Fish function as a nutrient provider for the plants. Therefore, selecting the right fish species to raise in your desktop aquaponics setup is essential because fish have specific living conditions.
Getting started with aquaponics can be overwhelming, with so many books, blogs, videos, and approaches to building your system. It’s important to develop your own understanding of what aquaponics is and understand its basic principles so you’ll know how to start and maintain your aquaponics system.
Aquaponics combines aquaculture (the growing of fish and other aquatic animals) and hydroponics (the growing of plants without soil) in one recirculating environment. In aquaponics, the fish produce waste that is converted by the nitrifying bacteria into nutrients for the plants. Plant roots absorb these nutrients to thrive. In return, the plant roots clean and filter the water for the fish to live.
Within an aquaponics system is a delicate ecosystem composed of fish, bacteria, and plants. For everything to work perfectly, each part of the system must be balanced and healthy. Fish are required to be healthy to produce ammonia that is converted by the bacteria into nutrients for the plants.
Water temperature affects not only the health of the fish, plants, and bacteria in an aquaponics system. It is also essential for the breakdown and uptake of nutrients and wastes. So in order to maintain a healthy aquaponics system, the water temperature must be kept in the range that is safe for the fish, plants, and bacteria growing in your aquaponics system.