Aquaponics (pronounced: /ˈækwəˈpɒnɨks/) is a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In the aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals.

That is the definition, but it really is so much more than just that, and I hope that I can get a little information out there for the rest of you. For those of you that do not know much about farming, I will go into a few details.

When you farm, the plants need nourishment from the soil, which can be added with fertilizer. Fertilizer is a substance that adds nitrogen among other thing into the soil that the plant uses. Plants also need some water and a place for the roots to go. Well, if you take these things but with a different method you get hydroponics.

Hydroponics is effectively raising plants without soil. You use a fertilized liquid and saturate the roots of the plants. Sometimes the roots are suspended in air, other times they are in a neutral substance, kind of like rocks or bead type things. It is found that plants actually respond better to this growing environment than traditional soil. This is due to the oxygenation of the roots that allow a greater transfer of nutrients.

Aquaculture is raising fish. If you have ever seen state agencies stocking fish in public water ways, they used this method to raise the fish. Farming fish. It is really that simple, think of a giant fish tank in your living room.

Now combine these two thoughts and you have a revolution in food production. It actually amazes me that this type of thing was not used long before now.

Now we have a system where we have a fish tank where we are growing food. The fish have waste in there tank and their water needs to be filtered. So, we pump this nutrient rich water through the plants, which filters it out and cleans it before it heads back to the fish tank. We now have killed two birds with one stone.

Add to this system vertical farming techniques and greenhouses to extend the farming year and we have a system that can truly produce a lot of food. Such as this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV9CCxdkOng

If you would like more info or to get involved a little bit, check out a facebook group #sustainchat here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/133130150136311/

or you can use #sustainchat in your tweets to get in on the conversation.

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