This guide will walk you through the essential steps to setting up and maintaining a successful aquaponic system.
The main thing to consider in choosing which plants to grow in your aquaponics system is to first consider the needs of your plants. As a rule of thumb, the more similar your plant’s needs are to the needs of the fish in your system, the better they will grow. It is important for the fish and plants that you select for your aquaponics system to have similar needs as far as temperature and pH levels are concerned. The closer they match, the more success you will have.
The easy answer to this question is “A combination of aquaculture (farming fish) and hydroponics (growing plants in nutrient solution).” But there is much more to aquaponics.
Media Based Systems also called Flood and Drain” or “Ebb and Flow” are the most common aquaponics systems, popular with do-it-yourselfers, backyard home systems, and commercial farms. This system is well suited for growing larger fruiting plants as well as smaller plants.
There are 5 key elements of an aquaponics system. Each of these are necessary to run a successful aquaponics system. We'll go over each of these elements in detail below. The 5 key elements of an aquaponics system are 1) Grow Bed, 2) Fish Tank, 3) Fish, 4) Plants, 5) Bacteria.