Sustainability Through AquaponicsBy: Nathan Morrison

What is aquaponics?

A system of aquaculture in which the the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water.

How does it sustain itself and other people?

It is self sustainable by the fish poop releasing ammonia which produces nitrites then is oxygenated into nitrates, in turn the plants absorb the nitrates to provide nutrients to grow.You can grow vegetables such as lettuce or fruits such as strawberries which can provide food for people.

What does it look like?

this is small scalebut if done larger scale it would be done in a warehouse with many tanks of fish and a lot more plants.

Where does the product go?

The edible parts of the plants can be harvested to be sold to the local markets along with the adult fish which are sold to the same market.The baby fish are the ones that are kept until adulthood then sold.So not only are you farming vegetables but you also are farming the fish.

What are the flaws?

Some flaws that it has are the grow lights being used to grow plants are not self sustainable but if you could build a generator that was ran by the moving water to power the lights you could fix that problem. Another flaw was filtration. The filters needed to be industrial size.

History of aquaponics

The ancient Aztecs built canals and stationaryartificial islands called ‘chinampas’.they would use the nutrient rich mud and water to fertilize their crops. There are even roots that go to early Asian and South American civilizations

Cited sourcesMcCollow, Katie. "Aquaponics Revives an Ancient Farming Technique to Feed the World." Newsweek. N.p., May-June 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

Donaldson, Gary. "A Brief History of Aquaponics." Eden Aquaponics Inc Sustainable Organic Food Producition RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.