Afraponix (formerly Ichthys Aquaponics), started in 2004, was one of the aquaponic pioneers in Africa and industry front runners. Our farm currently supplies a variety of specialty vegetables like mint, chives, garlic chives, basil, red salad onions, and lettuce to major chain stores in Southern Africa. We also provide organically fed trout and tilapia. Our hatchery ensures that local farmers have a consistent supply of both trout and tilapia fingerlings.
Aquaponics is a system for farming fish and plants together in a mutually beneficial cycle. Fish produce wastes that turn into nitrates and ammonia. These aren’t good for the fish if they build up too much, but they’re great fertilizer for plants. As the plants suck up these valuable nutrients, they purify the water, which is good for the fish. Many cultures have made use of this cycle to grow better crops and nurture the fish as an additional food source.
That's amazing! I really thought your had a refrigeration cooling the water 😅 but I guess misting it is also cooling and adding humidity. I'd suggest next crop to grow is gourmet mushrooms 😁
To me, Aquaponics is just hydroponics optimized to use marine organisms (fish, crustaceans, etc.) to make the nutrients for the plants rather than purchasing them. You get an extra food source to make up for the extra complexity. If you do it right, you can minimize costs.
Thank you brother it's well explained. But what l would like to know is that , what gadget provides heat into the system and at which stage do you fix it within the system ? I am really waiting to hear it from you please 🙏
Hello and cheers on your videos! At 3:34 there is an egg with something white on it, close to the tip of the feather. What is that and should we remove them?
Hello, thats really cool, but i have some questions, how does the vertical towers works? Because in another video at tik tok grom the same channel says that those towers lows the temperature from the water to 19 degrees
Well done Justin, great work. I have been aqainted with Dicla Tunnels for many years while living in SA. Dirk, Johan father started the company very small, I owned 12 of Dicla Tunnels at Bapsfontein in the early years.
Interesting video.... What is nutient ratio between potassium, calcium and magnesium in aquaponics system.... What is the target ppm for these nutrient?
Hi Vasantan, thanks for the feedback! So as a rule of thumb, I target the potassium and calcium to be twice as high as my nitrate. Key here is to aim for 20ppm nitrate, 40ppm calcium/potassium. For magnesium it should be equal to the nitrate. So in the region of 20ppm. This is lower than what others publish online but I've found it to work extremely well.
Brilliant video Justin, your a good teacher! Questions for you; what flow rate is needed for trout eggs which leads me to what size of pump required for your system? Also, you mentioned that you use Matala layers for your filtration system. Do you think it works better for this application compared to systems that use K1,K2 media? Thanks, Rod
Hi Rod! Thanks so much for the feedback - glad you find the videos helpful. On this system I am using a DCP-5000 water pump that is delivering approximately 3,000l of water per hour through the trough. Having good water flow is essential so that the eggs are consistently supplied with fresh oxygen. The matala is definitely the best as it also acts as a barrier if any fry do get through so they don't end up in the sump or the water pump. It is also in my opinion much more efficient than the K1, K2 media.
oh yes, water quality at Ph 6.5, i just can't get it to that, i have borehole water that hard water and can only get it to Ph 7.5 - 7.8. any advice ? i already used pool acid, it does go down but next day back to almost ph 8....
Hi Franswa, you can get an automatic doser that is used in hydroponics to add acid in small amounts on a timer. If you get it to 6.5 will be easier to regulate as the ph will not move as much
Thanks for the video, Do you let the spring onions mature in same tray or do you transplant later? And how many spring onion plants do you put per sq mt on average?
Hi there! So you can leave them to mature in the seedling tray however you will need to harvest them before they get too heavy and fall over. Otherwise we transplant them into 75mm net pots about 7 per pot. Our target per square meter is approximately 500 spring onion psqm