Aquaponics: Why we should be putting fish in our farms 

@Chirag Sharma A DIY system can start at around 100 USD (as seen at 9:45), and an industrial system can be cost-competitive because it uses much less fertilizers, pesticides, water and space than conventional farming.

I've heard of it but am unaware of any projects in my surroundings.

@Chirag Sharma It may be seemingly expensive at the outset, but that's only for the set-up. You keep using the same pipes, the same fish, and so on. For my own, we just feed our carp/goldfish vegetable scraps to save on fish food, and if you have tilapia or cichlids they will eat almost anything edible. Also, because it is in a closed environment and with water, you don't have to deal with pests, and actually I like to put a bug light over the fish tank so that some bugs will fall into the water and get eaten by the fish. Much time is saved when harvesting. the vegetables are ready-to-eat! Some aquaponic farms have their customers just enter the warehouse and cut off leaves or take whatever they need. Then all one must do is just replace the empty slot with a new seedling. Because you can control the temperature/light/etc you will always have a reliable harvest not dependent on the weather.

Get rid of this music guys!!

and i forgot the water pump, that you need to double in case of problem !!!!!

What lucky students, I’m sure you’re a phenomenal teacher! Keep it up!

Pls change your dp teacher

Don't they have any negative health effect on us?

@@test-pb3xs no this style is completely organic and healthy

how do u filter all waste from water, i want to try it too

Where r u from?

@@suvinmicheal malaysia

from malaysia also...wish can learn from ur family how to aquaponics

Does it need alot as investment?

@@suvinmicheal not really..i mean we've been doing it since my great grandad's time ..we just upgrade little by little throughout the year.. at the very least its a somewhat modern aquaponics.

How does the cost of your vegetables compare to vegetables bought in shops/markets? Seeing this video is the first time I have heard about aquaponics so I am curious.

@@leventeacs6371 You should probably post as a new reply instead of as a reply to my comment. FWIW though, at least with my system, it is incredibly cheap to run when you look at resource use. My system is mostly recycled materials including the batteries to run my pumps 24/7/365. Between water use, electrical needs, feed input, and supplements it is far more environmentally friendly and allows me to grow year round in a greenhouse.

@@leventeacs6371 I'll share you my experience that I have build up over the past decade with various pumps. Right now I have a 5 square yard system and a lot of plants in my fishpond. My current variable water pump from a brand that is called Aquaforte is pumping all year long at 40 watt, but it is possible to do it even more efficient. These newer type of pumps pump much more efficient compared to the older traditional pumps. When I bought my pump it was new in the market and at that time the seller did not specify which diameter pipe was best for my pump. So a bit later, after I installed my pipes and my pump, I learned that I installed a pipe that is actually a bit to wide in diameter, so therefore I need to run it a bit harder. And therefore the pump is using a bit more energy compared to a proper installed pump with the correct diameter pipe. I could solve the issue by buying a larger pump and run it at a lower flow rate, or by installing a smaller diameter pipe. But for me it is not a real issue so I leave it as it is. I also have to pump the water up a little higher compared to most other systems that I have seen so far because my sump tank is buried in the ground, and also because I use gravity for the rest of the system. That also causes a bit more use of energy. But that enables me to use a single pump for my entire system, and because of that it reduces the risk of catastrophic failures, and it makes the system much less complicated. My grow beds are connected to my fishpond. Because of that I split my water into two different flows. So that also causes a bit more use of energy. To make a long story short, I did not optimize my system for maximal food production and maximal square footage for my grow beds. Instead I created a system to keep my relative small fish pond clear and healthy while growing strawberries and a few other varieties at the same time. And I made it look somewhat pleasing for the eye, so I had to make some compromises. And those compromises reflect in a little more use of energy. But still, 40 Watt is not much compared to a small basket of fresh fruit and all the vegetables from the store, considering what you can harvest with your own dedicated system with such little use of energy. Vegetables and fruit are getting very expensive. And if your system is running very good you can grow eatable fish as well. And fish is even more expensive to buy. So it depends on how large your backyard is, and if you want to make a dedicated aquaponics system for maximal food production, but if you have space enough I roughly estimate that you can build a 20 square yard system, maybe even larger, that runs at half the energy that I am using, while it produces a lot of vegetables and fruit, and eatable fish. If you install the proper pump and pipes. Basically one solar panel and a large car battery would be more then sufficient enough to run the entire system night and day 24/7 even at cloudy days.

Would you like to share a detailed video on your setup for beginners like me? So that we can install an efficient system with experiences you had .thanks

We are happy you liked the approach we showed in our video. Please consider contacting the startups/companies directly to get the information.

Bro your comment just helped to restore my faith into humanity a little

@@unbreakableldorado7723 glad it did

You have obviously never been on a real farm.

@@williambrandondavis6897 um I'm from India. In India, the suicide rate of farmers is the highest in the world. It's one of the biggest political issues in India right now. Most of the people are leaving farming for a better life. Maybe I'm not a farmer but I do know pretty closely what's its like for not so rich farmers to lose their crops by erratic rains which are prevalent in India by the way. But I guess you clearly are not in for it, maybe you're one of those big industrial farmers so that makes sense. But if you're just some other dude on internet who doesn't know anything he's talking about then I would say with pretty please, with sugar on top, eat shit

@@williambrandondavis6897 also, I never said its going to change completely conventional farming,rather my focus was on the diversification and decentralization. A bunch of greedy corporations deciding what's best food for me, nah. Fuck em.

Actual Factual

My aquaponics system is biodiverse, and it has all the components that nature provides. In fact that is the whole idea behind aquaponics. If it weren't a closed loop system it would not even work.

Hello. If they took the plants in that ecosphere, the nutrients in that sphere would reduce over time because they took the plants. The quality and quantity produced over time would reduce. Edit: ohhh... Fish in a tank produce poo. Poo water nurture in some thing. Poo water go to water farm. You just need to feed fish.

@@youngguywastinghislife2084 You forgot an important step in the biological process of the system because you do not understand how it works. But I will give it a shot and try to teach you something about aquaponics. You feed the fish, the fish pee and poo, and after that the ammonia and other chemical components from the fish waste get converted by bacteria into nutrients for the plants. So as long as you keep feeding the fish, there will be a constant stream of nutrients for the bacteria, and they will create a constant stream of nutrients for the plants :-) And so once in a while you need to ad some minerals in order to keep the water hardness and the PH at an optimal level for the bacteria, the fish, and the crops that you want yo grow. Those minerals that I am talking about is not food for the living organisms, but those minerals make it possible for the living organisms to process their food. It is needed to keep their system going. Such an additive can be sea weed extraction, or molasses, or some other natural existing component that does the trick. Fish food can be anything, living insects and larvae, different types of worms, water fleas, or mosquito larvae, or dried food such as dried insects and larvae, or other dry food. And all that food can be grown easily, and locally, and with waste bio mass from the crops, or the water from the system, at high volumes and very low costs, with a constant rate. The reason why an aquaponics system is so effective is not because it is some sort of magic, but because it uses very low energy to grow vegetables and proteins at the same time, at high yields, in a very small space. And it produces almost zero CO2 emissions, and it reduces the need for fresh water by 80%, and it takes away the need for fertilizers and pesticides because both would kill the bacteria and therefore the whole system. And it is very reliable, and the harvest is all year long. And there is no need for weeding, so there is very little time spend on maintaining the system and the crops. And there is virtually no risk for undesired weather influences. Unless there is a tornado or other natural disaster. It is only logical once you understand the biology behind it. Fish use the heat from the water as an energy source to digest their food, that means that they do not have to use the energy from their food source to heat up their body and digestive system, and therefore fish can use all the energy from their food source to grow their body. Fish do also not waste any energy from their food source on staying upright or to stay warm. And the diet from a fish contains much more proteins compared to the diet from a cow or other livestock. And fish do not fart as much as cows or other livestock. And fish do not create any harmful fine dust. It will never fully replace conventional farming because you can't grow certain crops with an aquaponics system. But other crops do extremely well with this system. So there you go, I hope that that you have learned something from it :-)

@@insAneTunA Thanks for the detailed explanation. I was looking at it at a wrong angle. I was looking at it as a closed system. Like a Biosphere. So there is input and output. What you are saying is.. You feed fish. Fish poop. Fish poop good for plant. Fish poop go to water plant. It is low cost, low effort, high efficiency farming strategy. This strat doesn't get plants penalty when it is planted in different season. This farming strategy doesn't affect or fasten the global warming event. Fish is a great animal to rear because of low cost if the water is in optimal condition. It produces fish meat and poop that can be fertilizer. Fish is a versatile low cost high efficiency organism.

Fake Liberal LA.

@@ransom182 he means Louisiana clown.

@@ransom182 dawg ur so stupid lmao he means Louisiana

@@ransom182 lmao

@Akki Kishore compare to what? Alabama? lol

How much would a system like this cost ?

@@tinotendagutsa466 depends on what you need in your situation. There is no size futs all or even most.

Yeah definitely this videos are great

Does not matter. It is 100% paid with German tax money.

@@omeee how do you know that?

@@jeremiahlunario4889 because we pay for it? Every household in Germany has to pay around 20 Euro per month so they can burn money with stuff like this. They get 8 billion Euro tax money plus ads on TV.

Just a small note: tax money is not the same as the broadcasting fee. But in the result you are right, we (DW) are paid by the taxpayers (directly). The other ARD stations are paid via the broadcasting fee.

Building in/above water will increase the cost and time tremendously

Towers in cities would be convenient

Dude. Need nutrient and energy to do this. Also expensive to made. No mention if disaster happens.

I think it wil be effecient if every household have this instead using tower

@@wall57805 "No! You can't power an engine with steam. It's just steam!" "Ha ha! Railroad go wooooo!"

Cool yes. Profitable than existing options? To be seen.

Yes, because the way we’ve been growing food for the last few thousand years hasn’t been at all sustainable.

The CO2 footprint of food transportation only represents 6% of the emissions.. Right now, farming with artificial lights rarely is "better", because the energy production often comes with fossil fuel emissions. It is really interesting because of the low water consumption - I'd be curious to see it happen on greenhouses

@@thedude5001 I think the big thing here is that we would decrease water usage substantially

@@haydenr5128 well it hasn't, we paid for this by being in the era with the fastest desertification rate...

You legitimately cannot do this with every crop. Root veggies don't do well in hydroponics and aquaponics. We need a hybrid style. Hydroponics and aquaponics are very good, but not a solution to all plants we eat.

Take away fast food and solve the majority of our issues.

@@justjess6636 even if you can’t do with all, it would still make a big impact to do it with what you can

@@louishesketh2482 fast food is literally not the problem. It’s our culture. As a person who eats pretty healthy I’d be pissed if we lost fast food

@@phil_matic as a person, try to think of the Billions of people that depend on this industry, and what this earth endures to supply this industry. Some eat this daily... when does it end? Synthetic meat to supply the demand!?!

Glad I saw your comment I missed it the first time.😅 🤣

They’re a company from the Netherlands afterall haha

:-)

They say that in the video…

@Ross- A -Roni Yeah, the fish it magical air food, and just create poo value. Its awesome.

@Ross- A -Roni Bruh this is an alternate route to normal farming, of course they're trying to promote it🤣

@Ross- A -Roni It’s disappointing how these people don’t know much.

@Ross- A -Roni It is not bullshit, I have my system running for years, and I am quite happy with it. But I use gold fish instead of eatable fish. For me it is a hobby.

Start in your kitchen first. I did, and it was awesome.

The whole point of these farms is to save water.

Did you miss the part where it said aquaponics uses 90% *less* water than normal farming?

In certain areas A/C even extract water from the air which makes those systems water plus

Plants need about 17-20 minerals and micronutrients. Does aquaponics provide this? One of the problems with hydroponics is that the plants lack the nutrients and taste bland as well as not being so beneficial.

@@davidjma7226 Short answer is no, the minerals and the taste are not a problem at all. It all depends on your local external factors and the setup. But I have to apply some minerals to my system, because for some minerals, not all, there is no natural supply. Which is true for every fishpond. And I have an outdoor system so the rain and the heavy nitrogen pollution in my country changes the water values, and I have to compensate for that so that the water hardness stays at the correct level. That is to keep the micro organisms happy, and the roots from the plants also need a certain amount of water hardness otherwise they simply stop growing. My flood and drain beds are filled with volcanic rock, so there are many minerals available, just not all. I also added worms to the system. The food from the fish brings minerals to the system. And because I have an outdoor system some minerals are supplied naturally by the birds, but also by thunderstorms, and by the wind, and so on. Also some left over bio mass from leafs and such will remain in the system and it will be converted into plant available nutrients by the micro organisms and worms. When it comes to taste I have no problems at all. The strawberries that I pick from my system taste delicious, and it is not comparable with what you can buy in the store. But that is mainly because they have to pick the strawberries a little too soon otherwise they become too ripe and too weak for transport. I can pick them when they taste at their sweetest, and I do not have to worry about transport. I transport them straight to my belly if the birds do not beat me to it :-) I also have garden crest, and chive, and it all tastes awesome. I do not have much personal experience with other crops because I like to experiment, and in the first years I had to get familiar with the system, and work out the problems and improve things. Like making it winter proof so that things do not get clogged during the winter so that I loose a lot of water, which has happend to me. And more of that sort of stuff. And my personal main goal is not to produce as much food as possible. I created this system to keep my pond clear, and to fulfill my personal curiosity. For me it is a hobby, and everything that I grow is for fun. And a substantial part gets eaten by the birds. Although I am in the middle of creating a cage so that in the future I can keep the birds out so that I can eat my own strawberries :-) The most important factor for every form of food production is the micro organisms. You can put all the nutrients in whatever grow medium you like, but if there are no micro organisms, or not enough with enough diversity, those nutrients will be useless and in many cases even work against a growing plant, and attract pests and diseases. The micro organisms make the nutrients available for the plants. They do all the important work. And when they are happy with the conditions where they live, and when they can do their very important work in the most optimal conditions, your veggies and fruits will taste delicious. So it is very important to know your local conditions and what might cause problems to your system and the micro organisms if you would not address it. But at the same time not all crops are suitable for an aquaponics system. And your local climate is an important factor as well. But the taste is not an issue at all :-)

@@insAneTunA Interesting - thanks for such a comprehensive answer. Sooo true about microbes too. I think there are about 6bn of them in a handful of soil and so many soils are sub par or simply barren without them. I represent a brilliant mineral fertilizer, certified organic with limitless supply. Owned by one commercial farmer, we practice the preachings of Neal Kinsey an eminent soil scientist. Obviously since fert prices 3x'd we have been quite busy. We are just moving into hydro and aquaponics/vertical farming in the Middle East as it can be supplied in aqueous format. It's a very interesting sector and a step away from our traditional broadacre farming base but farming is different in the desert! Congrats on everything you have achieved so far. Good to hear those strawbs are tasting as they should. Cheers.

@@davidjma7226 Well the whole idea behind aquaponics is to eliminate fertilizers all together. Fertilizers are a big no no. The fish in the system provide all the nutrients that are needed. And when it comes to soil based food production I do not recommend people to use fertilizers either. Instead I would recommend them to use the principles from permaculture, and the teachings from Dr. Elaine Ingham about organic farming and soil health. She is a scientist who knows everything about healthy soil. And I also would recommend them to learn from Dr. Johnson and his wife Su who came up with the Johnson and Su bio reactor. And I would also recommend people to watch the channel from Charles Dowding, an expert in organic food production without digging or tilling the soil, and with wood chips to cover the soil and to provide lots of habitat for micro organisms. Fertilizers are bad for plants and the micro organisms, and they attract pests and diseases. I would never ever recommend people to use fertilizers. No matter where they live, and no matter what system they use.

I think you may be using too narrow/limited definition of fertilizer. The waste created by the fish and plants is used as a large part of the fertilizer/nutrients needed. Fertilizer can be/often is from natural sources, and need not be toxic or disruptive.

13 minute video about aquaponics wich does not even explain aquaponics well

What additional inputs are too complicated for you tho? Besides fish spawn, food for the fish, heating/cooling, water oxygenation, (probably) some nutrients, micro-organisms that break down the fish droppings and maybe a ph balance once in a while. Every indoor cannabis grower laughs at you if you find that too complicated!

It's a 13 minute video, what'd you expect?

Chill bro. Relax

I don't have the answers to your questions, but I am glad that you're asking them. We need new technologies to save the planet. But we can't just welcome every new tech as the thing that will save us all. We need to ask the difficult questions to figure out if new technology will actually help us, or do more harm down the line. I think this is promising, but some of the concerns you have are valid, and need to be figured out, before we can implement this on a larger scale.

Fish food is pretty easy to come by if the fish eat only algae and plants (like tilapia). Fish that primarily eat insects, earthworms, or maggots would also be easy to raise since bugs can be reared on refuse plant matter.

Tomatoes are a worldwide stable, andso are cabbages and carrots. It doesn't never have to be salad foods.

I agree. But I've seen proof-of-concept with a lot of different crops - tomatoes, strawberries, eggplants, squash, peppers, etc.

Yup. They absolutely do not want to show it. It's the hidden cost of this busines$. Massive wheat and soy farms needed to feed these fish. You literally get less food in return becuase you're not using the massive wheat and soy farms to feed people. Science law: Trophic levels.

There's ways to supplement the fish food. The weather where I'm at allows for growing duckweed and bsf larvae ( fed using kitchen waste ).

@@edmendez94 There is NO SCIENTIFIC WAY TO IGNORE LAWS OF TROPHIC LEVELS IN ECOSYSTEMS. Inefficient, inefficient, inefficient.

@@ZetaGhozt I'm not sure I follow. Freshwater fishes like tilapia eat plants,larvae and insects in the wild. The only inputs I need are food waste and sunlight.

@@edmendez94 You're not following because you don't know what a trophic level is, and how it applies to feeding humans.

There is no sustainable practice as of now due to the fact that such a small percentage of the population feeds the mass majority. The only sustainable method is more people in farming, and better optimize less than trying to do more.

@@Mooncricketstinks hello Marcus, do you mean better water conservation as a form of optimization? I am just asking your thoughts 🤔

@@Mooncricketstinks If you are looking to increase the number of people dedicated to agriculture, it is because your system is not optimized. Being optimized means doing better with less resources. In addition, the primary sector is very sensitive to price, if we return to a system intensive in human labor, prices increase and your alternative is not economically viable compared to conventional products.

@@dohc1067 better optimization as in not tasking complete food production to so few. 2% of the US population is in agriculture. So take the current population and calculate 2%. They're tasked with not only feeding the remaining 98%, but also doing in a fashion that keeps food cheap, long shelf life, and of good quality. On top of that, agricultural commodities create the most export GDP for US. Europe's population ratio to agriculture is much higher, plus majority of European food consumption comes from importing since its a rich union. In terms of optimization there comes a point where overtaxation to compensate demand creates systems that are wasteful due to the fact time, and resources for being more optimized is not reachable. For example, growing 20,000 acres of potatoes to yield any kind of profitable value requires use of aerial application of fertilizer, pesticide, and irrigation being delivered by gigantic center pivot towers. 20,000 acres isn't big compared to 100,000s of acres in Idaho. The Ogallala aquifer suffered due to 9ver irrigation to create mass scale monocrop farms. Yet at grocery stores Idaho potatoes, like almost all plant foods, are a couple bucks. Trying to manage 100,000s of acres of potatoes with a handful of people requires wasteful practices, since manpower is limited. Americans, like much of the world, hate farming as it is a very difficult job, completely weather dependent l, and doesn't yield $$$ like other careers. Yet everyone needs to each, and buy clothing (granted the textile mills are other countries, but alot of cotton farms in the Bible belt still exist). In China due to such a high percentage of farmers and low fertile land availability, each one grows on 1 hectare. Too little space also creates inefficient practices which is opposite problem. Up until the invention of synthetic fertilizers (urea), other than bad management practices that created the dust bowl, people left farms for urban sprawl to get a better career that yields more money for less work. Yet all still depends on the supermarkets which depends on the farmers. Fortunately, more people like to garden which is a small step in the right direction. But until a sizable percentage actually gets into farming, the 2% will continue to be tasked with producing cheap, long lasting, abundant food.

Traditional farming is NOT in harmony with nature, not even remotely. It is the exact opposite. Traditional farming destroys nature.

@@insAneTunA *integrated* I'm not talking about conventional modern farming.

@@priestesslucy3299 It does mimic nature very close. And it doesn't work if the bacteria are not happy. The main focus from an aquaponics system must be the bacteria. If they do well all the other components do well too.

Deep and important question...

@@VFPn96kQT you are not fish guy, don’t you?

@@hairypancake4425 saltwater fish can be farmed too

@@carriebecker8383 not in this way.

yeah, like a hooker club lol

Solar panels

Doing it outside is practical enough in some places, but not everywhere. If it's run from green energy, the electricity isn't such a problem.

Considering billionaires are buying up farmland.... maybe they can actually do some good, but my hopes are idealistic lolol But for real, they have the money, considering amazon now has stores... I don't doubt they will get into agriculture too

Kimbal Musk

It's said at 5:43

But could you make food from this fish to feed livestock like pigs for an example?

The fish aren't meant for food. Around the 7 min mark they say these carp will be sold to fish collectors.

@@klompb Those arent the only kind of fish you can use to do this. Also integrating this vertically is the future. Plenty of better videos than this out there explaining vertical farming and aquaponics. This video feels like it was made in the 90's so far behind what we have already been doing for 20+ years. Now we just need to do it on a larger scale.

@@soundsofnature7015 "This video feels like it was made in the 90's" There was no red-blue LED lights for growing in 1990s.

@@soundsofnature7015 Idk if vertical is the future. I’m skeptical because the weight of the water, maybe it could vertical underground instead? I’m not sure

I think it's more about reducing the impact agriculture has, not really ending farming as a whole. It wouldn't be possible to get rid of farms without other solutions already in place (like aquaponic/hydroponic/whatever systems) But also, if our demand for food increased, farms as they are now wouldn't be sustainable.... They already aren't (as far as their impact) I live out in the sticks with small time farmers and whatnot.... I get to see happy cows n chickens n whatnot, so I don't hate farming or anything... But I do see the perks in these systems. Especially when used together

@@doodoodoodle It can't fully replace traditional farming because some crops will not grow with an aquaponics system, like for example potatoes.

@@insAneTunA that's why I said it'd be nice to see both systems used

It's a developing technology, it's progress. Be patient. Nobody said "we have all the solutions now, forget about farming"

@@carriebecker8383 I have my own outdoor aquaponics system for around 10 years, there is not much more to develop. Fact of the matter is that certain crops can't be grown with this system due to the nature of the crops and the system. But due to the nature of an aquaponics system we can replace a substantial part of traditional agriculture and mono culture, and it is possible to do it indoors inside a multilevel building, with a much higher efficiency, and with a far smaller footprint, and with far less harmful emissions, and with far less water usage, without destroying nature and without reducing the wild insect, and wild bird, and wild plants population. An aquaponics system also reduces the amount of nitrogen in the air.

We primarily want to present/show the procedure and not the detail work. This is also the reason why we have referred to DYI videos on this topic in our description text.