Aquaponics
Aquaponics is the growing of fish, or other water-based animals, along with land plants in a controlled environment, to maximize the use of the energy and nutrients in the system in order to harvest the greatest amount of vegetables and fish protein from the system.
The word aquaponics comes from words aquaculture, which is the cultivation of fish or other water- based animals, and the word hydroponics, where plants are grown in a sterile medium or completely in water.
By combining the fish, water and plants, we use an integrated environment to produce vegetables and fish in very small space, with very little water.
Aquaponics has its roots in ancient China and parts of the aquaponics system were developed in other areas of the world where high concentrations of people lived who were observant of the relationships that existed naturally in their environment.
In China, farmers knew that land livestock waste could be added to their fields or ponds to increase production of vegetables and fruit bearing plants. They also noticed that different fish had different tolerances to the level of land-animal waste in their water. For example too much pig or chicken waste caused many fish to die (the modern explanation for this is lack of oxygen) so they were careful about balancing their system for maximum yield and minimum fish loss.
These Chinese farmers were able to refine their systems so they could grow chickens in pens above pigs, (with the waste dropping through along with any spilled food) who were in a pen over a pond with carp in it, and then the water flowed to another pond with other less tolerant fish such as catfish, and perhaps other aquatic animals and certainly other water plants were grown and harvested. These systems were so called flow-through systems, meaning that water was used once through the ponds, and then released to the local paddies, streams, lakes or ocean. The sludge from the bottom of the ponds was used on the fields and some of the water was used in the paddies for fertilizer before it was released.
Fish House Gardens is a system that we set up for you in the right kind of greenhouse or wherever you want to set it up. If you already have a greenhouse or sunroom, we can set up the system in that. We deliver a system to you that has running water and fish and show you how to start the vegetables in gravel trays. The system we use has a small amount of fish waste water that has to be drained off at regular intervals to then fertilize other gardens you may have outdoors. After that, it is really 20% of the volume every 2 weeks (only after the fish get big) from the settling tank. Our closed loop system requires the input of some energy. This energy includes both fish food and some electricity, which can be solar or air powered, to pump the air or water to keep the nutrients from the fish from contaminating the local watershed.
Fish House Gardens duplicates what nature has been doing for millions of years. The fish waste is trickled or flowed through the plant-root area where it is absorbed and used by the plants. The water then flows back to the fish tank adding some oxygen along the way to collect some more nutrients. Then the cycle is repeated. The water coming out of the fish tank goes through a settling tank, and a small holding tank where the water is pumped to where the plants are, then through the plant trays and back into the fish tanks. We use a cycle to circulate water through the system. The settling tank contents are emptied on a monthly basis and the 10 to 20 gallons of waste water is drained out to nourish local shrubs and ornamentals. That's how the system works.
Fish House GardensIn the 6' x 8' system, you can grow 400 "short" vegetables that produce greens each year, including lettuce, kale, basil, onions, mustard greens, parsley, cilantro, many varieties of peppers, chamomile, chives, mint, sage, catnip, lavender, marjoram, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, etc. And, you can also grow 100 pounds of fish per year. 10' x 20' systems have more growing space and sunlight, and you can grow 1,100 vegetables a year. In this size system, you also have the ability to grow far more varieties of vegetables such as cabbages, a wide variety of squash, eggplants, zucchini, kale, Brussels sprouts, all varieties of peppers, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, Swiss chard, and even green beans. You can also grow a large variety of flowering plants such as tomatoes, all types of berries and any herb you enjoy eating. And, you can also grow 400 pounds of fish per year in the 10' x 20' system.