The Review of Existing and In-Progress Technologies of the Different Subsystems Required for the Structural and Functional Elements of the Model of Multi-Purpose Aquaponic Production Sy

摘要

The integrated intensive rearing of fish with the hydroponic growing of plants, also known as aquaponics, has received a significant amount of attention from the scientific community, with an increasing number of studies offering new and sustainable ways to produce food. By integrating an aquaponic system within a RAS (recirculating aquaculture system), fish farms that practice an intensive aquaculture technology can increase their feasibility by supplementing their income with revenue from a secondary product — plants that are grown with nutrients resulted from the metabolic waste of the reared fish. The purpose of this review is to present a comprehensive research on the design and the technologies used in an aquaponic production system. It has been observed that for leafy greens vegetables a higher productivity was recorded in the case of the media grow bed hydroponic system (media grow beds > deep water culture >nutrient film technique). The economic advantage of this type of hydroponic module is an increased productivity of the vegetal biomass, from a quantitative aspect, although the actual economic value of the obtained plants can be lower, since the investment costs of the media grow beds aquaponic technique is higher than those of deep water culture (deep water culture < media grow beds