Why are people starting aquaponics?
During the last few weeks I did some research and tried to understand what attracts people towards aquaponics. Indeed, we all have our own perception and some points are very obvious to us. However, I believe it is interesting to know what others are seeing in Aquaponics. So let’s review the main points of interest.
The evident reasons why we grow food in aquaponics
2 crops
The first point raised by all people is that it allows to produce 2 crops (vegetables and fish).
Homegrown
The food is produced at home. Therefore the food is local and is produced where it is consumed.
Authenticity
Food is sustainable (we avoid all transport), of quality, and reliable. In other words, we produce it so we know what we eat.
Ecosystem
Unlike most other types of food production, Aquaponics is a poly-culture managed thanks to an ecosystem. It uses natural interactions between living creatures. As a result it is the most sustainable way of producing food.
Healthy and tasty
The variety of living creatures in this ecosystem (biodiversity) releases a very wide blend of nutrient available for the plants. It allows the plants to develop the best aromas and nutrients. Therefore, the food is healthy and very tasty.
Natural
This specific type of production doesn’t consume or even allow any type of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. Hence, the food produced is clean and healthy.
Low resources consumption
As opposed to classic gardening, aquaponics doesn’t require to spend time and resources watering. It consumes 10 times less water than classic garden and aquaculture. Furthermore, the plants have a constant supply of water. As a result, you can go on holiday without problem and your garden will stay green. NO COMMITMENT, NO TIME, SUSTAINABLE.
No labour
Aquaponics doesn’t require weeding labor. Most Aquaponics setups use raised grow-bed. Therefore, very few weeds are able to grow and whenever it happens it is very easy to remove them. Indeed, the media is not compact. Consequently, a simple pull will remove the whole plant with the roots. It also doesn’t require to return the soil. Some people are tired to return the earth of their classic garden. In conclusion they are very happy to use aquaponics. It doesn’t require any back breaking labour. NO HARDWORK, NO TIME
Less obvious…
Boost your diet even from a small surface area
This is a very good alternative for people who have a very small land. Indeed, It allows to produce a significant quantity of food on a small surface. Even one square meter can be enough to make a significant difference in your diet. You can produce leafy vegetables and drink daily juices. NO LAND, HEALTH, HIGH PRODUCTION.
Why aquaponics? It produces leafy vegetables in a small surface
bring animals in your backyard/terrace/balcony
It brings nature to you! For all people leaving in the city. Aquaponics is an excellent way to bring animals in your backyard/terrace/balcony. Indeed, an aquaponics system is an open ecosystem. The variety of animals linked to this ecosystem is constantly evolving. As a result, you will find interesting insects and a multitude of lovely birds coming around.
Increase happiness and maintain mental health
For most gardeners, being outdoor, in contact with “soil” is very important. Studies proved that the contact with specific bacteria present in the soil can have a very positive effect on our mental health. Learn more there: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840.php). Consequently, it can explain why we feel so good in contact with nature. Furthermore, the growbed of an aquaponics setup is a bioreactor and holds a very large biomass of bacteria.
Learning support
Parents see in aquaponics a very good support to help the kids to connect with nature. Furthermore, kids can also understand where the food comes from. They study nature and understand what leaving creatures need to survive and how they live together. Aquaponics can also be used by schools to teach biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, environment, ecosystems, food, cooking lessons… It is really possible to adapt the school curriculum and to learn most topics around the aquaponics.
Biology can be used to study the fish, plants, insects, worms, bacteria…
Mathematics and physics are used to calculate the dimensions, volumes of tanks, pump dimension…
Chemistry is used to control the water parameters and can be used to understand the organic matters transformation into the system.
The notions of environment and ecosystem take life with an ecosystem. As a result, children can understand the relation between all the leaving creatures. Also they understand the impact of the environment on the crop produced.
A feature in your garden
Some aquaponics keepers start aquaponics to have a nice aquatic feature to display into the garden. For them the aesthetic of the setup is very important and they will not use classic plastic setups but only very well designed stylish aquaponics system. They are also very proud to show their aquaponics systems to the friends that visit them and use the aquaponics system as a social support to create a community.
Fish in your backyard
Finally some aquaponics keepers start aquaponics because they are Fish hobbyist. They already keep fish at home in their aquarium and are very keen to keep fish in their backyard.
In this article we saw that there is a very wide range of reasons why aquaponics keepers are using aquaponics but they all have a common desire to produce sustainable, healthy and tasty food in their backyard.
Welcome here! If you are new, you will probably be interested to discover Jonathan’s six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
