3.6 RAS and Aquaponics
Aquaponic systems are a branch of recirculating aquaculture technology in which plant crops are included to either diversify the production of a business, to provide extra water filtration capacity, or a combination of the two.
As a branch of RAS, aquaponic systems are bound to the same physical, chemical and biological phenomena that occur in RAS. Therefore, the same fundamentals of water ecology, fluid mechanics, gas transfer, water depuration etc. apply in more or less equal terms to aquaponics with the exception of water quality control, as plants and fish may have specific and different requirements.
The fundamental economic realities of RAS and aquaponics are also related. Both technologies, are capital intensive and highly technical and are affected by economies of scale, appropriate design of the components, reliance on market conditions and the expertise of operators.
3.6.1 Welfare
In aquaponic systems, the uptake of nutrients should be maximized for the healthy production of plant biomass but without neglecting the best welfare conditions for the fish in terms of water quality (Yildiz et al. 2017). Measures to reduce the risks of the introduction or spread of diseases or infection and to increase biosecurity in aquaponics are also important. The possible impacts of allelochemicals, i.e. chemicals released by the plants, should be also taken into account. Moreover, the effect of diet digestibility, faeces particle size and settling ratio on water quality should be carefully considered. There is still a lack of knowledge regarding the relationship between the appropriate levels of minerals needed by plants, and fish metabolism, health and welfare (Yildiz et al. 2017) which requires further research.
3.6.2 Microbial Diversity and Control
As mentioned earlier in the chapter, aquaponics combines a recirculating aquaculture system with a hydroponic unit. One of its most important features is the reliance on bacteria and their metabolic products. Also, Sect. 3.2.6.discussed the importance of microbial communities and its control in RAS. Bacteria serve as the bridge that connects fish excrements, which are high in ammonium concentration, to plant fertilizer, which should be a combination of low ammonium and high nitrate (Somerville et al. 2014). As aquaponic systems can have different subunits, i.e. fish tanks, biofilter, drum filter, settler tanks and hydroponic units, each having different possible designs and different optimal conditions, the microbial communities in these components may differ considerably. This provides an interesting topic of research with the ultimate goal of improving system management processes. Schmautz et al. (2017) attempted to characterize the microbial community in different areas of aquaponic systems. They concluded that fish faeces contained a separate community dominated by bacteria of the genus Cetobacterium, whereas the samples from plant roots, biofilter and periphyton were more similar to each other, with more diverse bacterial communities. The biofilter samples contained large numbers of Nitrospira (3.9% of total community) that were found only in low numbers in the periphyton or the plant roots. On the other hand, only small percentages of Nitrosomonadales (0.64%) and Nitrobacter (0.11%) were found in the same samples. This second group of organisms are commonly tested for their presence in aquaponics systems as they are mainly held responsible for nitrification (Rurangwa and Verdegem 2015; Zou et al. 2016); Nitrospira has only recently been described as a total nitrifier (Daims et al. 2015), being able to directly convert ammonium to nitrate in the system. The dominance of Nitrospira is thus a novelty in such systems and might be correlated with a difference in the basic setup (Graber et al. 2014).
Schmautz et al. (2017) also emphasized that the increased presence of Nitrospira does not necessarily correlate to larger activity of these organisms in the system, as its metabolic activities were not measured. In addition, many species of bacteria and coliforms are inherently present in aquaponic recirculating biofilters carrying out transformations of organic matter and fish waste. This implies the presence of many microorganisms that can be pathogens for plants and fish, as well as for people. For this purpose, some microorganisms have been considered safety indicators for products and water quality in the system (Fox et al. 2012). Some of these safety indicators are Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Much needed research has thus recently been carried out in order to ascertain microbial safety of aquaponic products (Fox et al. 2012; Sirsat and Neal 2013). One future direction for the analysis of microbial activity in aquaponics has been identified by Munguia-Fragozo et al. (2015), who reviewed the Omic technologies for microbial community analysis. They concluded that metagenomics and metatranscriptomics analysis will be crucial in future studies of microbial diversity in aquaponic biosystems.
From a period of technological consolidation to a new era of industrial implementation, RAS technology has considerably developed over the past two decades. The last few years have seen an increase in the number and scale of recirculating aquaculture farms. With the increase in acceptance of the technology, improvements over traditional engineering approaches, innovations and new technical challenges keep emerging.
Aquaponics combines a recirculating aquaculture system with a hydroponic unit. RAS are complex aquatic production systems that involve a range of physical, chemical and biological interactions.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) is generally the most important water quality parameter in intensive aquatic systems. However, addition of sufficient oxygen to the rearing water can be achieved relatively simply and thus, the control of other water parameters become more challenging.
High dissolved carbon dioxide (COsub2/sub) concentrations have a negative effect in fish growth. The removal of COsub2/sub from water to concentrations below 15 mg/L is challenging due to its high solubility and the limited efficiency of degassing equipment.
Ammonia has been traditionally treated in recirculation systems with nitrifying biofilters. Some emerging technologies are being explored as alternatives to ammonia removal.
Biosolids in RAS originate from fish feed, faeces and biofilms and are one of the most critical and difficult water quality parameters to control. A multi-step treatment system where solids of different sizes and removed via different mechanisms, is the most common approach.
Ozone, as a powerful oxidizer, can be used in RAS to eliminate microorganisms, nitrite and humic substances. Ozonation improves microscreen filter performance and minimizes the accumulation of dissolved matter affecting the water colour.
Denitrification reactors are biological reactors which are typically operated under anaerobic conditions and generally dosed with some type of carbon source such as ethanol, methanol, glucose and molasses. One of the most notable applications of denitrification systems in aquaculture is the ‘zero exchange’ RAS.
In aquaculture production systems microbial communities play significant roles in nutrient recycling, degradation of organic matter and treatment and control of disease. The role of water disinfection in RAS is being challenged by the idea of using microbially mature water to control opportunistic pathogens.
In intensive RAS, animal welfare is tightly connected to the performance of the systems. The main goal of animal welfare research in RAS has been to build and operate systems that maximize productivity and minimize stress and mortalities.