Aquaculture Environment Interactions
AEI is a gold Open Access journal and a multidisciplinary forum for primary research studies on the environmental sustainability of aquaculture.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/aei00146
copiedA new concept for aquaponic systems to improve sustainability, increase productivity, and reduce environmental impacts
- Werner Kloas
- Roman Groß
- Daniela Baganz
- Johannes Graupner
- Henrik Monsees
- Uwe Schmidt
- Georg Staaks
- Johanna Suhl
- Martin Tschirner
- Bernd Wittstock
- Sven Wuertz
- Andrea Zikova
- Bernhard Rennert
ABSTRACT: Aquaculture is globally the fastest growing sector of agriculture that needs to be sustainable and must also meet bioeconomic demands. In principle, aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture and horticulture within a single recirculating aquaponic system (SRAPS), provides a sustainable approach; however, it has lower productivity of both fish and plants in comparison to separate recirculating systems. The aim of our new concept for aquaponics is to improve sustainability and productivity concomitant with lowering environmental emissions. The aquaponic system for (nearly) emission free tomato and fish production in greenhouses (ASTAF-PRO) is a new combination of systemic parts, consisting of 2 independent recirculating units: an aquaculture system (RAS) for fish and a hydroponic unit for plants. Both systems are connected by a 1-way valve to deliver fish water containing nutrients into the hydroponic reservoir, where the fish water can be optimized as fertilizer in order to meet specific demands of the plant species. Thus, our double recirculation aquaponic system (DRAPS) can provide optimum conditions for both parts to increase productivity and to prevent any adverse interactions between plant and fish units. Water use is minimized by condensing the plant evapo-transpired water via air conditioning and returning it into the RAS. Testing of the ASTAF-PRO prototype successfully demonstrated the principle using a combination of tilapia and tomato production. Tilapia productivity was similar to single RAS, while tomato production at least indicated the potential for similar efficiency to conventional hydroponics. Thus, ASTAF-PRO improves sustainability and productivity while lowering environmental emissions, and might promote future application of aquaponics for food security.
KEYWORDS
Werner Kloas (Corresponding Author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Roman Groß (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Daniela Baganz (Co-author)
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Johannes Graupner (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Henrik Monsees (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Uwe Schmidt (Co-author)
Georg Staaks (Co-author)
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Johanna Suhl (Co-author)
- Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Martin Tschirner (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Bernd Wittstock (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Sven Wuertz (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Andrea Zikova (Co-author)
- Department of Ecophysiology and Aquaculture, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin, Germany
Bernhard Rennert (Co-author)