Aquaponics vs. Hydroponics
Aquaponics is a system that combines raising aquatic animals with cultivating plants in water in a symbiotic environment. In this system excretions from animals (fish) accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity that helps the plant grow with all the nutrients from the fish, to help plants grow and the plants clean the water for fish.
There is a thin line between aquaponics and hydroponics. They have many similarities:
- Both systems are soil-free
- Both systems sell baby greens for the same price
- Both systems are vertically stacked, indoor farms
- Yields for both aquaponics and hydroponics systems are the same
- Both systems have similar needs, and therefore costs for: energy, packaging, growing medium, seeds, cleaning and other general farm supplies.
But they also have many differences:
- Startup Speed: A hydroponics system is easier to get started. In a hydroponics system you only need to add nutrient-formulated solution in the tank. The opposite of aquaponics, because aquaponics system takes about a month to develop the nitrifying bacteria, necessary for the system to thrive.
- Presence of bacteria: A hydroponics system does not have bacteria at all. While in the other case the aquaponics system works out of coexistence between the bacteria and plants.
- Nutrients Cost: In a hydroponics system we use chemical nutrients which are very expensive. While the food that is used to raise fish in the system is affordable so that the fish can supply water with nutrients. On the other hand, there is the chance of cultivating that same food with a system called insect farming https://medium.com/@shegakonjufca/insect-farming-bsf-black-soldier-fly-ac9e19138e8e
- Maintenance: An aquaponics system is easier to maintain than a hydroponics system, the balance between the elements is created naturally in an aquaponics system, you just need to check ammonia and pH level once a week and the nitrate once in a month and change it once in every six months. Whereas you have to examine the electrical conductivity of your hydroponic system once every day.
- The taste of plants: It is said by people and restaurants that the plants of the hydroponics system taste differently than those of the aquaponics system. It looks like chemical elements make it not taste as good as nutrients that emerge from fish feces. Even though both are grown in a healthy way.
- Ecosystem: Hydroponic system is a man-made environment which cannot be accomplished successfully without his intervention while an aquaponic system is a natural ecosystem which will work as long as the pumps are successfully working, without human control.
- The space: You will need extra space for the fish tanks in a aquaponics system.
- The possibility of failure: Because we add all the chemicals in the water we have it in control and the possibility for plants to fail growing is lower in a hydroponics system. While in a aquaponics system because of natural growing the possibility for plants to fail growing and fish to get sick is higher.
Every farmer who wants to start cultivating in the hydroponics or aquaponics system has the dilemma that which one is right to start with. For example we have decided, and we have build a small hydroponics system first. Because building a hydroponics system there are fewer risks to deal with. In a hydroponics system we need less tanks in the system, we do not need to take care of the fish etc. The hydroponics system is more man-made than the aquaponics system, which is most of the time dependent on natural conditions like the health condition of the fish, which determines the health of plant itself. And finally we decided to build hydroponics mainly because we think that when we want to build any other system it is very easy to add on to another system for example an aquaponics system.
