Aquaponics

ARC Farms design for a true aquaponics system is very in depth and relies on multiple stages. Water from the pond is treated through the nitrogen cycle and the used as fertilizer for the iGrow units. All living matter from these plants & the farm that is not consumed by humans and eligible as animal food, will be converted into food pellets with the ARC Waste2Food conversion unit.

The Aquaponic Farm cycle:

1. Aquatic creatures eat and product waste.
2. Waste is separated and treated to convert Ammonia into Nitrates.
3. Plants absorb nitrates and grow
4. Plant waste, plus other farm "waste", converted into food for Aquatics

This is what Nature does day in day out and every second of the day. What is really interesting is the word "WASTE". In nature, there is no waste. Instead waste is something you don't need. There always seems to be something that does need or utilize what you consider waste.

OK, so we all know that perpetual motion isn't feasible in reality. And while some may confuse the above paragraph, let me take this time to say, we are not talking about closed perpetual motion system. In reality this is an ARC Farm project so whenever there is rain or we water from our well, water is being added to the system. Fish feed pellets that we make are augmented with powdered fish scale, bones & fresh water crustacean shells, milk, goat & chicken meat and fat, and grains. However, most if not all of the food will be harvested from the farm.

And finally there is the most important ingredient, SUNLIGHT.  Sunlight is pure energy and plants convert sunlight to starches which are then converted into fats and proteins.  This sunlight also powers the air and water pumps that are used by the ponds, the planters, the bio converters, and the brains of the system sensing and controlling this bioshpere.

So as you see, this is far from a closed perpetual system.  This is a more cost effective and biofriendly system as compared to mass farming.

So lets first start with fish waste and the nitrogen cycle that converts the ammonia in fish waste into plant fertilizer.

In your living pond, the fish and other live creatures are going to be eating and producing waste. In this fish waste is ammonia (NH3). Nitrosomanas bacteria in the water will convert some of the ammonia into nitrites(NO3-). Both ammonia and nitrites are very toxic to fish. Even levels that do not kill, weaken the fish's natural immune system and make the fish more susceptible to parasites.

Another type of bacteria known as Nictrobactor converts the nitrites into nitrates(NO2-). Nitrates are good for the aquaponic system and the plants. The majority of the fertilizer you purchase for your plants as chemicals based on nitrates. 

The section below goes into detail about nitrites and nitrates in context of molecular chemistry . It is interesting to some, but not required.