Backyard aquaponics is becoming extremely popular among the developed nations and many families who would have otherwise shown no interest in the aquaponics culture or hobby are increasingly trying their hands out with DIY aquaponics.
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Aquaponics systems are a combination of aquaculture and hydroponic. In technical jargon, it is a symbiosis of traditional aquaculture and hydroponic. To understand what aquaponics systems are or how backyard aquaponics work, there is a need to understand some nitty-gritty of aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaculture deals with marine life. It is predominantly cultivation of marine organisms which may include snails, fish, prawns or others in a tank, commonly referred to as aquariums. Hydroponic is a sub domain of hydroculture. Hydroponic is the cultivation of plants, which may include fruits and vegetable plants, on water or a liquid solution instead of soil. Aquaculture and hydroponic have numerous shortcomings or challenges which make them very expensive and troublesome. Only few research centers dedicated to biological truths and experimentations have the budget to indulge in aquaculture and hydroponic but aquaponics systems are readily convenient and can be tried out by any and sundry. Even research organizations have started used aquaponics for biological research because of their simplicity and convenient, besides affordability.
In an aquarium or fish tank, the waste produced by the organisms and the steady deterioration of the water demands the supply of fresh water. The nutrient rich water filled with effluents and dirt apart from any other leftovers is undesirable for a fish tank or aquarium with marine life. In hydroponic, the plants can grow phenomenally fast but they need a consistent supply of extremely nutrient rich water or liquid solution. These two challenges are undone and made into benefits by combining aquaculture and hydroponic in aquaponics systems.
In backyard aquaponics, the waste generated by the fishes or marine life pollutes the water but it makes for extremely nutrient rich liquid source for the plants being grown on top of the tank or aquarium. These plants extract all the nutrients from the water and thus render the water clean. This cycle saves cost of water and it makes the growth of plants sustainable because providing source for that much nutrient would have cost much more than operating an aquarium of marine life.
Furthermore, there are bacteria in the aquaponics systems that can convert the ammonia from the waster in the water to nitrates that create a nitrogen cycle in the system. Thus, a sustainable environment is created within the aquaponics system.