Functional description

For the uninitiated, aquaponics is the fusion of aquaculture and hydroponics to create an ecosystem in which three types of living being coexist: fish, bacteria and plants.

Originating in the Aztecs, aquaponics enables plants to grow rapidly and achieve high production yields. What's more, from an environmental point of view, the cultivation of local edible plants is an effective way of considerably reducing one's personal environmental impact.

Demonstration

Just as nature does so well with a river, we must have a quantity of fish and water proportional to a quantity of bacteria and plants. What's more, all entities, whether fish, bacteria or plants, must have a living environment that's adapted to them and allows them to develop properly. So we need to be very familiar with the preferences of each one, and apply them in an integrated, human-scale construction. The challenge is not an easy one, but absolutely fascinating. It has enabled me to learn about nature's reactions, how plants work and biomimicry. Through several iterative cycles, this aquaponics project has evolved and will continue to evolve in astonishing ways.

Project completion stages

To find out more, here's a link to the wiki where I've documented my many adventures and discoveries: wiki.echofab.quebec/aquaponie.