Farm in the Box is a combined fish tank/planter box. Waste from the fish circulates into the planter box via a pump to provide fertilizer for the plants as well as removing nitrogen and ammonia from the water. From the Earth Solutions website:
"By integrating fish with vegetables, naturally balanced aquatic ecosystems are established making it unnecessary to add fertilizer, chemicals or remove nitrogen rich water.Having never tried aquaculture I can't say if Farm in a Box is a good idea or not, but it sure is interesting to see an advanced permacultural concept ending up in the isles of a big box store. If Home Depot wants to distribute a product like this or Nike wants to use fixed gear bike "culture" to sell shoes, I'm all for it. Let's get the ideas out there. It's up to us to take the next step and actually eat the fish.
As in nature, plants, fish and oxygen loving bacteria create a symbiotic relationship; Fish waste is converted by bacteria to a plant loving nutrient which helps maintain safe levels of ammonia without discarding waste and water.
Aqupaonics is an efficient, intensive gardening method with average of 3-6 fold greater yield per square foot. And even though water is everywhere in an aquaponic system, there is as much as 90% less water used than in-ground methods. Other advantages to aquaponics, is that it is fun, easy, most can be done anywhere, by anyone who shares a passion for locally grown food and herbs, without the challenges of in ground farming. Experiment with growing aquaponically raised fish and vegetables in your house on the patio in a greenhouse or community garden, and enjoy!"
9 comments:
This is a very interesting idea. But what happens when the sunlight hits the aquarium part of the set-up? Won't the fish get way too hot?
I never had anything that fancy, but back when I had fish, in the interest of water conservation, when I had to clean their tank, I scooped the water out of the aquarium and poured it onto my plants. They all seemed to thrive. I also dumped the carbon from the spent filters into the garden beds. Everyone was happy :).
Aquaponics has a strong on-line community. Most of us make our own systems, but it'll be great to have such a high-profile seller.
Farm Fountain is a better version of this
http://www.farmfountain.com/
i just checked out www.earthsolutions.com website. they're really advancing an interesting concept. has anyone checked this out on snopes?
Those looks real nice, but they're expensive. If anyone has any information about making one of these rather than purchasing, please share.
I'd be interested in knowing if this thing will survice a winter in the north east. I don't want to see dead fish when the temps drop below 20F. I know gold fish are cold water fish but that generally fish don't do well in small bodies of water.
Khürt--this would definitely have to go inside during a north east winter.
One guy from California, is doing this on a large scale, in greenhouses. He uses a heater to keep the temps where they need to be in winter time.
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