Advantages of Aquaponic Gardening

Because it recycles fish waste directly into plant nutrition within a closed loop, aquaponics carries a distinct set of resource advantages over separate fish farming and conventional soil agriculture. It conserves water, since the system recycles rather than discharges and recharges water. Microbes in the recycled water convert waste into forms plants can actually use — such as converting ammonia into nitrates — so soil fertility (where soil is involved) is maintained without external inputs. Because the plants are grown in confined, controlled conditions, weed growth is effectively eliminated, which in turn raises how efficiently the plants can take up available nutrients. Pesticides are unnecessary, making the whole system inherently eco-friendly. Fish feed costs fall too, since plant waste and decaying matter in the system can be used by the fish as a supplementary food source, and sepa …