Cultivation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss W.) in the aquaponic recirculation system

Abstract

Aquaponics is combined growing fish and plants in a recalculating system. Therefore, it is very important to achieve optimal conditions for their cultivation. The purpose of this study was to trace the influence of the water used by the cultivated fish on the biomass of the lettuce in the aquaponic system. In this connection, two types of hydroponic sections were built and integrated into an existing recirculation aquaculture system. The hydrochemical parameters were measured during the trial. The duration of experiment was 60 days. Forty specimens from the fish species rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with an average weight of 13.4 g in good health condition were growing of the each of tanks of the aquaponic system. Sixteen lettuce seedlings were planted on the hydroponic section filled with light weight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) and the other sixteen plants were planted on the floating raft hydroponic section. At the end of the trial the fresh weight of the lettuce plants was measured. The productivity of lettuce plants is highly dependent on the type of plant growing medium and the fish biomass. A better removal capacity in ammonium, nitrate and ortho-phosphate were observed in the LECA section compared with the cleaning capacity in the raft section as a part of experimental aquaponics system.

Effect of Different Inorganic Substrates on Growth Performance of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell 1822) and Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

“…Mineral wool and vermiculite were better substrates than perlite, coconut fiber, hydroleca, sphagnum moss, algae, and charcoal substrates in terms of spinach, chicory and basil production in aquaponic over the summer and autumn sessions (Khandaker and Kotzen, 2018;Nuwansi et al, 2016). A recent experiment found that lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) as substrate yielded a higher lettuce product than the floating raft although the latter showed longer plant root (Velichkova et al, 2019).…”

Aquaponics as a Promising Strategy to Mitigate Impacts of Climate Change on Rainbow Trout Culture

“…Aquaponics can be integrated into raceway rainbow trout cultivation systems, enabling additional revenues (growing vegetables, insects) as well as improvements in wastewater quality [ 220 ]. The integration of the two aquaculture systems makes them largely non-consumer and non-polluting users of the water resources [ 221 ]. According to already performed experiments, rainbow trout in aquaponics is bred in round plastic or stainless-steel tanks [ 36 ].…”

“…At the same time, revenues from the greenhouse also helped to compensate for the operating losses of the first year of the fish system. The economics of the fish system can be improved by increasing the scale of production [ 221 ] and by using fish species with great commercial value and high market prices, e.g., O. mykiss . However, the added technical complexity, marketing work, production and market risks, fish and plant diseases, mechanical failures, regulatory changes, and market fluctuations can significantly reduce projected returns [ 221 ].…”

“…To sum up, the treatment of fishing wastewater with the parallel use of plant hydroponics represents a potentially profitable additional business for fish farmers [ 221 ]. Aquaponics is becoming a cost-effective and environmentally friendly system that will encourage classical aquaculture facilities to adapt to the environmental management of their wastewater [ 231 , 232 ].…”

Comprehensive Review of Aquaponic, Hydroponic, and Recirculating Aquaculture Systems

“…Lettuce (L. sativa L.) along with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss w.) crops were grown within a recirculating aquaponic method. According to the study, the lightweight expanded clay aggregate section of a new aquaponics system removed more ammonium, nitrate, and orthophosphate than the raft portion of the plan (Velichkova et al 2019). Based on the study, the combination of water spinach plants with koi fish formed the maximum yield and determined the maximum complete development of fish and a survival rate of hundred percent (Andriani et al 2019).…”