A1 Journal article (refereed)
Is Aquaponics Beneficial in Terms of Fish and Plant Growth and Water Quality in Comparison to Separate Recirculating Aquaculture and Hydroponic Systems? (2022)

Atique, F., Lindholm-Lehto, P., & Pirhonen, J. (2022). Is Aquaponics Beneficial in Terms of Fish and Plant Growth and Water Quality in Comparison to Separate Recirculating Aquaculture and Hydroponic Systems?. Water, 14(9), Article 1447. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091447

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Atique, Faiqa; Lindholm-Lehto, Petra; Pirhonen, Juhani

Journal or series: Water

eISSN: 2073-4441

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 30/04/2022

Volume: 14

Issue number: 9

Article number: 1447

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091447

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/80997

Abstract

Aquaponics is a technique where a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) and hydroponics are integrated to grow plants and fish in a closed system. We investigated if the growth of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and baby spinach (Spinacia oleracea) would be affected in a coupled aquaponic system compared to the growth of the fish in RAS or plants in a hydroponic system, all systems as three replicates. We also investigated the possible effects of plants on the onset of nitrification in biofilters and on the concentration of off-flavor-causing agents geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) in rainbow trout flesh and spinach. For the fish grown in aquaponics, the weight gain and specific growth rates were higher, and the feed conversion ratio was lower than those grown in RAS. In spinach, there were no significant differences in growth between aquaponic and hydroponic treatments. The concentration of GSM was significantly higher in the roots and MIB in the shoots of spinach grown in aquaponics than in hydroponics. In fish, the concentrations of MIB did not differ, but the concentrations of GSM were lower in aquaponics than in RAS. The onset of nitrification was faster in the aquaponic system than in RAS. In conclusion, spinach grew equally well in aquaponics and hydroponic systems. However, the aquaponic system was better than RAS in terms of onset of nitrification, fish growth, and lower concentrations of GSM in fish flesh.

Keywords: aquaculture; hydroponics; water quality; filtration; lipids; rainbow trout; spinach

Free keywords: biological filtration; integrated aquaculture; muscle lipids; off-flavors; salmonids; soilless culture

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2022

JUFO rating: 1