Bacteria
The ammonia excreted from the fish-waste and leftover fish-feed is
toxic to fish in high quantities. Luckily Mother Nature has provided us
with a natural method for converting ammonia into plant food. This can
only occur thanks to two types of the bacteria (nitrosomonas and
nitrospira) that are essential to the nitrogen cycle. These bacteria are
otherwise referred to as the bio-filter, and this is where the magic
in an aquaponic system takes place.
For more information on the nitrogen cycle see the Aquaponics Science page
Like any organism nitrifying bacteria thrive in optimum conditions.
Therefore it is essential to understand what these conditions are and
how they affect the health of your bio-filter.
The table below shows the optimum conditions for nitrifying bacteria, plants and fish.
Managing all three requirements in an aquaponics system is a
balancing act. Ideally you will need a PH of 7 as a compromise between
the fish, plants and bacteria requirements. Moreover, it will be
essential to maintain the optimum temperature for your bio-filter
otherwise the bacteria will become less efficient.
Plants
An aquaponic system provides an excellent growing environment for
plants. It supplies plants with a constant source of nutrient rich water
and a good supply of oxygen to the roots. All of which means you don’t
have to water, feed or even weed your plants as you would have to for
soil grown plants!
A variety of plants can be grown in an aquaponic system. Everything
from flowers, to herbs, vegetables, fruits and even some root
vegetables.
Fast growing plants like leafy vegetables and herbs particularly suit
this type of system. Fruiting plants such as chilli, strawberries,
tomatoes etc can also be grown, but they require a greater nutrient
supply compared to leafy vegetables. This is easily achieved in
established aquaponic systems with a slightly higher fish stocking
density.
Fish and bacteria prefer more PH neutral conditions; therefore plants
outside of this range do not grow well. Blueberries and raspberries,
which like acid soils ranging from a PH of 4.5 to 6.2 are one of the few
examples of plants that don’t suit aquaponics.
The
main ‘problems’ with small-scale Aquaponics are only problems if you
are afraid of a little maintenance. This can all be greatly reduced with
the clever use of automation and monitoring technologies that are
currently being developed by the industry leaders of indoor growing
(cough). Nonetheless, you should be aware of what you are getting into.
Here are my top seven unexpected challenges with small-scale Aquaponics.
- See more at:
http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
The
main ‘problems’ with small-scale Aquaponics are only problems if you
are afraid of a little maintenance. This can all be greatly reduced with
the clever use of automation and monitoring technologies that are
currently being developed by the industry leaders of indoor growing
(cough). Nonetheless, you should be aware of what you are getting into.
Here are my top seven unexpected challenges with small-scale Aquaponics.
1. pH Drops Faster
The secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
1. pH Drops FasterThe secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
The
main ‘problems’ with small-scale Aquaponics are only problems if you
are afraid of a little maintenance. This can all be greatly reduced with
the clever use of automation and monitoring technologies that are
currently being developed by the industry leaders of indoor growing
(cough). Nonetheless, you should be aware of what you are getting into.
Here are my top seven unexpected challenges with small-scale Aquaponics.
1. pH Drops Faster
The secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
1. pH Drops FasterThe secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
The
main ‘problems’ with small-scale Aquaponics are only problems if you
are afraid of a little maintenance. This can all be greatly reduced with
the clever use of automation and monitoring technologies that are
currently being developed by the industry leaders of indoor growing
(cough). Nonetheless, you should be aware of what you are getting into.
Here are my top seven unexpected challenges with small-scale Aquaponics.
1. pH Drops Faster
The secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
1. pH Drops FasterThe secret sauce of Aquaponics is, of course, the billions of nitrifying bacteria. These little guys consume the fish waste and turn it into plant food. However they also naturally give off a small quantity of nitric acid as a part of the process, and acid will bring your pH down. This actually is really useful for plant growth and is not normally something to be scared of. A slowly dropping pH is fine in a large system that has plenty of water to dilute the acid. The large volume will ‘self regulate’ and cause pH movements to happen gradually. This will not stress the fish and can be monitored loosely. If you have a system with only a small volume of water, (such as one based on a common fish tank), pH can fall rapidly enough that if you miss a day or two of checking it your fish may be hurting. You will need to check pH daily and probably make regular adjustments. If you go away for a weekend, you might leave your windowsill system with a pH of 8.0 and return to find it with a pH of 6.0 or less, especially when your system is less than 6 months old and still finding it’s equilibrium. This can be a real concern for fish happiness. If pH gets low enough it can also reduce the effectiveness of your bacteria in processing fish waste, leading to other problems. In small Aquaponics systems, bacteria induced pH drops happen faster than in large systems.
- See more at: http://blog.grovelabs.io/designing-ecosystems/aquaponics-designing-ecosystems/7-challenges-small-scale-aquaponics-systems/#sthash.QN4Hg6C5.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment