Matt and Shannida Herbert, directors of Aquaponics Pty Ltd, live and run their business in Mudgee, NSW on a property with limited water resources, and an average annual rainfall of 640mm. Both have extensive knowledge of horticulture, with organic vegetable growing being a passion of theirs for many years. They came across Aquaponics while looking into low water use growing systems, and as the property is run on solar power with no mains power, the growing system had to also be a low power consumer.

Aquaponics is a combination of Aquaculture & Hydroponics. This means that fish and plants are grown in an integrated system, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two.

Aquaponics uses the water from the fish tank to circulate through a grow bed where the plants are grown. Nitrifying bacteria convert fish wastes into plant-available nutrients. The plants use these nutrients as their main nutrient supply. The fish benefit from this process also, as the water is filtered by the plants, giving the fish clean water to live in.

This integrated system of Aquaponics has benefits not achievable when Aquaculture and Hydroponics are done separately. Aquaculture has the problem of buildup of wastes in the water, requiring filtering systems to clean the water as well as periodic releasing of waste water into the environment. Hydroponics uses chemical nutrients that eventually build up in the water and create toxic water. This water can no longer be used in the irrigation of the plants and is disposed of into the environment.

Aquaponics takes both of these problems and turns them into solutions, as the waste in the water is used to feed the plants, therefore not requiring any chemical nutrients to be added to the system, and can have no pollution of the environment by either fish wastes or chemical pollutants.

There is currently a great deal of interest in Australia about sustainable farming practices including water use, and the degradation of our soils and waterways. Aquaponics uses less water to produce the same amount of food as conventional agriculture, organic agriculture and hydroponics.

As access to water is a critical factor for farming in any country, the use of Aquaponics with its low water requirement means that food can be produced in places that it would not normally be grown. Fish from the Aquaculture component of the Aquaponic system can be also harvested, providing fish in areas that do not have natural access to fish in their waterways.

Aquaponics combined with a climate-controlled environment such as a greenhouse, can produce food year round. Another limiting factor for farmers worldwide is access to fertile soils capable of producing quality food.

Aquaponics does not need any soils, therefore being able to be utilised almost anywhere in the world.