Water, Plants and Fish? : February 2014

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How to Build Your Own Strawberry Towers

Uploaded on Jan 2, 2011

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This is an instructional video on how to build your own growing tower for use in aquaponic or hydroponic systems.

Details about Expanded Shale growing media can be found at http://www.ExpandedShale.com . For more info, see my blog at http://web4deb.blogspot.com or http://www.BigelowBrook.com Also "like" us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/BigelowBrook

The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry /ˈstrɔːb(ə)ri/; Fragaria × ananassa) is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria (collectively known as the strawberries).

It is cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The fruit (which is not a botanical berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit) is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness.

It is consumed in large quantities, either fresh or in such prepared foods as preserves, fruit juice, pies, ice creams, milkshakes, and chocolates. Artificial strawberry aroma is also widely used in many industrial food products.

The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America and Fragaria chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714.^[1]

Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in commercial production, the woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century.^[2]

Technically, the strawberry is an aggregate accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the receptacle that holds the ovaries.^[3]

Each apparent "seed" (achene) on the outside of the fruit is actually one of the ovaries of the flower, with a seed inside it.^[3]

Garden strawberry Fragaria × ananassa

Garden strawberries, grown in California
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Subfamily:	Rosoideae
Genus:	Fragaria
Species:	F. × ananassa
Binomial name
**Fragaria × ananassa** Duchesne

History

The first garden strawberry was grown in France during the late 18th century.^[2]

Prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit.

The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use.

The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 1300s. Charles V, France's king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden.

In the early 1400s western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, German art, and English miniatures.^{[citation needed]} The entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses.

By the 1500s references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common.

People began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species.

In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-1500s.

Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578.

By the end of the 1500s three European species had been cited; F. vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis. The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and then the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners.

Two subspecies of F. vesca were identified; F. sylvestris alba and F. sylvestris semperflorens. The introduction of F. virginiana from Eastern North America to Europe in the 1600s is an important part of history because this species gave rise to the modern strawberry.

The new species gradually spread through the continent and did not become completely appreciated until the end of the 18th century.

Fragaria × ananassa 'Gariguette,' a cultivar grown in southern France

When a French excursion journeyed to Chile in 1712, it introduced the strawberry plant with female flowers that resulted in the common strawberry that we have today.

The Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of Chile cultivated the female strawberry species until 1551 when the Spanish came to conquer the land.

In 1765, a European explorer recorded the cultivation of F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry.

At first introduction to Europe, the plants grew vigorously but produced no fruit.

It was discovered in 1766 that the female plants could only be pollinated by plants that produced large fruit; F. moschata, F. virginiana, and F. ananassa.

This is when the Europeans became aware that plants had the ability to produce male-only or female-only flowers.

As more large-fruit producing plants were cultivated the Chilean strawberry slowly decreased in population in Europe, except for around Brest where the Chilean strawberry thrived.

The decline of the Chilean strawberry was caused by F. ananassa.^[4]

Strawberries on display at Chelsea Flower Show, 2009

Cultivation

Strawberry cultivars vary widely in size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, season of ripening, liability to disease and constitution of plant.^[5]

Some vary in foliage, and some vary materially in the relative development of their sexual organs.

In most cases, the flowers appear hermaphroditic in structure, but function as either male or female.^[6]

For purposes of commercial production, plants are propagated from runners and, in general, distributed as either bare root plants or plugs.

Cultivation follows one of two general models—annual plasticulture,^[7] or a perennial system of matted rows or mounds.^[8]
A small amount of strawberries are produced in greenhouses during the off season.^[9]

A large strawberry field with plastic covering the earth around the strawberry plants.

A field using the plasticulture method

The bulk of modern commercial production uses the plasticulture system.

In this method, raised beds are formed each year, fumigated, and covered with plastic to prevent weed growth and erosion.

Plants, usually obtained from northern nurseries, are planted through holes punched in this covering, and irrigation tubing is run underneath. Runners are removed from the plants as they appear, in order to encourage the plants to put most of their energy into fruit development.

At the end of the harvest season, the plastic is removed and the plants are plowed into the ground.^[7]^[10]

Because strawberry plants more than a year or two old begin to decline in productivity and fruit quality, this system of replacing the plants each year allows for improved yields and denser plantings.^[7]^[10]

However, because it requires a longer growing season to allow for establishment of the plants each year, and because of the increased costs in terms of forming and covering the mounds and purchasing plants each year, it is not always practical in all areas.^[10]

The other major method, which uses the same plants from year to year growing in rows or on mounds, is most common in colder climates.^[7]^[8]

It has lower investment costs, and lower overall maintenance requirements.^[8] Yields are typically lower than in plasticulture.^[8]

A third method uses a compost sock. Plants grown in compost socks have been shown to produce significantly higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), flavonoids, anthocyanins, fructose, glucose, sucrose, malic acid, and citric acid than fruit produced in the black plastic mulch or matted row systems.^[11]

Similar results in an earlier 2003 study conducted by the US Dept of Agriculture, at the Agricultural Research Service, in Beltsville Maryland, confirms how compost plays a role in the bioactive qualities of two strawberry cultivars.^[12]

Strawberries are often grouped according to their flowering habit.^[5]^[13]

Traditionally, this has consisted of a division between "June-bearing" strawberries, which bear their fruit in the early summer and "ever-bearing" strawberries, which often bear several crops of fruit throughout the season.^[13]

Research published in 2001 showed that strawberries actually occur in three basic flowering habits: short-day, long-day, and day-neutral. These refer to the day-length sensitivity of the plant and the type of photoperiod that induces flower formation. Day-neutral cultivars produce flowers regardless of the photoperiod.^[14]

Strawberries may also be propagated by seed, though this is primarily a hobby activity, and is not widely practiced commercially.

A few seed-propagated cultivars have been developed for home use, and research into growing from seed commercially is ongoing.^[15]

Seeds (achenes) are acquired either via commercial seed suppliers, or by collecting and saving them from the fruit.

Strawberries can also be grown indoors in strawberry pots.

Pests

Around 200 species of pests are known to attack strawberries both directly and indirectly.^[22] These pests include slugs, moths, fruit flies, chafers, strawberry root weevils, strawberry thrips, strawberry sap beetles, strawberry crown moth, mites, aphids, and others.^[22]^[23]

The caterpillars of a number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants.

Diseases

Domestic cultivation

Garden strawberry flower

Picking home-grown garden strawberries

Moreover, protection must be provided against slugs and snails which attack the ripe fruit. The fruit matures in midsummer and should be picked when fully ripe — that is, the fruit is a uniform bright red colour. The selection of different varietes can extend the season in both directions.^[28] Numerous cultivars have been selected for consumption and for exhibition purposes. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

'Cambridge Favourite'^[29]
'Hapil'^[30]

'Honeoye'^[31]
'Pegasus'^[32]

'Rhapsody'^[33]
'Symphony'^[34]

Propagation is by runners, which can be pegged down to encourage them to take root,^[35] or cut off and placed in a new location. Established plants should be replaced every three years, or sooner if there are signs of disease.
When propagating strawberries, one should avoid using the same soil or containers that were previously used for strawberry cultivation. After cultivating strawberries, rotating to another culture is advisable, because diseases that attack one species might not attack another.^[36]

Source: Wikipedia.org

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P.S. Have you been looking for a guide to strawberries? Well Here it is. To check it out. Click Here!*

Automated Bell Siphon~ "For Flood and Drain Grow Beds"

Published on Dec 25, 2012

Website: http://www.facebook.com/OSPESustainab...
Global site: http://www.facebook.com/OpenSourcePro...

This is Sustainable Food's method for building an aquaponics Automated Bell Siphon and describes what it is, how it works, and how to build one,

Please Like & Share the website and global collaborative site, and hopefully more people will join so we can all work together to make the best system for food abundance as possible!

This is a fully open-source project, so I advocate anyone and everyone taking these designs for personal use, sharing with other people, and, even help to improve the system so we're all always using the most up-to-date, efficient, and optimal design for growing any size Sustainable Food aquaponics system.

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DIY Venturi~ " A Few Easy Builds for Aquaponics, Aquaculture, or Hydroponics"

Published on Nov 1, 2013

I really like the idea of aerating the fish tank by venturi to save some coin & help make the system quieter.. A mate shared an idea with me for a unit he had been working on & was happy with...

I decided to have a crack at his idea along with a few others to see which I thought would work the best for our set up...

I was most pleased with the results & ended up going with the "Bear Unit".. I have had one in the aquaponic fish tank for over 2 weeks now with no issues & have plans to add another to a moving bed bio filter that will be added to the system soon...

Was also very pleased with the off the shelf unit purchased from Earthan group.. That one will be going into the moving bed bio filter in the recirculating aquaculture system..

Below are a couple of pages I found helpful when looking into venturis,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wokswr...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_...
http://leisure.prior-it.co.uk/venturi...

Below is an explanation of "Fine bubble aeration" along with some useful links/references,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_ae...

Hope this is of help to some out there...
For more regular updates from the chooks, worms, aquaponic & wicking gardens come visit us at http://www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback

Have a great one all...

The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746–1822), an Italian physicist.

The pressure in the first measuring tube (1) is higher than at the second (2), and the fluid speed at "1" is lower than at "2", because the cross-sectional area at "1" is greater than at "2".

Background

The Venturi effect is a jet effect; as with a funnel the velocity of the fluid increases as the cross sectional area decreases, with the static pressure correspondingly decreasing.

According to the laws governing fluid dynamics, a fluid's velocity must increase as it passes through a constriction to satisfy the principle of continuity, while its pressure must decrease to satisfy the principle of conservation of mechanical energy.

Thus any gain in kinetic energy a fluid may accrue due to its increased velocity through a constriction is negated by a drop in pressure.

When a fluid such as water flows through a tube that narrows to a smaller diameter, the partial restriction causes a higher pressure at the inlet than that at the narrow end.

This pressure difference causes the fluid to accelerate toward the low pressure narrow section, in which it thus maintains a higher speed.

The Venturi meter uses the direct relationship between pressure difference and fluid speeds to determine the volumetric flow rate.

A flow of air through a venturi meter, showing the columns connected in a U-shape (a manometer) and partially filled with water. The meter is "read" as a differential pressure head in cm or inches of water.

Relationship between pressure and flow speed

An equation for the drop in pressure due to the Venturi effect may be derived from a combination of Bernoulli's principle and the continuity equation.

Referring to the diagram to the right, using Bernoulli's equation in the special case of incompressible flows (such as the flow of water or other liquid, or low speed flow of gas), the theoretical pressure drop at the constriction is given by:

$p_1 - p_2 = \frac{\rho}{2}\left(v_2^2 - v_1^2\right)$

where $\scriptstyle \rho\,$ is the density of the fluid, $\scriptstyle v_1$ is the (slower) fluid velocity where the pipe is wider, $\scriptstyle v_2$ is the (faster) fluid velocity where the pipe is narrower (as seen in the figure). This assumes the flowing fluid (or other substance) is not significantly compressible - even though pressure varies, the density is assumed to remain approximately constant.

Choked flow

The limiting case of the Venturi effect is when a fluid reaches the state of choked flow, where the fluid velocity approaches the local speed of sound.

In choked flow the mass flow rate will not increase with a further decrease in the downstream pressure environment.

However, mass flow rate for a compressible fluid can increase with increased upstream pressure, which will increase the density of the fluid through the constriction (though the velocity will remain constant).

This is the principle of operation of a de Laval nozzle. Increasing source temperature will also increase the local sonic velocity, thus allowing for increased mass flow rate.

Flow in a Venturi tube

Source: Wikipedia.org

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Mikes Aquaponics - Introduction to Aquaponics and Mikes First System - P...

Published on Sept 5, 2012

Join Mike to view his first aquaponics system.

Follow Mike as he grows with his system and learns the ups and downs of aquaponics.

Mike will be providing regular updates so you can see how his system is doing in the heat of sunny Florida.

Aquaponics /ˈækwəˈpɒnɨks/, is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture, (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment.

In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity.

In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients.

The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis for all aquaponics systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an aquaponics system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline.^[1]

History

Aquaponics has ancient roots, although there is some debate on its first occurrence:

Aztec cultivated agricultural islands known as chinampas in a system considered by some to be the first form of aquaponics for agricultural use^[2]^[3] where plants were raised on stationary (and sometime movable) islands in lake shallows and waste materials dredged from the Chinampa canals and surrounding cities were used to manually irrigate the plants.^[2]^[4]
South China, Thailand, and Indonesia who cultivated and farmed rice in paddy fields in combination with fish are cited as examples of early aquaponics systems.^[5] These polycultural farming systems existed in many Far Eastern countries and raised fish such as the oriental loach (泥鳅, ドジョウ),^[6] swamp eel (黄鳝, 田鰻), Common (鯉魚, コイ) and crucian carp (鯽魚) ^[7] as well as pond snails (田螺) in the paddies.^[8]^[9]

Floating aquaponics systems on polycultural fish ponds were installed in China in more recent years on a large scale growing rice, wheat and canna lily and other crops,^[10] with some installations exceeding 2.5 acres (10,000 m²).^[11]

The development of modern aquaponics is often attributed to the various works of the New Alchemy Institute and the works of Dr. Mark McMurtry et al. at the North Carolina State University.^[13]

Inspired by the successes of the New Alchemy Institute, and the reciprocating aquaponics techniques developed by Dr. Mark McMurtry et al., other institutes soon followed suit.

Starting in 1997, Dr. James Rakocy and his colleagues at the University of the Virgin Islands researched and developed the use of deep water culture hydroponic grow beds in a large-scale aquaponics system.^[12]

The first aquaponics research in Canada was a small system added onto existing aquaculture research at a research station in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Canada saw a rise in aquaponics setups throughout the ’90s, predominantly as commercial installations raising high-value crops such as trout and lettuce.

A setup based on the deep water system developed at the University of Virgin Islands was built in a greenhouse at Brooks, Alberta where Dr. Nick Savidov and colleagues researched aquaponics from a background of plant science.

Diagram of the University of the Virgin Islands commercial aquaponics system designed to yield 5 metric tons of Tilapia per year.^[12]

The team made findings on rapid root growth in aquaponics systems and on closing the solid-waste loop, and found that owing to certain advantages in the system over traditional aquaculture, the system can run well at a low pH level, which is favoured by plants but not fish.

The Caribbean island of Barbados created an initiative to start aquaponics systems at home, with revenue generated by selling produce to tourists in an effort to reduce growing dependence on imported food.

In Bangladesh, the world's most densely populated country, most farmers use agrochemicals to enhance food production and storage life, though the country lacks oversight on safe levels of chemicals in foods for human consumption.^[14]

Vegetable production part of the low-cost Backyard Aquaponics System developed at Bangladesh Agricultural University

To combat this issue a team led by Professor Dr. M.A. Salam at the Department of Aquaculture of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh has created plans for a low-cost aquaponics system to provide chemical-free produce and fish for people living in adverse climatic conditions such as the salinity-prone southern area and the flood-prone haor area in the eastern region.^[15]^[16]

Dr. Salam's work innovates a form of subsistence farming for micro-production goals at the community and personal levels whereas design work by Chowdhury and Graff was aimed exclusively at the commercial level, the latter of the two approaches take advantage of economies of scale.

There has been a shift towards community integration of aquaponics, such as the nonprofit foundation Growing Power that offers Milwaukee youth job opportunities and training while growing food for their community.

The model has spawned several satellite projects in other cities, such as New Orleans where the Vietnamese fisherman community has suffered from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and in the South Bronx in New York City.^[17]

Whispering Roots is a non-profit organization in Omaha, Nebraska that provides fresh, locally grown, healthy food for socially and economically disadvantaged communities by using aquaponics, hydroponics and urban farming.^[18]

In addition, aquaponic gardeners from all around the world have gathered in online community sites and forums to share their experiences and promote the development of this form of gardening^[19] as well as creating extensive resources on how to build home systems.

Recently, aquaponics has been moving towards indoor production systems. In cities like Chicago, entrepreneurs are utilizing vertical designs to grow food year round.^[20]

Components

Aquaponics consists of two main parts, with the aquaculture part for raising aquatic animals and the hydroponics part for growing plants.^[21]^[22]

Aquatic effluents, resulting from uneaten feed or raising animals like fish, accumulate in water due to the closed-system re-circulation of most aquaculture systems.

The effluent-rich water becomes toxic to the aquatic animal in high concentrations but these effluents are nutrients essential for plant growth.^[21]

Although consisting primarily of these two parts, aquaponics systems are usually grouped into several components or subsystems responsible for the effective removal of solid wastes, for adding bases to neutralize acids, or for maintaining water oxygenation.^[21]

Typical components include:

Rearing tank: the tanks for raising and feeding the fish;
Settling basin: a unit for catching uneaten food and detached biofilms, and for settling out fine particulates;
Biofilter: a place where the nitrification bacteria can grow and convert ammonia into nitrates, which are usable by the plants;^[21]
Hydroponics subsystem: the portion of the system where plants are grown by absorbing excess nutrients from the water;
Sump: the lowest point in the system where the water flows to and from which it is pumped back to the rearing tanks.

Depending on the sophistication and cost of the aquaponics system, the units for solids removal, biofiltration, and/or the hydroponics subsystem may be combined into one unit or subsystem,^[21] which prevents the water from flowing directly from the aquaculture part of the system to the hydroponics part.

A commercial aquaponics system. An electric pump moves effluent rich water from the fish tank through a solids filter to remove particles the plants above cannot absorb. The water then provides nutrients for the plants and is cleansed before returning to the fish tank below where the process repeats.

Plants: hydroponics

Main article: Hydroponics

Further information:

Rhizofiltration

Plants are grown as in hydroponics systems, with their roots immersed in the nutrient-rich effluent water.

This enables them to filter out the ammonia that is toxic to the aquatic animals, or its metabolites.

After the water has passed through the hydroponic subsystem, it is cleaned and oxygenated, and can return to the aquaculture vessels.

This cycle is continuous. Common aquaponic applications of hydroponic systems include:

Deep-water raft aquaponics: styrofoam rafts floating in a relatively deep aquaculture basin in troughs.
Recirculating aquaponics: solid media such as gravel or clay beads, held in a container that is flooded with water from the aquaculture. This type of aquaponics is also known as closed-loop aquaponics.
Reciprocating aquaponics: solid media in a container that is alternately flooded and drained utilizing different types of siphon drains. This type of aquaponics is also known as flood-and-drain aquaponics or ebb-and-flow aquaponics.
Other systems use towers that are trickle-fed from the top, nutrient film technique channels, horizontal PVC pipes with holes for the pots, plastic barrels cut in half with gravel or rafts in them. Each approach has its own benefits.^[23]

Most green leaf vegetables grow well in the hydroponic subsystem, although most profitable are varieties of chinese cabbage, lettuce, basil, roses, tomatoes, okra, cantaloupe and bell peppers.^[22]

Other species of vegetables that grow well in an aquaponic system include beans, peas, kohlrabi, watercress, taro, radishes, strawberries, melons, onions, turnips, parsnips, sweet potato and herbs.^{[citation needed]}

Since plants at different growth stages require different amounts of minerals and nutrients, plant harvesting is staggered with seedings growing at the same time as mature plants. This ensures stable nutrient content in the water because of continuous symbiotic cleansing of toxins from the water.^[24]

A Deep Water Culture hydroponics system where plant grow directly into the effluent rich water without a soil medium. Plants can be spaced closer together because the roots do not need to expand outwards to support the weight of the plant.

Plant placed into a nutrient rich water channel in a Nutrient film technique (NFT) system.

Animals: aquaculture

Filtered water from the hydroponics system drains into a catfish tank for re-circulation.

Main article: Aquaculture

Freshwater fish are the most common aquatic animal raised using aquaponics, although freshwater crayfish and prawns are also sometimes used.^[25]

In practice, tilapia are the most popular fish for home and commercial projects that are intended to raise edible fish, although barramundi, Silver Perch, Eel-tailed catfish or tandanus catfish, Jade perch and Murray cod are also used.^[22]

For temperate climates when there isn't ability or desire to maintain water temperature, bluegill and catfish are suitable fish species for home systems. Koi and goldfish may also be used, if the fish in the system need not be edible.

Bacteria

Further information: Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrification, the aerobic conversion of ammonia into nitrates, is one of the most important functions in an aquaponics system as it reduces the toxicity of the water for fish, and allows the resulting nitrate compounds to be removed by the plants for nourishment.^[21]

Ammonia is steadily released into the water through the excreta and gills of fish as a product of their metabolism, but must be filtered out of the water since higher concentrations of ammonia (commonly between 0.5 and 1 ppm)^{[citation needed]} can kill fish.

Although plants can absorb ammonia from the water to some degree, nitrates are assimilated more easily,^[22] thereby efficiently reducing the toxicity of the water for fish.^[21]

Ammonia can be converted into other nitrogenous compounds through healthy populations of:

Nitrosomonas: bacteria that convert ammonia into nitrites, and
Nitrobacter: bacteria that convert nitrites into nitrates.

In an aquaponics system, the bacteria responsible for this process form a bio-film on all solid surfaces throughout the system that are in constant contact with the water.

The submerged roots of the vegetables combined have a large surface area, so that many bacteria can accumulate there.

Together with the concentrations of ammonia and nitrites in the water, the surface area determines the speed with which nitrification takes place.

Care for these bacterial colonies is important as to regulate the full assimilation of ammonia and nitrite. This is why most aquaponics systems include a bio-filtering unit, which helps facilitate growth of these microorganisms.

Typically, after a system has stabilized ammonia levels range from 0.25 to 2.0 ppm; nitrite levels range from 0.25 to 1 ppm, and nitrate levels range from 2 to 150 ppm.^{[citation needed]}

During system start-up, spikes may occur in the levels of ammonia (up to 6.0 ppm) and nitrite (up to 15 ppm), with nitrate levels peaking later in the start-up phase.^{[citation needed]}

Since the nitrification process acidifies the water, non-sodium bases such as potassium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide can be added for neutralizing the water's pH^[21] if insufficient quantities are naturally present in the water to provide a buffer against acidification.

In addition, selected minerals or nutrients such as iron can be added in addition to the fish waste that serves as the main source of nutrients to plants.^[21]

A good way to deal with solids buildup in aquaponics is the use of worms, which liquefy the solid organic matter so that it can be utilized by the plants and/or animals.

Source: Wikipedia.org

Somebody Come and Play Today! Earn as You Learn, Grow as You Go!

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