Hydrofarming
Smita shukla
Department of Zoology, Swami shraddhanand College , University of Delhi
Now a days Aquaponic farming is new and unique trend everywhere because of increasing population lake of lands pulling towards aquaponic. Aquaponic is most appropriate where land is expensive,water is scarce,and soil is poor and due to the increase of population scarcity of spaces.Aquaponic can be used in urban and periurban environments where no or very little land is available,providing a means to grow dense crops in small balconies,indoors or rooftops.Aqua- Raising fish in a controlled environment. Ponics- growing in soil less media.Aquaponic is one of the most sustainable ways to grow food.It involves a combination of aquaponic and hydroponics in one integrated system.
We can grow vegetables and cultivate fishs utilizing aquaculture and hydroponic with eco friendly system which is growing fish and other without any pesticides and fertilizer. Fish and vegetables will be able to nourish each other through water circulation system.it is combination of aquaculture, which is growing fish and other aquatic animals, and in hydroponic .we can grow plants without soil.In this system uses both in a symbiotically.In aquaponic fish and plants both in one integrated eco system.
In aquaponic two bio- integrated system
Aquaponic system
Hydroponic system
Both two system intrect with water and water cycle both of them. Fish waste in system provides to plants nutrients for growth and the plants take up excess nitrogen ,providing purified water which goes back into the tank for fishes.
The basic aquaporinc system works in a wide range of conditions, and units can be designed and scaled to meet the skill and interest level of many farmers.Aquaponic is a combined system which means that both the costs and the benefits are magnified. It is beneficial for sustainable and intensive production of both fish and plants possibly these could be higher than sperate system
Benefits of nitrogen cycle in aquaponic
Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients in aquaponic system. Protein is built from amino acids which are themselves built from nitrogen .All plants and animals contains protein ,and when they die, other organisms consume them and scavenge these proteins for energy.Nitrogen in its N2 form has to be changed before plants use it for growth this proceeded is called nitrogen fixation. Aquaponic is possible due to beneficial nitrifying bacteria which make nitrogen cycle. Plants need nitrogen for growth. While they are able to use both ammonia and nitrates to perform their growth processes to a certain extent, nitrates are more essential as they are easily assimilated by their roots,and are good for all types of plant.Fish excrete waste faces urine as well as any uneaten food, quickly broken down in the form of unionized ammonia the ionized form Ammonium ,is present if the PH is blow 7 which is not toxic to fishes.The unionized form Ammonia is present it the PH is 7 or above is highly toxic to fishes . .Nitrosomonas bacteria in water convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrobacteria convert nitrite to nitrate and plants absorb the nitrate. Nutrients may already be in the form of nitrate which can be directly assimilated by the plant.If nutrients are added in other forms they can also be convert nitrate by nitrifying bacteria to nourish the plants.The ideal temperature for bacterial growth and productivity is 18-33 degree Celsius ,this is temperature comfort zone for many plants and fishes.The optimum PH for nitrification is 7.5 to 9.5.and 7 is compromise point between needs of plants and fish in the aquaponic.The amount of ammonia and nitrite levels are routinely tested to check for biofilters health and proper function.
A.Aquaponic and hydroponic system
Aquaponic system have three living components freshwater aquatic animals fishs, plants and nitrifying bacteria and all three living components depend on each other to survive. The non living components in aquaporin are tanks ,settling , basin ,pumps , combined with hydroponic system include buckets vertical towers, floating rafts,wicking beds nutrient film techinique.The living components are fishes ,different type of beneficial nitrifying bacteria and plants.
a.Tanks
provide A fish tank is one of the main component of an aquaponic system and plays an essential role as they a place for fish to live .Grow beds is also important for aquaponic, fish tank and grow beds go together,and the size of one depends on the other and vice versa.The ratio of fish tank and grow bed should be 1:1 means fish tank volume should be equal to grow bed.The type of fish and size of aquaponic system built will determine the fish tank’s. Two shape of fish tank will work round/oval tank and square/rectangular. The round tank is suitable for aquaponic because allow the water to circulate evenly and transport solid waste into that tanks centre by centrifugal force. Round fish tank increases the fishes oxygen benefits and nitrifying bacteria in to the system and inhibit harmful bacteria.Solid wastes will not stick to the corners of the fish tank.
b.Settling
The settling tank can be made out of anything large enough to allow the water velocity to slow enough for the sedimentary solids to settle out.Usually anything that will contain 25+ minutes of flow is adequate for that.Basin is unit of catching uneaten food and detached biofilms and for settling out fine particulates Biofilter are also play important role for grow of nitrification bacteria and convert ammonia into nitrates,which are usable for plants.
c..Vertical towers
In a vertical tower grows without soil in columns above a fish tank.It is water efficient and space saving way to garden and raise fish by growing vertically and we can produce about twice the amount of plants as we can with a hydroponics system of the same area.
d.Floting rafts
floating rafts are foam or polystyrene sheets. Planting in a raft system of aquaponic involves suspending plants with their roots hanging down in the water. Raft in aquaponic also known deep water culture(DWC)or floating system. Their mass production capability it is used as commercial aquaponic. In this system nutrients rich water circulated through the long canals usually at a depth of about 20- 25 cm,The plants are grown on the rafts boards that are supported within holes by net pots.Plants roots hang down in the nutrients rich oxygen oxygenated water,where they absorbed oxygen and nutrients to grow rapidly. The nutrients filled water flows continuously from the fish tank through the filtration process then to the rafts tank where the plants are grown, and finally back to the fish tank. Most often, the raaft tank is separate from the fish tank.
e.Wicking beds
Wicking beads are containers with a water reservoir at the base that acts like a giant self watering pot from the top down moisture is drawn up through the soil via a process called capillary action or wicking.Wicking beds for growing root or tuber type crops like carrots, beets,potato’s.Wicking beds are water efficient watering from the bottom up prevents evaporation of surface water .No evaporation means no salting of soil, if we are watering our soil from the top with hard water ,we risk accumulating salts, because the water evaporate and leaves the minerals behind.
f.Nutrient film technique
It is use in hydroponic system . it is hydroponic techniques where in Avery shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is recirculated past the bare roots of plants in a water tight channels. system uses a pump to deliver fertilized water to grow tray and a drain pipe to recycle the unused nutrient solution. The nutrient solution is continuously flowing over the roots. This is accomplished using gravity. The grow tray is placed at an angle to allow the water to flow down towards the drainpipe, and new solution is constantly being pumped into the night end of the tube.
g.Biofilters
There are so many types of biofilters some are rotating biological contactor expandable media filter,fluidized bed filters packed tower trickle filter.
The air pumps gets the water out of the fish tank and into the biofilter.Water goes through the nitrification process in the filter. Water robbed of unwanted chemicals but still containing nutrients is forwarded to plants.Biofilter will need protection from the sun light because bacteria are sensitive to ultraviolet light.
- Nutrients in aquaponic
In aquaponic don’t required fertilizer and supplement’s for plants. In fish tank water are able to provide all required nutrients for plants. Nitrogen cycle is important in aquaponic. The availability of nitrogen in aquaponic from dead and decay animal waste and metabolic activities. That Aquaponic natural ecosystem nothing is wasted. Animal east dead and decaying plant and animals of. organic matter like residual of broken down by action of microorganism .In aerobic situation ammonia oxidizing nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into nitrite the nitrite oxidizing bacteria convert them into nitrate compounds then plant will use.
- Fishes and plants for aquaponic
Any type of fishes works well in aquaponic but Tilapia is the best fish to rest in aquaponic because they can adapt to their environment and with stand less than ideal water conditions.They are resistant to many pathogen ,parasites and handling stress.Tilapia is a heardy fish and has a diverse diet.Tilapia is perhaps the most widely grown aquuabponics fish but we can also growing catfish bluegill l,trout.In selection of fishes the temperature at which they both thrive and survive.Tilapia can survive down to temperature in the low 65s,but they won’t thrive until they reach the mid 70s and trout will survive up to the maximum temperature of 60,but won’t thrive until their water is in high 40’s to low 50’s.Gold fish produce lot of waste, so ideal for this set up,Koi they grow large and have a high resale value,some ornamental fishes guppies,tetras,mollies ect.,silver perch is fast growing school fish that like high den cities. In aquaponic another part is vegetables leafy green vegetables and herbs can grown successfully in aquaponic some are salad greens,tomatoes lettuce peppers cucumbers spinch mint etc.If we have heavely stocked tank and well stablished set up we can grow beans, cabbage cauliflowers ,cucumbers,peas, strawberries.
Aquaponic uses less water than any other gardening up to one tenth of the amount in traditional soil based gardening.Maintaining this set up is very simple. Aquaponic uses less water than any other gardening up to. One tenth of the amount used in traditional soil based gardening and requires less time than regular fish keeping .Growing with aquaponics is completely organic.We can’t use any harsh chemicals ,because they will be fatal for fish. Equaponics has other environmental benefits.There is no need for agriculture land,the negative impacts on soil are avoidedand no deforestationis required.Thgere is no pesticides and fertilizers runoff which would pollute tge surrounddingsland and water ecosystem. Food can grow anywhere indoors,outdoors,in green houses,even in our bedroom,system can be adapted to our need so we should promote and incurag to our society and farmers towards aquaponic.
https://www.verticalroots.com/the-what-and-why-of-hydroponic-farming/
https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/method-of-hydroponics-green-fodder-production/
