Low saline aquaponics system with Silver Pompano as a candidate species

Abstract

Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that integrates hydroponics and aquaculture practices in order to attain optimum utilization of nutrients by re-cycling. Aquaponics facilitates the symbiotic production of vegetables and fishes with minimum inputs, organic farming like management and higher control on production. Aquaponics system is extremely water efficient, does not require soil and does not use fertilizers or chemical pesticides. Silver pompano Trachinotus blochii is a preferred candidate species for mariculture due to the availability of hatchery produced seed, adaptability to commercial pellet feeds, good market demand and excellent meat quality. The species has proven good for farming in both marine as well as low saline water bodies. Adopting the principles of nutrient utilization in aquaponics and the ability of silver pompano to grow in low saline conditions, a prototype of a low saline aquaponics system integrating one month reared fingerlings of silver pompano T. blochii, with a common, leafy vegetable Amaranthus by employing a 0.25 hp submersible pump for recirculation was developed.