Coupled Aquaponics Systems

Abstract

Coupled aquaponics is the archetype form of aquaponics. The technical complexity increases with the scale of production and required water treatment, e.g. filtration, UV light for microbial control, automatic controlled feeding, computerization and biosecurity. Upscaling is realized through multiunit systems that allow staggered fish production, parallel cultivation of different plants and application of several hydroponic subsystems. The main task of coupled aquaponics is the purification of aquaculture process water through integration of plants which add economic benefits when selecting suitable species like herbs, medicinal plants or ornamentals. Thus, coupled aquaponics with closed water recirculation systems has a particular role to fulfil. Under fully closed recirculation of nutrient enriched water, the symbiotic community of fish, plants and bacteria can result in higher yields compared with standalone fish production and/or plant cultivation. Fish and plant choices are highly diverse and only limited by water quality parameters, strongly influenced by fish feed, the plant cultivation area and component ratios that are often not ideal. Carps, tilapia and catfish are most commonly used, though more sensitive fish species and crayfish have been applied. Polyponics and additional fertilizers are methods to improve plant quality in the case of growth deficiencies, boosting plant production and increasing total yield. The main advantages of coupled aquaponics are in the most efficient use of resources such as feed for nutrient input, phosphorous, water and energy as well as in an increase of fish welfare. The multivariate system design approach allows H. W. Palm (*) • U. Knaus (*) • S.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) Cultivation in Decoupled Aquaponics with Three Hydro-Components (Grow Pipes, Raft, Gravel) and African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Production in Northern Germany

“…Aquaponic systems include single-loop or coupled aquaponics [1], two-loop decoupled systems [2,3], and specific multi-loop aquaponics [4]. Each system is suitable for a variety of applications, ranging from domestic fish and plant production, demonstration units, e.g., for aquaponics in schools and research institutions, to commercial aquaponic production [5].…”

South American fish species suitable for aquaponics: a review

“…In coupled systems, the aquaculture, hydroponics and biological filter units are interconnected; therefore, finding a trade-off between the proper water conditions for each subsystem is required (Palm et al 2019). The choice of fish species in coupled aquaponics should depend on the crop grown.…”

Freshwater-adapted sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax feeding frequency impact in a lettuce Lactuca sativa aquaponics system

“…Lettuce is one of the most commonly studied species, mainly because it is a widely consumed vegetable worldwide with low to medium nutritional requirements, a short harvest period and its cultivation is convenient in terms of light and space (Rakocy, Master & Losordo, 2006). Many studies have examined the performance of lettuce in aquaponic systems and furthermore have compared it with hydroponics and complemented aquaponics (Palm et al, 2019). To the best of our knowledge, there are only two published experiments concerning the effect of the fish feeding frequency on lettuce growth (Mohamed Abdelrahman, 2018;Rakocy et al, 1997).…”