A variety of plants grown in Tilapia effluent (University of Arizona)
An A frame system of lettuce grown with fish effluent. (U of A)
nitrogen available as a waste in aquaculture systems but don't need
phosphorus (which is not present in aquaculture systems) as many fruiting
plants do. The pictures below link to several places where people
are using aquaponics, either in research, or as a source of food and/or
income.
Dr. James Rakocy at the University of the Virgin
Islands developed an aquaponic system that relies on rain water catchment,
rotating mechanical biofilters, and floating polystyrene panels that hold
the tomatoes and leafy vegetables.
This aquaponic system is one of the many worthwhile
projects being developed at The Cabbage Hill Farm (found in their aquaponics
section on the home page). You can see the fish tanks on the left,
which feed the lettuce in the grow trays on the right. Their web
page provides some good background material, while they also provide technical
assistance for schools who wish to use aquaponics in the classroom.
Carol Webb's class at the Mineral County Vocational Technical Center in West Virginia has received many grants for establishing a hands-on classroom where students are in charge of all aspects of an aquaponics system, from starting plant seedlings to fish production. Here you can see lettuce growing in gravel beds which have fish effluent flowing through them.
The Appropriate
Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) found in Fayetteville,
AR, has developed an aquaponics page which contains all of these
links and many more interesting and informative sites.