BALANCING
AN AQUAPONICS SYSTEM
There are several
items that needs balancing in an aquaponics system
1. Nitrate level ~
high: Nitrogen-eating bacteria converts Ammonia to Nitrate
2. Water pH level ~
7.0 optimum
3. Sodium salts
concentration ~ low
4. Iron (Fe)
addition
5. Fish feed
BENEFITS
OF AN AQUAPONICS SYSTEM
There are a lot of
benefits of managing an aquaponics system, such as:
1. Conservation
through constant water reuse and recycling
2. Organic
fertilization of plants with natural fish emulsion
3. The elimination of
solid waste disposal from intensive aquaculture
4. The reduction of
needed cropland to produce vegetable crops
5. The overall
reduction of environmental footprint for crop production
6. Small efficient
commercial installations can be built close to markets therefore reducing food
miles
7. Small systems are
easily setup and operated; thus everybody can try
8. If many people in
our country starts their own small aquaponics system at home;
a) sell surplus harvest, good side-income
source
b) use fresh food daily, increase in
overall health
Besides all the
benefits and profits, one should be aware of its disadvantages, such
as:
1. Initial expense to
start an aquaponic project
2.The infinite number
of ways to configure
3. Rely heavily on
energy, technology & control
4. Have multiple
'single points of failure' where problems can lead to
complete loss of fish
stock
***presentation continues into #3, refer older post***
