Photosynthesis

Aquaponics system is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture, raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks, with hydroponics cultivating plants in water in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system. As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis for all aquaponics systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an aquaponics system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline. The definition for aquaculture is “the cultivation of aquatic organisms such a fish or shellfish especially for food to” and the definition of hydroponics is, “the growing of plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium such as soil to provide mechanical support”. The reason for the definitions is because aquaponics is a mixture of aquaculture and hydroponics. It is the same concept as hydroponics. The plants roots are submerged in water with fish waste and ammonia that are added is the part of the system that is like aquaculture. The plants absorb and suck up all the ammonia and turn them into nitrites and then into nitrogen, which then helps the plants because the plants need nitrogen in order to live. The aquaponic system consists of two main parts the reservoir and the grow bed. The reservoir holds fish and the grow bed holds the plants. It works by using a pump that takes the water up to the grow bed from the reservoir and waters the plants as well as giving them nutrients from the fish such as ammonia. The fish benefit from the plants because the ammonia product could