Integration of aquaculture with crop and livestock farming

Aquaponics involves the use of farm and/or animal waste for fertilizing and feeding fish.

There are two main types of aquaponics methods one first developed by Living Machine Bioneer John Todd and then refined by groups like S&S Aquaponics who started a discussion group to further promote the dissemination of knowledge. 

Aquaponics is considered to be one configuration of a "permaculture in a box system." This is a system features a series of already existing technologies such as bioreactors, animal husbandry, greenhouses, permaculture and aquaponics and configures them in an efficient, integrated and synergistic way minimizing inputs as well environmental impacts.

Aquaponics - Two Types:

1. The conventional aquaponics method in a nutshell involves the integration of fish waste into a nutrient cycle that allows for the rapid growth of plants in a hydroponic growing system. The fish waste because of excessive levels of nitrogen has to be processed by microbes first before it can be used the plants.
2. The second type involves the addressing of the feeding needs of the fish within the system itself taking raw animal, human and or plant waste preprocessed by a anaerobic digester which basically results in 60 percent treated effluent. The effluent then enters a series of settling and aeration tanks before being dumped into the fishpond as with George Chan’s Integrated Farming and Waste Management System (IF&WMS).

About the IF&WMS
Developed by ZERI under the leadership of George Chan, the IF&WMS, Aquaculture system uses partially treated water (90 BOD) that results from the proliferation of benefical microorganisms which feed on the waste and then become food for the fish once it enters the fish pond or with conventional aquaponic systems - the tanks. Then the fish in the process of eating the small creatures create a second cycle of nutrients processed by the plant ecosystem as in the case of IF&WMS or with the use of a living machine in conventional aquaponics. The resulting fertigated or mineralized water is then used to irrigate and fertilize the plants surrounding the pond as well as optionally pumped out and used in a hydropic feeding system in a greenhouse.

Some Aqauponics Case Studies

1. Phoenix Foods located its facilities in a low-income area that was in a special economic enterprise zone. It was then able to get a 300000 low interest loan to begin operations. At Phoenix Foods, plants float on raft systems made of pumice that allow roots of plants to grow through them into the water below. The basil has a 17-day growth period that is ½ conventional growing times. No pesticides used. The greenhouse remains pest free through the work of fish, nematodes and beneficial insects.
2. Waterfield Farms in Amherst MA was run, by Tracy and John Hightower. Like Phoenix foods, Waterfield raises Tilapia, Basil and other crops in an integrated aquaculture-hydroponic (aquaponics) that uses fish waste as fertilizer for the hydroponic gardens. Aquaponics uses aerobic bacteria to transform fish waste, which is mostly ammonia into nitrogen a plant nutrient. The plants remove the nitrogen from the water before it flows back into the fish tanks. Tilapia grows quickly and is a hearty fish, while Basil is a warm weather crop that has a short shelf life, making a viable crop in urban areas.

Aquaponics as an Practical Example of Biomimicry, Synergy and Symbiosis
This symbiotic relationship between plants and fish is common in nature and it is vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems, yet this is still an alien concept in human society. Symbiosis is an ecological term, which describes the living together of two dissimilar organisms in mutually beneficial relationships yet in industrial ecology, it describes how two different productive systems can complement each other referring to a process of cooperation between two companies or production lines that trade byproducts with each other. The reintroduction of nutrient cycling and symbiotic processes featured in the Kalundborg industrial ecology in Denmark, in projects like this around the world are helping to transform sustainability away from academic theory and towards something tangible and economically feasible.

Renewables & Aquaponics
The natural gas cogeneration system that powered the greenhouses at Phoenix Farms ran only at peak demand during the day, selling excess electricity to the utility. At night, the lights go on to allow 24 hour/365 day plant growth, using grid power when it is cheaper to use than the micro-turbines. Heat exchangers captured the waste heat from the micro-turbines and then circulate it into radiant heat tubes under the fish and plant tanks. This integrated strategy substantially reduces energy and resource inputs, and this means less money spent on feed and energy costs.

Related WiserEarth Portals

Aquaculture, Biomimicry, Industrial Ecology,