Aquaponics

Commercial Aquaponics at Green Acre Organics

Aquaponics is a highly productive method of growing  food. Your aquaponic system will allow you to grow all kinds of vegetables at greater densities and at a much faster rate than can be grown using other intensive soil growing methods. Aquaponic systems are ecosystemic by their nature in that these systems are the result of the symbiotic interaction between fish, plants and bacteria. Further ecological complexity can be built into these systems, which may add to stabilty and productivity of the systems.

In a nutshell, the fish in an aquaponic system excrete ammonia which is converted into nitrtites by nitrosomonas bacteria, which in turn is converted to Nitrates by  nitrobacter bacteria which feed the plants. Simpler: The plants filter the water for the fish and the fish feed the the plants.

Vegetables grown in these systems show greater vigour and are nutrient rich. Should you wish to sell your produce an added benefit is that your vegetables will look uniform in shape and color. Many aquaponics experts claim that produce grown in this manner tend to have a prolonged shelf life. As your system matures  you will be able to grow up to 8-10 times the amount of vegetables within a given space over time.

It may intially seem counter intuitive that aquaponics systems only use 2 – 5% of the amount of water compared to traditional growing systems. The reason for this is that the water is contantly cycling through the system and is not lost to soil drainage or excessive evaporation. The vast majority of water spent by these systems is through plant transpiration, therefore every drop of water lost is vegetable growth gained.

One might assume that this kind of system requires a vast amount of inputs in the way of energy, but the truth is contrary. Aquaponics can be highly energy efficient and only requires minimal electricity usage. Should you wish it, we can easily be adapt to your system to work on alternative energy. The low amount of wattage required to operate even large commercial aquaponics operations lends itself nicely to solar, wind and biogas electricity. DC or AC pumps can be installed depending on your specific needs.

Although Aquaponics is fundamentally an Organic method of growing food, it does not mean that the food you will grow is certified organic. Should you choose to attain a organic certification we would gladly assist you in making sure that all materials used to build and run your operation meet the standards required of organic certification bodies.

We will gladly assist you whether you require a small home scale system or a large commercial system.

Aquaponics System Design and Consultation

We will work with you to design a system based upon your needs and your local conditions. Our objective is to design systems that maximise efficiency and minimize your installation and system costs over time..  No job is to big or small.

Aquaponics System Installation

While aquaponics is a simple and easy to maintain system for growing food, it still helps to build it right. After having many years restoring wrecked mega yachts we are up to the task of building just about anything. We can take the headache out of putting your system together by yourself, thereby saving you time and money.

Strategies for Successful Farming

Our services do not stop at the design of your system. We can help you develop realistic projections and budgets for your aquaponics farm, develop customized operations manuals and help you develop a successful marketing strategy for selling your produce.