One minute. I am almost done. Is urine good for aquaponics? This is what we're
going to see together in this video.
[Music]
Okay. I regularly receive the question can I
pee in my aquaponics system? So that's a serious question actually because pee is
actually a source of ammonia and such is the fish food that we give to our fish.
You know, the fish when they release their waste into the water that's also a
source of ammonia, and the whole principle of aquaponics is to transform
this ammonia into nitrites and then nitrate which is a fertilizer
for the plant. So some people think they can pee in the system and therefore, the
bacteria are going to transform this pee into fertilizer for the plant. When I
say fertilizer, I'm talking about nutrients. I'm talking about nitrate. So
that's true. If you pee in your system, you're going
to add some ammonia in the system and therefore you're going to
add some nitrogen which is a source of nutrient for the plants and
the plants are going to grow. But when you have an aquaponics system that is
established, very often you are limited in the quantity of fish we can put in
the system because if you have too many fish
and you don't have enough bacteria, they are not going to be able to transform
all this ammonia into nitrate. So very often, nitrates is not deficient in
aquaponics and sometimes you got too many nitrates. You need to use a bit of
this water to water your classic garden to
decrease the quantity of nitrates. So peeing in the system is not necessary in
aquaponics and also you know from a hygiene point of view, it doesn't look really
good when you think about it. Seeing a human peeing in your system it's not
really great. There is one thing that also you need to take into consideration
and what are you eating? If you consume organic plants, if you consume what you
are growing, then the pee should be fine. It's always sterilized, which
means there are no bacteria inside the pee of a human when you are in good health.
But if you are consuming pills, if you are consuming medicines, all those
molecules are going to finish in you pee and they're going to finish in the
aquaponics system, So I don't recommend using the pee in the aquaponics system.
There is one step where people sometimes use pee or urine in aquaponics is when
they launch their system, when they cycle the system. What I recommend doing is to use
some fish food basically, some fish food. You put some fish food into the
pond, into the fish pond, the fish tank and it's without the fish at the beginning.
It's going to basically break down. It's going to release some ammonia in the
system and it's going to allow the bacteria
to grow. So that's what I recommend doing. I made a whole video about this, if you
look at how to start or how to cycle an aquaponics system. You're going to find my
video on this specific topic. It's a whole process to cycle an aquaponics
system. Yes, it's possible to do it with urine or to do it with pee, but that's
not what I recommend really. Pee is high in ammonia and you can use it in your
compost. You can use it for a lot of things. In aquaponics, it can be
used but it's not for me the best. The best is to stay with fish food, with things
that you're going to put in the long-term in the aquaponics system. So in the
introduction of this video, I was simulating peeing in the system, but no,
I was not peeing. It's not something that I do.
I think I try to keep everything without adding any human substance inside. So the
only fertilizer that I have or nutrients that I have are the fish food and some
minerals that I sometimes add to avoid the leaves to turn yellow. But anyway, I
made some videos on this as well. So if you look through my channel, you're
going to find all this information. If you want more information about
aquaponics and how to make, to build your own aquaponics system, you have access
to a free aquaponics training on the description of the video just below. It's
step-by-step to help you to build your aquaponics system, respecting the ratio,
respecting the limits that need to be respected in aquaponics and some
information as well to manage it in the best way possible. So it's free so
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good crop!