about a technique that is similar to hydroponics called aquaponics.

This is the perfect way to make your children responsible. They will need to feed the fish each and every day and make sure that the air pump is working perfectly so that the fish get enough oxygen. Also, they will have to monitor the state of the vegetables and when they get yellowish they need to announce you. These are not easy tasks, but will give them a sense of responsibility and will know that someone relies on them. Also, they will be able to see how fish and plants grow, which will expand their knowledge about the vegetal and animal world.



Imagine you planting a garden that, while everyone else works hard planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing and composting, and lots more weeding, you're gardening while sitting back and reading a good book. And in addition your plants grow twice as fast. And you can grow ten times as many plants in the same area of space as your neighbors are planting their gardens. That means if you're growing tomatoes and have 10 square feet of space, this method grows as many tomato plants as someone would with 100 square feet of space. Can you imagine that?

So you were looking for organic fertilizer an now some guy is talking to you about growing fish? Don't worry, here is the good part. Fish are easy to raise, which is why aquarium fish are so popular. The problem with fish is they release a lot of waste material in their water that needs to be filtered out. But with aquaponic supplies, this is a good thing. This fishy water is full of the valuable nutrients that the plants need. And plants do an amazing job of filtering water.

Once you have your aquaponics system up and running, you will have a tank which holds the fish (possibly Tilapia) and a growing bed that the plants are in. In the fish tank, you will have a species of freshwater fish in one to 2,000 liters of water. The fish create waste and so does the uneaten fish feed. This waste creates ammonia.

The fish are a key component in any aquaponics system. Care should be taken to make sure the fish are healthy, and that starts with selecting the appropriate fish for your situation. There are many types of fish that do well with aquaponic farming. Fish that are commonly used are Tilapia, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth, Chinese Catfish, Crappie, Koi, Bluegill and trout.

These types of aquaponics fish do not required high maintenance. In fact, they are fed primarily with common algae, diatoms, leftovers, and plant materials so you can be sure you're not feeding them with chemical based feeds. They grow rapidly in just a few months and it can reach up to 5 to 6 pounds in 3 to 5 years. Males are always larger than females in every age level.