Aquaponics

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional AquaCulture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in water tanks), with HydroPonics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In this system, water animals give what plants need and plants give what animals need.

Early in 2010 Murray began to tinker with tote tanks. Also known as IBC’s, these tanks are commonly available around the world to move a variety of commercial liquids. Murray has implemented his CHOP2 design with these tanks to enable it to be built over a weekend by the home handyman. In fact every tool used is discussed on the DVD. The advantages of CHOP2 are obvious and Murray felt that a CHOP2 system would also help eliminate problems for beginners if their tanks were not perfectly level..

What makes it more intriguing is that it’s about our system at Ecofilms. When it was installed over a year ago, we decided to film its construction from start to finish and document its good and bad points over the course of 6 Months – the critical period for Aquaponics systems as they mature. That period stretched out over Summer, Autumn and Winter and we decided to wait and follow its journey over the entire 12 Month period and have Murray Hallam inspect the system every month or so and comment on how it was developing.