Nutrient Dynamics of Different Plants in an Aquaponics Aquaculture System

DOI: 10.26650/ASE201813 This study evaluates the performance of plants grown at different times in the aquaponics system-a modern and sustainable production method—on water quality. In the established aquaponics system, this study monitored the growth performance of koi fish, Cyprinus carpio var. koi, and different plants (lettuce, Lactuca sativa, var. Crispa as a leafy plant and strawberry, Fragaria sp. as a fruit plant), pertaining to macro nutrient cycling and effects of plants on water quality parameters. Experiments in an aquaponics system comprising a biological filter and plant unit found that the removal rates of macro nutrients from the system were as follows: 1) 4295% for phosphate and 55.45% for nitrate in lettuce and 2) 35.49% for phosphate and 46.36% for nitrate in strawberries. It was observed that, in general, the rate of removing macro nutrients was higher in the lettuce experiment than in the strawberries one. The elimination rates of macro nutrients in this study show that increasing dissolved nutrients in an aquarium is effectively reduced, which confirms that this production system is an environmentally-friendly and sustainable method