Aquaponics according to growshops.fr

Growshops.fr presents you all the necessary material to realize your own aquaponics at home.

But what is aquaponics?

Aquaponics is a method of cultivation mixinghydroponics and aquariums.
In other words, an aquarium filled with fish is used as a reservoir to feed the plants with water and nutrients that are totally natural, based on fish droppings and algae.
Similar to hydroponic or aeroponic systems, this nutrient distribution is done through an irrigation circuit, itself fed by a water (or air) pump.

Once finished and well balanced, aquaponics is an almost completely autonomous growing system, although weekly maintenance is required. Indeed, for the well-being of the aquarium's occupants, it is necessary to renew 10% of the water volume every week.
In fact, the aquarium provides the plants with a nutrition rich in trace elements, based on the fish waste and the natural formation of algae.
In return, the plants retain and assimilate nitrates and nitrites that are harmful to the aquarium's inhabitants.

Today, aquaponics is becoming more modern and can be installed in the home, thanks to current technologies. However, the origin of this method of irrigating crops goes back centuries, albeit in more basic, more precarious ways and necessarily on a larger scale.

What are the various uses that can be given to aquaponics?

What equipment is needed to set up and maintain an aquaponics system, according to growshops.fr?

Generally speaking, to set up your own aquaponics system, you need to select :

- an aquarium with a sufficient capacity to accommodate enough fish and thus meet the needs of the cultivated plants;

- fish with dejecta powers in correlation with the balance of the plants;

- an irrigation circuit to feed and distribute the solution directly to the roots;

- a culture tray in relation to the dimensions of the aquarium, diverted from an existing hydroponic system, such as those of the Modular range of Platinium Hydroponics modular range for example;

- pots to hold the plants and to distribute them on the culture tray;

- a water pump whose flow rate will be set according to the length of the irrigation system installed;

- a growing medium with low water retention capacity, hydrophilic and therefore inert, such as clay balls for example Growshops.fr advises you theHydro Mix of Platinium Soil .

- a pH tester (pH meter) and an EC tester (EC meter), well calibrated, allowing a follow-up of the nutrition brought to the plants and a vision of the quality of the water provided to the fish;

- a water level or return pipe, adjustable in height, placed on the growing tray, such as a tide table outlet available on growshops.fr will do the trick;

- a return filter to be fixed on the water pipe.

In concrete terms, this same water pipe serves to concentrate and filter the water, after passing through the pots, and flowing from the tray to the aquarium.
Made adjustable, the water return pipe has then for consequences, to aerate, to oxygenate the solution (return water), by raising it, by taking it out of the aquarium, in such a way, to form a form of cascades. This oxygenation is very beneficial to the fish, during the night phases.
Or, on the contrary, it is kept sunken in the water of the aquarium, during the lighting phase, in order to keep the CO2 content, contained in the water and favorable to the plants, especially those immersed in the aquarium.

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