Why Aquaponics?
Why chose aquaponics? Aquaponics is a sustainable, affordable, organic method of gardening/farming that conserves resources, improves and increases food production, enhances bio-security, and contributes to a healthier local community and economy. Aquaponics is portable and scalable, making it ideal even in urban environments. It eliminates or reduces and pollution attributable to gardening/farming activities. And, because it uses an inert growing media, it reduces labor associated with weeding and tilling.
Though many more reasons for implementing aquponics can be identified, aquaponics offers several readily recognizable and significant benefits. Let’s recap with a list:
Conserves Resources
- Significantly reduces water usage - about 90% less than the amount used in soil growing operations with
water re-circulated rather than expelled
- Significantly reduces energy usage - about 70-92% less than equivalent conventional or organic farms
- Energy needs can be locally produced green energy rather than industrial produced at some remote location
- Eliminates Purchases, Storage and Application of Fertilizer
- Eliminates purchase, storage and application of inorganic pesticides & herbicides
- Reduces fossil fuel consumption in production and transportation
- Eliminate or reduces weeding and tilling labor
- No waste to remove, unlike soil based. hydroponic and aquaculture operations
- Relatively low implementation costs and short pay-back period
Improves Food Production
- Extends growing season up to year round
- Reduces growing time to harvest
- High fish stocking density, high crop yield (produces up to 8-10 times more food than other methods of same
grow bed size
- Eliminates soil-borne pests and pathogens
- Portable, scalable systems (nearly anywhere, any size) - works in draught, places with poor soil quality, in-
doors, urban to rural
- Organic Food Production (no pesticides or herbicides, only fish fertilizer)
- Bio-secure food production
- No tilling, no weeds, no cultivating, spreading fertilizing
- Grow two food products together, protein and produce
- Food security, grow your own food, indoors, year-round
- Considered Sustainable
Sustainable
- Waste from fish is used to feed the plants
- Fish and plants create a polyculture producing two products
- Polyculture can be enhanced by producing two or more complimentary fish or other aquatic life products
- Water is re-used in the re-circulating system
- Local food production, enhances the local economy and reduces food transportation
- Continuous organic fertilizer
- Ideal for alternate energy...electricity is typically used, and can be produced by a number of alternative energy
methods
- Aquaponics Knowledge is highly transferable
- Aquaponics Is Fun