The Aquaponics Association

stretches. That’s been heartening for us.” BVM: What are the advantages of aquaponics over hydroponics and aquaculture separately? Filipowich: “Hydroponics relies on mostly synthetic fertilizers that are produced from petroleum. It’s a sterile environment – without a lot of bacteria. Because it’s not recirculating in the same way with fish, you end up having to dump a lot of the water to keep the water chemistry balanced. Hydroponic farms end up having to do large dumps of water that are actually rich in nutrients and still valuable but they have to discard them to get a new set of water. “Similarly, with aquaculture, you’re continually feeding your fish and the waste is building up in the water, which then has to be dumped. That causes major environmental issues and it’s also a waste – it takes money and resources to create all that fish food and nutrients and then you end up throwing a lot of it away when the nutrients build up too much. Most Recirculating Aquaculture setups include a percentage of the flow through component of freshwater, burdening aquifers in the process. “By combining the two, you’re solving those