AQUAPONICS

EMPLOY GROW BED AS SELF SUSTAINING BIO FILTER

Aquaponics system is a hybrid of Aquaculture, eg fish culturing,shrimp,
craydad etc integrate with the Hydroponics system. Aquaponics has 2
subsystems. They are:
1. Aquaculture sub system
2. Hydroponics sub system.
The Aquaculture subsystem contain fish tank (or other aquatic creature
that been use in the Aquaponics system) and the filtration of the system.
The filtrations in Aquaponics system especially in high density system
should employ the solid filtration in this case the best I think so far is the
swirl filter and the bio filters. The solid filters act as solid catcher for the
system so the huge particle of the solid waste in the Aquaponics not
clogging the water flow. The next filter after the solid filter is bio filter. Bio
filters actually are Ammonia digester, in which convert the harmful
Ammonia into relatively non toxic Nitrate. While the solid filter can be
made either single or series of the solid filters before entering the bio filter;
the bio filters should be heavily aerated. Why? Because we shall need a lot
of dissolved oxygen in the bio filters for make sure the most optimum
Nitrification process taking place. Nitrification is the process that convert
Ammonia from fish waste into Nitrate. This process not only shall acidify
they water but also this process also consume a lot of dissolved Oxygen if
we want to convert all of the Ammonia in the system.
Why we need Nitrate?
Well we need Nitrate because the plants need Nitrate. Now the next
question is why? Nitrate is a powerful acid, it can solved salts especially
non soluble salt such as Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Carbonate,
Calcium Phosphate and Magnesium Phospate into more soluble salts such
as Calcium Hydrocarbonate, Calcium di Hydrophosphate, Magnesium
Hydrocarbonate, Magnesium di Hydrophosphate along with the Nitrate
salts form both of Calcium and Magnesium for example. Most if not all
Nitrate salts are soluble in the water, therefore plants need Nitrate not only
for forming Protein along with Sulfur, Phospor and some of Ammonia
Nitrate is more essential to make sure the plants can get the minerals
absorbdable due to the soluble issue had been solved.

The problem in Aquaponics system is that plants roots require slightly

acidic environment for their roots to be able to absorbed the nutrient from
the water, while the bacteria that essential in the Nitrification process
require Alkaline zone for them to digest Ammonia properly. That is why I
think IMHO that the pH zoning is a must in the Aquaponics system. When
the fish tank pH level should be maintain as high as 8, the solid and bio
filters should be able to reduce the pH as low as Neutral pH of 7 or slightly
above 7 say around 6.9 to 7.2 This is why I think the pH zoning comes
really handy. Yes we can’t lower water pH in the whole system but the
roots and grow media can create lower pH zone if the water has the near
saturated Oxygen. I come to this conclusion after I had read that plants
roots shall need high level of Dissolved Oxygen to get the active transport
and better uptake the nutrients from the water. But it’s not the case I think.
I think the high level of dissolved oxygen shall increase Nitrate
productions. And the if the bacteria especially the nitrification bacteria
that either attached to grow media or plant roots shall form Nitrification
that happened locally near the roots. Therefore it also shall lower the pH
near the roots and grow media. Not mention this plants shall also produce
organic acid to get the minerals just like they do if we planted them in the
soil. The plant shall produce acid in their roots to solving minerals from
rocks.
Now the second sub system in Aquaponics is Hydroponics. Hydroponics
aka grow bed in Hydroponics subsystems act as the grow media for the
plants to grow, however, in Aquaponics it also served as the addition of bio
filter this time this hydroponics sub system shall act as another bio filter
attachment from the Aquaculture own bio filtration system. The more area
act as bio filters shall ensure not only the increase of the water filtering
and more nutrient uptake by the plant roots but also the bigger area of
hydroponics sub system shall ensure more and more Nitrification take
place, but it also must be balanced with how much the Aquaculture system
can produce nutrient from fish waste or the plants in the Aquaponics
system shall be starved.
Personally I think the hydroponics sub system in Aquaponics served as
sustainable or self sustain bio filter. The bio filtration in this sub system of
Aquaponics formed by either grow bed media or the plants roots or both.
The more plants more and more cleaner water from the organic waste but
the best for all is if the balance happened between fish waste production
and filtration happened from the filtration media either from Aquaculture or
Hydroponics sub system of Aquaponics system as the whole package.
Well that’s it for now. I think I shall look the time and place to write another
addition in this
See ya