AQUAPONICS - Combining hydroponics & aquaculture

Becoming more
self-sufficient
By Helen Smith both fish and vegetables taste
better too.
There are a number of rea- Joel Malcolm stumbled
sons why a small farmer upon aquaponics in 2000
might want to consider while searching the internet
aquaponics. One is shortage for different ways to grow
of space and another is plants. Inspired by a pio-
shortage of water. A third neering American couple, he
reason could be the desire to began experimenting with a
become as self-sufficient as small makeshift aquaponics
possible while producing system in his own back-yard.
fresh food, and a fourth The possibilities soon be-
might be a lack of time or came evident and he contin-
interest to weed, water, fer- ued to develop systems that
tilise and tend a full sized are now so successful his
vegetable garden. hobby has turned into a
It may seem odd to think business and he has recently
that a farmer might be short opened a display centre at
of space, but if your property Jandakot near Perth - the
is, say, four hectares and you only aquaponics shop in the
want a reasonable orchard, a world, Joel claims. These plants are growing in blue metal which is a
good sized shed, a small There are three main ele- cheap growing medium but, because it is heavier
dam, to run a few sheep or ments essential for success, than most, needs strong support.
cattle and maybe a pony for he says, fish, plants and bac-
the children, it could be a teria. Fish expel ammonia
crush to provide enough through their gills, and while
land for a decent sized veg- plants have no use for am-
etable patch. Added to that, monia, two types of natu-
small farm or not, shortage rally occurring bacteria
of water is a commonprob- (Nitrosomonates and Ni-
lem for many farmers. trobacter) in the growing
As the name suggests, medium break it down in
aquaponics combines both the water, first into nitrites
aquaculture and hydropon- and then into nitrates which
ics, with the combination the plants can use, at the
bringing greater benefits same time cleaning and aer-
than can be derived from ating the water before it is re-
each of the components op- turned to the fish tank.
erated separately. Put simply, Other nutrients essential for
the water in a fish tank is plant growth such as potas-
pumped through soil-less sium, phosphorous and
growbeds before being re- magnesium, are supplied
turned to the tank, purified from the food fed to the fish
by bacteria in the growing and dissolved in the water. In
medium of the growbeds. addition, fish faeces break
The plants benefit from the down to provide other essen-
water made nutrient-rich by tial nutrients for the plants.
the fish, who benefit from In conventional aquacul-
the cleaned and oxygenated ture, the problem of keeping
water returned from the the water fresh would require
growbeds. With a basically 10 percent to be pumped
closed system, there is almost out daily to rid the tank of
no waste and both fish and solids. For a 2000 litre tank
vegetables grow faster than if that amounts to 200 litres of Up to 100 fish can be raised from 50 gram finger-
they were produced conven- water usage every 24 hours. lings to plate size (500 grams) over a six month pe-
tionally. Reports state that Even if it were pumped onto riod in a 3000 litre tank.
36 Small FARMS May 2009
 AQUAPONICS - Combining hydroponics & aquaculture
a conventional garden, it is
more than many farmers
could afford to use. Water
usage in an aquaponics sys-
tem is far less and amounts
to no more than replacing
water lost through evapora-
tion and transpiration.
So what does an aquapon-
ics system look like? First of
all, it is surprisingly com-
pact. A system that can pro-
vide 50 kilogram of fish and
over 100 kilograms of veg-
etables in six months -
enough to feed a small fam-
ily - will easily fit under a
carport roof. The size of the
fish tank/pond/dam and
growbeds can suit individual
needs, with some options
small enough to fit onto a
balcony. However, a family-
sized system would need a
fish tank of 2000 - 3000
litres, plus three or four
growbeds. These need to sit
higher than the fish tank, ei-
ther by raising the growbeds
or sinking the tank, to allow
the water to gravity feed
back to a small drain tank
that can double as a finger-
ling nursery until the mature
fish are harvested. From
there the water is aerated and
pumped back to the fish
tank. Raising the growbeds a depth of 30 centimetres In a symbiotic relationship this rainbow trout has as-
also reduces the risk of gar- with a growing medium that sisted in the growth of the lettuces behind it, while
den pests such as snails. Fur- can be virtually any inert the lettuces have helped clean the water in the fish
ther refinements can include material. Pea gravel, blue tank. There is very little wastage from either prod-
a battery backup for the metal, diatomite or ex- uct.
pump or a worm farm to panded clay pebbles are
consume vegetable scraps, commonly used.
with worms fed to the fish. A Expanded clay is probably
65 watt solar panel can re- the best medium, but it is
duce or even eliminate the more expensive than the oth-
already reasonable power ers, Joel explains. Blue
costs metal is cheaper but heavy
Once each hour the and hard on the hands when
growbeds are flooded with working in the growbeds.
water pumped up from the Normal reticulation pipe
fish tank. The pump stops and fittings, a small 200 watt
when the tank water drops pump and a couple of aera-
to a level determined by a tors complete the system.
float switch and the water The tanks and growbeds
drains back into the tank dont have to be purpose-
within the hour before being built, Joel explains. Old
pumped up again. baths or recycled food-grade
The shape of growbeds is plastic barrels halved verti- The water is aerated as it is returned to the tank.
usually circular or rectangu- cally are quite suitable. The level drops when the pump is operating, but is
lar but should facilitate easy The type of fish chosen de- raised when the water returns to the tank as the
harvesting. They are filled to pends on the climate and growbed drains.
May 2009 Small FARMS 37
AQUAPONICS - Combining hydroponics & aquaculture
personal preference. Joel
grows trout in the cooler
months, but Perth is too hot
for them in the summer, so
he then switches to barra-
mundi.
Six months is all that is
needed to produce a 500
gram fish from a 50 gram
fingerling, says Joel. Fish
have a great food conversion
rate: because they are cold-
blooded, and because they
are suspended in water, they
dont have to support their
own weight. Trout have a
1.2:1 ratio.
A 3000 litre tank will carry
up to 100 fish in this system.
Some people prefer to keep
ornamentals, such as gold-
fish or koi, while others
choose silver perch, black
bream, yabbies or eels.
Ethel Creek Station near
Newman in the Pilbara re-
gion of WA have installed a
large aquaponics system,
Joel says. Its an ideal way for Commercial growers are Black soldier flies occur naturally in the Perth re-
them to have a constant sup- now beginning to see the gion. Their larvae live in compost and are self-har-
ply of fresh vegetables during benefits of aquaponics on a vesting when appropriately housed. They make an
the dry season. Overseas large scale and Joel has re- excellent organic food for the fish as do the casual-
there are aquaponics systems cently installed a system of ties of bug-zappers mounted over the tank.
in Alaska, as well as the perforated foam rafts float-
desert regions of the USA. ing on two 20 metre x 2.5-
Apart from cleaning out the metre channels that will
reticulation before replanting bring to maturity a continual
to remove roots that may harvest of 500 lettuces per
have grown into the week. Grown conventionally
growbed pipes, Joel spends they would take more land,
just minutes each day to water, labour, and time to
keep his system working. mature.
It takes less than five min- As Joel says, aquaponics just
utes to feed the fish and makes so much sense.
check that its all working
OK, says Joel, and they can Backyard Aquaponics,
last without food for a cou- telephone 08 9414 9334 or
ple of days if I go away. www.backyardaquaponics.com

This compact unit houses a complete aquaponics