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