copyright 2008, Nelson and Pade, Inc.

, all rights reserved

Issue # 48

Aquaponics Journal www.aquaponicsjournal.com

1st Quarter, 2008

Aquaponic Equipment
The Bio Filter
By Rebecca L. Nelson

22

Therearethreecropsinanaquaponicsystem,the
fish,theplantsandtheinvisiblebutcrucialbenefi
cialbacteria.Itisthebacteriathatconvertthetoxic
componentsofthefishwasteintoaformofnutri
entsusablebytheplants.Withoutthebeneficial
bacteria,anaquaponicsystemwillfail.Thereare
severaltypesofbacteriainaquaponics,andeach
performsaveryspecificfunction(thesewillbeex
plainedlaterinthisarticle).Fortunately,giventhe
rightenvironmentalconditions,thebacteriawill
thriveinanaquaponicsystem.

Thereisnothingmagical,artificialorunhealthy
aboutthebacteria.Tothecontrary,theyarecom
pletelynatural,existinallbodiesofwateronearth
andtheyarerequiredtosustainlifeonourplanet.
Infact,therearemanybeneficialbacteriathatwe
cantlifewithout,notjustthosethatliveinanaq
uaponicsystem.

Fishexcreteammoniathroughtheirurineand,toa
lesserdegree,throughtheirgills.Ammoniaalso
comesfromthesolidfishwasteasitbreaksdown.
Ammonia,evenatlowlevels,istoxictomostfish
andaquaticorganisms.Inafishtank,thefishare
stockeddenselyresultinginhigherammonialevels
thaninalakeorpond.

Thenitrificationprocessisthatinwhichautotrophic
bacteriauseoxygeninatwostepprocesstofirst
convertthetoxicammonia(NH3orNH4+)tonitrite
(NO2)andthenthenitrite(NO2)isconvertedto
nitrate(NO3).Specifically,thebacterianitrosomo
nasspconvertsammoniatonitriteandthebacte
ria,nitrobactersp,convertsnitritetonitrate.

Boththeammoniaandnitritearetoxictofishat
fairlylowlevels.TheNitrateismuchlesstoxicand
typicallytoleratedbymostculturedspeciesuntilit
reachesveryhighlevels.Controllingnitrateinaq
uaponicsisaccomplishedbytheplants.

Inanothernaturalbiologicalprocess,heterotrophic
bacteriaconvertsolidfishwastetoammoniaand
otherelements.Thesenaturalprocessesareaper
fectexampleofearthsrecycling.Thisisoneofthe
manyreasonsaquaponicshasbecomesuchanim
portantandeffectivetoolinteachingscienceand
agricultureinschoolsaroundtheworld.

So,whatisabioFilter?
Abiofilterissimplyaplaceforthebacteriatocolo
nize.Itprovideslargesurfaceareas,propertem
perature,pHanddissolvedoxygenlevels.Inraft
andmediafilledbedaquaponicsystems,aseparate
biofilterisnotusuallyusedbecausetherafts,me
dia,tankwallsandallothersurfacesinthesystem
providesufficientareaforthebacteria.InanNFT
(NutrientFilmTechnique)system,aseparatebio
filterisrequiredbecausetheNFTchannelsdonot
provideadequatesurfacearea.

Anotherreasonsomegrowerswilladdaseparate
biofiltertoanaquaponicsystemissothat,iffor
somereasontheyarenotusingtheplantgrowbed
butarestillrunningthefishtanks,therewontbea
lackofbiofiltration.

Inarecirculatingaquaculturesystem(RAS),thebio
filterisacriticalpieceofequipmentbecausethe
fishfarmerdoesnothavethebenefitofthelarge

Issue # 48

Aquaponics Journal www.aquaponicsjournal.com

surfaceareaofgrowbedstoprovidethehabitatfor
thebacteria.

Abiofilterisusuallyacanister,tankorbarrelof
somesortthatholdsaporousmediathatisheavily
aerated.Thewaterfromthefishtankrunsthrough
thisbiofilterwheretheammoniawillbeefficiently
convertedtonitriteandthentonitrate.

HowisNitrificationRelatedtopH?
Inaquaponicsthereisabitofacompromisebe
tweentheneedsofthefishandtheneedsofthe
plantswhenitcomestotemperatureandpH.Itis
theenvironmentalneedsofthebacteriathata
growershouldtrytoaccommodatetokeeptheir
systemhealthy.Nitrificationisatitspeakwhenthe
pHisat7.0oralittleabove.Coincidentally,thisis
thecompromisepointbetweentheneedsofthe
fishandtheneedsoftheplant.

WhenthepHdropsbelow7.0,nitrificationslows
downandatapHlessthan6.0,nitrificationnearly
stops.Thenitrificationprocessgeneratesnitric
acid,whichwilllowerthepHofthewater.Thisis
thereasonthatmostaquaponicgrowersneedto
raisetheirpHtomaintainneutral.Thisisntthe
casewithallaquaponicsystems,though,because
thevarianceofpHisdependantonotherfactorsas
well,suchasthealkalinityandbufferingcapacityof
yourwater,thechemistryofyourwaterandthe
temperature.

TheresearchscientistsattheUniversityoftheVir
ginIslands,aswellasmanygrowerswhohavestud
iedUVIstechniques,usecalciumhydroxidealter
nativelywithpotassiumhydroxidetoraisethepH.
Thebenefitsofdoingsoaretwofold.Oneisthat
thepHisraisedtomaintainneutraland,two,isthe
resultingsupplementationofcalciumandpotas
sium,whicharesometimesatdeficientlevelsfor
plantgrowth.

Wheredothebacteriacomefrom?
Thebacteriawehavediscussedarenaturallyoccur
ringandwillultimatelycolonizethemediainthe
biofilteraswellasthetanksandpipewalls.The
speedofthisprocessisdependentontemperature,
pH,salinity,surfaceareaandflowrate.

1st Quarter, 2008

Somegrowerswilljumpstartasysteminoneof
twoways:1.Priortoaddingthefish,theywill
addammoniatothewaterinthefishtank.This
willencouragethegrowthofthebacteriacolony
andwillbeginthenitrificationprocess.2.They
willpurchaseabacteriamixfromanaquaculture
oraquariumsupplierandaddittothewateronce
thefishhavebeenintroduced.

Idontreallyseethenecessityofeitherofthese
methods.Thefirstcancauseasetbackiftoo
muchammoniaisaddedandthesecondcanbe
costlywithnoguaranteeofhealthybacteria.As
mentioned,thebacteriawillnaturallycolonize
thesystemoncefishand,asaresult,ammonia
arepresent.

Howdoyouknowifyourbacteriaareworking?
Sinceyoucantseethebacteria,youcantmeas
urethemorcountthem,ormonitortheirhealth.
Thewaythatyouknowyourbacteriaand,ulti
mately,youraquaponicsystem,ishealthyisto
testthelevelsofammonia,nitriteandnitrate.
Whenyouintroducefishintoabodyofwater,
youwillseeariseinammoniaforaboutthefirst
10days.Then,youwillnoticethenitritelevelris
ingandtheammonialevelsstartingthefallasthe
nitrosomonasdotheirconversion.Afteranother
10daysorso,youwillseethenitratelevelrising
andthenitritelevelfallingasthenitrobacterget
towork.Afterthefirst2030days,yoursystem
willstabilizeandthenitrificationcyclewillnatu
rallycontinue.

Doyouneedabiofilter?
Essentially,yourwholeaquaponicsystemisabio
filterand,unlessyouareusingNFTtogrowyour
plants,youwillnotneedaseparatebiofilter.Itis
important,though,tounderstandtheroleofthe
biofilterandthebacteriasoyoubetterunder
standwhatishappeninginaquaponicsandcan
bettertroubleshootproblemswithwaterquality
andfishandplanthealth.

AbouttheAuthor:RebeccaL.NelsonistheEditor
andcopublisheroftheAquaponicsJournal.
Shecanbereachedbyemailat
nelson@aquaponcis.com

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