By Ronald E. Hudkins
Aquaponics is the farming method that combines both aquaculture and hydroponics. Both of these farming techniques are environmental friendly, and when they are combined their benefits are even greater. The greatest benefit that comes with aquaponics is the conservation of water and soil nutrients. There are two stages involved in the set up of an aquaponics system. One stage involves setting up a garden where you will grow your plants. The other stage involves setting up an aquarium for the fish. Proper planning before you set up your aquaponics farming system will enable you to identify the correct number of tanks that will be sufficient.
The number of tanks that you need will depend on a number of factors. How big is your aquaponics system? If you have a large project, you might want to have more than one tank. However, most people practice small-scale aquaponics. Therefore, they only need one or two big tanks. The number of fish that you want in your system also factors in. The recommended amount of water is normally one gallon for every fish. This means that if you want more than a hundred fish in your aquaponics system, you have to have a tank or tanks than can hold 100 gallons of water at any one time.
The number of tanks that you will have will also depend on your budget. If you do not have enough money to buy and maintain multiple tanks, then you can manage with one or two tanks. However, you have to ensure that your tanks will be enough for the fish to survive in. The issue of maintenance is also a factor to consider when you are thinking about how many tanks are ideal for your aquaponics project. Maintenance involves ensuring that the water temperature is normal and the pH is not too high or too low. Maintenance also involves making sure that there is sufficient and efficient air circulation in the tanks. If you think that you cannot carry out all these maintenance activities in many tanks at the same time, then the fewer your tanks the better.
There are some people who prefer many small-sized fish tanks while others prefer fewer but larger tanks. The number of fish tanks that you want to get is entirely up to you. However, you should also realize that maintaining a small tank takes much more effort and time than maintaining a large tank. If you are a busy person practicing aquaponics as nothing more than a hobby, then you should consider getting a larger, easier to manage fish tank. However, if you are into aquaponics as a full time job, you can get smaller multiple tanks because you will have all the time to manage them.
If you are looking for a farming technique, which will enable you, to conserve the environment, think aquaponics. While planning what you want to do with this farming system, do not forget to plan for the right number of tanks.
