Visit - Establish a Sustainable Ecological City

Avata Aquaponics Experimental Farm

Date of visit: 2017.09.27
Visit Location: New Taipei City, Xindian District Chukeng Village Avata Aquaponics Experimental Farm
Tour staff: Wang Xincheng

On this day, we took two cars, walked along the rugged mountain road and reached an hour-long drive to the Arata fish and vegetable symbiotic farm in New Taipei City, which was in the mountains. Then the farm arranged a tour guide and accepted our visit. Let us know more Aquaponics information.

【Aquaponics Principle】

" Aquaponics " combines the advantages of two systems, namely " aquaculture " and " hydroponics." It replaces nutrient-rich nutrient solutions with nutrient-rich fish waste to supply the plant's growth. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrifying bacteria initially into nitrites and subsequently into nitrates, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients, and the water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

【Aquaponics System Mode】

In general, we have three models here for Aquaponics:

Media planting:

The Media Bed is the smallest fish and vegetable symbiosis system in the world. The guide said: "At that time, Teacher Li Jiaxuan learned Aquaponics in Hawaii. When she returned to Taiwan and wanted to promote her, she found that not everyone in her family had enough space She can make Aquaponics system, so she invented the medium-bed type Aquaponics system. " Media bed-style Aquaponics system is divided into two small parts, the upper is a planting bed for vegetables, which put a brown gravel, the bottom is the aquaculture tank. When water is pumped from the tank to the top of the plant bed, there are two different ways for the water to flow through the plant bed: continuous flow or tide. Another benefit of using media is that earthworms can be added to plant beds to help break solidified sediments.

Floating Raft:

Floating raft is planting plants in the floating water foam or styrofoam, so that plant roots suspended in the water to absorb nutrients. A more common practice is to use a rectangular tank to place the raft. The pump pulls the water out of the tank to the filter, filters it, and then back to the tank. In the middle of the breeding tank and styrofoam, there is a small grid that is used to breed earthworms. Mr. Wang said: "Earthworms need food, so we give earthworms to eat fish manure, but we do not have to go fishing in the breeding trough, and we can just connect a pipeline. When the earthworms are full, they can help soil . " This system can only plant short-term crops.

Living Room Planting:

The living room system is mostly aquaculture fish. The system of plant tanks is not large, so you can put the plant tank above the home aquarium. Lay a middle of the iron frame, you can fish and vegetables. However, LED lights are also needed at home. Let the LED, like the sun, has change of light.

【Reflection】

Farm environment is beautiful, surrounded by mountains like an eco-park, we feel very relaxed. The farm was founded in 2012 and although it was established shortly after, the farm already has a considerable size to become a Aquaponics demonstration farm. After continuous testing, farms have successfully planted a variety of vegetables and fruits, such as: onion, sweet potato leaves, lettuce, basil, lemongrass, tomato, okra, basil, cucumber, papaya, passion fruit and so on. Because the Aquaponics system has just started in Taiwan, the current farm aims at promotion. Courses in the farm are guided, beginner and DIY. More and more people are now interested in the fish-vegetable symbiosis system. Thousands of people have participated in guided tours and become seed teachers. We hope to have bases of Aquaponics throughout Taiwan. At the same time, we hope that friends who come to visit will be closer to nature and can learn the Aquaponics.

Reference:
Interview by the research team

Images from:
Research Team Production

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