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Aquaponics: A Great Way to Make Money and Help the Environment

 By Joel H. Salinas


Aquaponics: A Great Way to Make Money and Help the Environment

Advances in technology years ago allowed for the use of aquaponics, an alternative method to farming crops and fish, to be economically viable and sensible to use and need to be prevalent now more than ever. The basic design by scientists demonstrate aquaponics growing smaller plants, such as tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and such in a hydroponic tank with soil. From there, excess water is sent to separate fish tanks (for different fish growth phases) beneath the hydroponic tank with fish such as tilapia. Fish feeding can be done with fish pellets. Then, the waste made by the fish can act as a type of fertilizer for the plants, or they can be filtered out. Finally, the water is then sent back again to water the plants and repeat the cycle. The big takeaway here are the double benefits to cutting back on precious space that could be set aside for nature preserves while providing you a profit. The scientists mention making a profit on the plants, but a loss with the fish which is something to take note of, but mention that the money gained by the plants more than compensated for the losses. While the scientists used this setup to demonstrate the simplicity and sustainable practices of aquaponics, more detailed instruments and ideas can be used to reduce the amount of water, electricity, heating, and space even more. While space can be saved, which means less land to be cleared, certain conditions have to be met to prevent spending on more water, nutrients, heating, and electricity in order to make aquaponics into a major industry in the near future.

References

Love, D. C., M. S. Uhl, and L. Genello. 2015. Energy and water use of a small-scale raft aquaponics

system in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Aquacultural engineering, 68, 19-27.

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Comments

  1. aleahgonzalezSeptember 14, 2020 at 9:27 PM

    This is such an interesting topic! It is really neat to see how we went from a hunter/gather lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle (as seen in the agricultural revolution) to a shift towards agricultural production powered by animals (as seen in the industrial revolution)!! I know you mentioned excess waste can be used for fertilization so we can assume the diets of the fish much be of high nutrients not only for them but for the plants as well to use to grow too! Does this process of Aquaponics happen inside or outside? (assuming in a green house so the plants have access to natural light for photosynthesis?) cool topic, it is definitely the future!!

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  2. Oj GarciaSeptember 14, 2020 at 11:15 PM

    This is by far one of the most interesting topics I ever heard this year. It is amazing how we could actually make a profit out of this, and preserve the natural environment. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jessica MedinaSeptember 14, 2020 at 11:17 PM

    I've honestly never heard of aquaponics until this very moment. It's interesting how you're basically growing your very own "ecosystem" in your own space while not only benefiting the fish and plants, but as well as yourself by making a profit. I'm not sure if this would be something I would do, maybe try out, considering that you have to obtain not only the materials but as well as making space in your own house or such. However, it is not a bad idea either. I am curious if there are types of fish that are more suitable for aquaponics compared to others or if size matters and such. Nonetheless, very interesting topic considering the main aspect of it!

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    Replies
    1. M MendezOctober 21, 2020 at 4:37 PM

      I was thinking the same thing - could a smaller fish make this more profitable? If we can make it more attractive for a farmer, then aquaponic systems could be expanded across the country. I always assumed that the crop and the fish were equally profitable, so thanks for sharing this cost Joel.

      Delete

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