Which aquaponics system is the best?
This is what we're going to see together in this video.
[Music]
So when we talk about aquaponics, we talk about the fact of growing an ecosystem with
plants and fish, and obviously in the middle, we got bacteria.
That's a general idea of aquaponics.
Then when you want to put this in application, you got different options.
You can grow plants and fish in what we call a grow bed, flood and drain grow bed aquaponics,
such as the one I have behind me.
That's the backyard option.
Then you can go for NFT, which is nutrient film technique.
It's when we grow food inside pipes, pipes with holes, and in those pipes, we got some
plants that are growing from the roots.
The roots are in the pipes and you got a film of water that is coming from the fish tank
into those pipes, and therefore, you got all the nutrients that are there and the plants
are growing from those pipes.
And finally, you got the deep water culture or also known as the raft technique because
you got big and long tanks and on those tanks you got some rafts of polystyrene foam and
on this you got some plants that are growing with the roots that are falling in the water
underneath and this water is coming also from the fish tank so it's very high in nutrients.
So those three techniques they are all very interesting, and the aim of this video is
to tell you which one is the best one, but to be very honest, there is no best one.
There are just few that are more adapted to some specific use than others.
The reason why behind me we got only grow bed aquaponics systems, so flood and drain
grow bed aquaponics systems is because those setups they are very well adapted to backyard
aquaponics.
They can be very small.
You have the fish in the tank just underneath.
On the grow bed you got your plants and your bacteria and yeah, that's the key.
You got all the bacteria that are living on a media.
So you see that this media here and this media it's just a volcanic rock.
The grow bed here is full of this media and all those bacteria that are living on the
media, they're going to transform the fish waste into plant fertilizer.
That’s really the key in aquaponics.
In a flood and drain grow bed aquaponics, you are always sure that you got a good surface
area for your bacteria, and for me, this is the key because this is not something that
you're going to find in, for example, NFT, nutrient film technique because in those pipes,
the bacteria are mainly growing on the roots of the plants.
So if for some reason, you got your plants to die, then you have no bacteria left for
your fish, which means that all the bacteria are gone.
Then the fish when you’re going to continue to feed them and if the fish continue to eat,
they’re going to release some waste in the water and those wastes are not going to be
transformed because there are no bacteria anymore, which means that the fish afterwards,
they’re going to be in a toxic environment and they may die.
You don't have this problem in the classic backyard aquaponics such as this one because
even if all my plants die, I still have all this surface area for the bacteria so I always
got a good filtration for my plants.
The nitrate level may increase slowly.
I will be able to manage that by removing or changing a bit of water if I have to really,
if I am in a really bad situation.
But what I'm trying to say that the backyard aquaponics flood and drain grow bed aquaponics
is really, really well adapted to little scale aquaponics.
Then if you go for big scale, the best system is probably the deep-water culture, and then
you can have hybrid systems because the deep-water culture helps you to grow some plants on rafts
and they are very easy to manage.
Every week, you can remove some rafts and collect the plants, so harvest the plants,
and put new rafts in the system and with new seedlings.
So it’s very easy to manage and therefore, those systems are extremely well adapted to
big scale aquaponics.
So as you may have understood right now, there is no good system or bad system, but what
I really recommend is that if you are starting aquaponics and if you are a beginner is to
start with the flood and drain grow bed aquaponics.
This is the most adapted to backyard aquaponics, and if you are interested in those types of
systems, you can have a free training from the description of the video just below.
It's a training where I give you a lot of information, critical information to build
your own aquaponics system in good conditions and also to avoid making the mistakes that
we see very often and to allow you to manage it in the best conditions.
So you will have access to this free training from the description of the video just below
or in the “i” like information on the corner of the video.
So right now, if you are in a backyard aquaponics that's what I recommend to build some experience,
even if you have the project to later on go for big scale.
But if you already built a strong experience on those types of setups and if you have a
large surface, then you can go for other types of systems such as the nutrient film technique,
NFT, or the deep-water culture, DWC, where there it's really well adapted to big scale
aquaponics and to fast production because you have less labor, you don't have to plant
the new plants or do those types of things.
It's very simple.
You just put new plants on some pots in the rafts and you collect the old ones.
Same for the NFT.
It doesn't take so much room and you can produce a significant quantity of food.
So those two last systems, they are really good for bigger scales, but again, I wouldn't
be able to say one is better than the other.
It just depends on exactly what you want to do with aquaponics and what is your level
of experience.
But to begin, again if you are beginning in aquaponics, my recommendation is to start
with a flood and drain grow bed aquaponics and you can always then add some other types
of systems such as a nutrient film technique, linked to this fish tank that is existing.
So then you have an NFT, plus a grow bed, linked to the fish tank that is existing.
So you have a hybrid system that is very strong then and later on, you can go for deep-water
culture, if you wish to.
So if you enjoyed this video and if you want to learn more about aquaponics, I recommend
you to subscribe to the channel.
I release one new video every week to help you to build some serious knowledge about
aquaponics and to grow some sustainable, healthy, and tasty food in your own backyard.
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I really hope to see you soon, and I wish you a fantastic success with aquaponics.
Have a good crop!