There are many ways to build a hydroponics system and there are advantages and disadvantages of different designs and methods. But many people are leaving behind the old methods, and they are discovering how to build a hydroponic system that will be much easier to maintain, and that is fully organic and more natural.
Building a hydroponics system is fairly easy. It is mostly a matter of basic plumbing. Building that is the easy part. The more difficult part of hydroponics is the ongoing chore of maintaining nutrient levels in the water. With hydroponics you don’t have the problems of dealing with soil, but the nutrients are the part that keeps it from being the trouble free system that it should be.
Aquaponics is a type of hydroponics that is quickly changing the way people are looking at hydroponics. Aquaponics adds an aquaculture tank to the hydroponics system. Fish are very easy animals to raise, think of how simple a common aquarium or fish bowl is. But the biggest problem with raising fish is keeping the water clean and removing all the fish wastes. This is where plants and fish make a perfect combination
Fish water will become toxic to fish if not filtered or flushed often. The compounds that accumulate in the water from the fish wastes make excellent plant fertilizer. When the fish water is circulated through the hydroponics system, the plants get a constant supply of all the nutrients they need. And since the plants absorb these materials from the water, they take care of all the filtering. This is a system where the plants and fish take care of each other. The water is cleaned for the fish by the plants, and the fish supply all the nutrients a plant could want.
And out of all this, you get organically grown plants, grown with free fertilizer, and you get a second crop, clean organic fish, all grown with the same system. You do have to add fish food to the system, but fish production can more than cover those costs and you are getting fertilizer free. Or you can grow your own fish food.
Building an aquaponics system is not much more difficult than building a hydroponics system. You just need to add a fish tank and aeration. What you end up with is a system that works a lot like systems in nature work, that is more complete than just hydroponics alone. So you end up with less work and healthier plants.
Building a hydroponics system is fairly easy. It is mostly a matter of basic plumbing. Building that is the easy part. The more difficult part of hydroponics is the ongoing chore of maintaining nutrient levels in the water. With hydroponics you don’t have the problems of dealing with soil, but the nutrients are the part that keeps it from being the trouble free system that it should be.
Aquaponics is a type of hydroponics that is quickly changing the way people are looking at hydroponics. Aquaponics adds an aquaculture tank to the hydroponics system. Fish are very easy animals to raise, think of how simple a common aquarium or fish bowl is. But the biggest problem with raising fish is keeping the water clean and removing all the fish wastes. This is where plants and fish make a perfect combination
Fish water will become toxic to fish if not filtered or flushed often. The compounds that accumulate in the water from the fish wastes make excellent plant fertilizer. When the fish water is circulated through the hydroponics system, the plants get a constant supply of all the nutrients they need. And since the plants absorb these materials from the water, they take care of all the filtering. This is a system where the plants and fish take care of each other. The water is cleaned for the fish by the plants, and the fish supply all the nutrients a plant could want.
And out of all this, you get organically grown plants, grown with free fertilizer, and you get a second crop, clean organic fish, all grown with the same system. You do have to add fish food to the system, but fish production can more than cover those costs and you are getting fertilizer free. Or you can grow your own fish food.
Building an aquaponics system is not much more difficult than building a hydroponics system. You just need to add a fish tank and aeration. What you end up with is a system that works a lot like systems in nature work, that is more complete than just hydroponics alone. So you end up with less work and healthier plants.
