What is Aquaponics?

Aquaponics is a symbiotic environment for plants and fishes. It’s a method to grow food using Hydroponics (soilless methods of planting) and aquaculture to provide nutrients for the growth of plants.

Is Aquaponics easy?

There are loads of research papers, information available on social media about Aquaponics. So most us believe if they can do it, I should be able to do so. It’s easy. Yes it is easy, once you understand it correctly. We recommend – Start small, understand and then take big and even bigger steps. So in short, yes you can do it, it’s not a rocket science but still one need to understand the fundamentals before your start putting the things together.

What is/are the building blocks of Aquaponics?

  • Fishes – Providing the waste for nutrient conversion
  • Filtration and Mineralization Tank for building the nutrient cycle – “ Nitrogen Cycle”
  • Plants – absorbing the nutrients for growth

What kind of fish do you recommend?

Fish selection depends basically upon

  • Availability and Climate: If you are a beginner then start with locally available gold fish… I bet you will lose some initially ; we lost a complete batch of 50 fishes initially due to fluctuating climate during monsoon. Carp varieties are easily available and sturdy fish as per Indian climatic conditions.
  • Market: Ornamental/Edible fishes can be used depending upon the market you want to enter into. Ornamental fishes like Koi can fetch you anywhere between 100$-1000$ (depending upon color, size and variety). On the other hand one can generate constant revenue from the edible fishes by supplying it to local reputed restaurants.

What kind of crops can I grow in Aquaponics?

One can grow numerous varieties of veggies. Starting from the leafy greens to fruiting vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, chilies, beans etc…). You cannot grow all veggies in one type of system ie you cannot grow veggies like carrots, radish etc in Deep Water Culture. So before you plan to start, understand what you want to grow and then put the systems accordingly.

Lettuce/Leafy grows wonders in DWC and per square foot output is twice as compared to conventional farming.

What is the minimum space to start an Aquaponics system?

Aquaponics system can be started in approx. one square feet space and can be scaled upto say 5000 Sq. Ft considering Urban Farming. One can put multiple hybrid systems together to increase the growing area. We have provided more than 30 growing spots in 1.5 Sq. Ft of space isn’t this fantastic!!!!!

How much power is required for an Aquaponics system?

Water and Air Pumps are provided depending upon the size of the Aquaponics setup. The smallest system can have power requirement of say about 10-15 W and say for 350-450 Sq. Ft system will be in the range of 300 W. Considering the power shortage issues in India, one small house invertor can provide power upto 24 hrs without any worry.

Can my backyard soil garden plants be replanted into new Aquaponics system?

Aquaponics system must be free from soil/dirt. It’s better to use the saplings by cleaning the roots thoroughly with water and making them free from dirt before replanting them in Aquaponics system.

We recommend starting fresh for better results.

Is Aquaponics more efficient than conventional/backyard kitchen gardening?

Yes. Once the nitrogen cycle is build up you can grow twice the number of plants per square feet compared to soil garden. Also it easy and ecofriendly.

You need to add water occasionally to cover for evaporation. No need of soil tilling and spoiling your clothes. Even kids under the supervision of elders can learn to do Aquaponics.

Is it possible to do Aquaponics in the city available water?

Yes, one can use city available water for Aquaponics but the biggest challenge in India is that the water quality is not good even for drinking. For best results in Aquaponics we need to maintain the pH between 6.5 – 7.0 and water has to be of good quality.

For smaller systems one can use the RO water but for bigger system (commercial) one has to treat water before the system can be setup. This will stand true even if you plan to do hydroponic system as well.