Aquaponics vs. Hydroponics

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Maria Lewis
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1 All Bright Aquariums would like to present. Aquaponics vs. Hydroponics A presentation by Steven Colletti

2 Food Chain, Lexington, KY

4 Aquaponic Diagram

5 Tilapia Why are Tilapia extremely popular in aquaponic systems?? They are easy to breed. They are fast growing. Can withstand very poor water conditions. Consume an omnivorous diet and are good eating.

6 Bacteria plays an important role in the Nitrogen cycle. Through a natural process, the cycle is broken down as follows Fish excrete ammonia. Bacteria eats ammonia and converts to nitrite which is then converted to nitrate. Nitrate happens to be the favorite food of plants.

9 One of Our Quizzes

10 The Benefits of Aquaponics Its cuts down your grow time. It can be done anywhere as it does not rely on good soil. It produces both meat (fish) and vegetables. Just a small area of 10 x 20 can produce enough food to feed people.

The Many Benefits of Aquaponics Aquaponics is the union of two symbiotic fields of science: hydroponics, and aqua-culture. To survive and thrive, plants need nitrates, ammonia and minerals.

11 The Many Benefits of Aquaponics Aquaponics is the union of two symbiotic fields of science: hydroponics, and aqua-culture. To survive and thrive, plants need nitrates, ammonia and minerals. Coincidentally, these are actually byproducts of aqua-culture. These byproducts, along with algae, are what covers fish tanks over time and makes them dirty. Aquaponics essentially uses fish to produce exactly the nutrients your plants need, on command.

12 What benefits can you expect from an aquaponics system over a traditional garden? Plants Require 10 Times Less Space With traditional soil gardening, space is a big limitation. Even if you let your garden take over your entire front and back yard, it s hard to grow enough food that you re able to eat homegrown food on a regular basis. Aquaponics on the other hand is extremely space efficient. In fact, aquaponic gardeners often report being able to grow as much as ten times as much produce in the same space. For example, it s possible to grow 4,000 pounds of produce in just 3,000 square feet of space. That s more than a pound of produce per square feet!

13 An Almost 100% Automated System Gardening generally takes a lot of time. For example, if someone wanted to grow 4,000 pounds of food, a garden that size would typically require atleast three hours of work every single day. With aquaponics, this time is cut down to under an hour every week. With aquaponic gardens, all the work is in the setup. Once everything is setup, your systems will run the garden in an almost completely automated fashion. That means no more pulling out weeds. No more messing with soil. No need to do any fertilizing or composting.

14 Grow Fish, As Well as Plants If you re growing aquaponics as a source of income, aquaponics kills two birds with one stone. For one, you grow more plants per square feet. Second, you also grow fish, which are also saleable. Needless to say, the amount of money you ll make per square feet, as well as per hour of your time, is significantly higher with aquaponics. All that said, getting started with aquaponics can be a challenge. While the systems aren t expensive, navigating the startup process without guidance can be treacherous.

15 Different Types of Aquaponic Systems

16 How Hydroponics Works

17 What is Hydroponics? Plants are grown without soil Water and nutrients supplied through a plant tray Conditions are customized based on the needs of the plant In some cases support structures are built to support the body of the plant

Maintaining a Plants Growth Cycle Natural lighting provides energy necessary for photosynthesis Minerals, oxygen and water delivered through the root

18 Maintaining a Plants Growth Cycle Natural lighting provides energy necessary for photosynthesis Minerals, oxygen and water delivered through the root system The lack of soil removes insect concerns, eliminating the need for pesticides Plants are carefully supervised so they maintain the ideal level of growth

19 No soil is necessary. It s stable and produces high yields. There is no damage from pesticides. The controlled system means that no nutrition pollution is released into the environment. Lower nutrient requirements due to control over nutrient levels. Lower water requirement as water stays in the system and can be reused.

20 Home Variety

23 The Future?

26 Mr. Reed s Hopes for the Future of BSMS Continued aquaponics Aquaponics start seeds for garden Garden takes seedlings and grows in our grow beds Decorated pallets with plants growing all around school (Spanish Immersion perhaps?) Garden can grow plants for rain garden Plants decorated the outside wall out front from our garden Green house started very, very soon.

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Aquaculture + Hydroponics = Aquaponics. Combining aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (raising vegetables without soil)

www.sustainlife.org Introduction to Aquaponics Water for the Small Homestead Aquaculture + Hydroponics = Aquaponics Combining aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (raising vegetables without soil)