title: The use of vertical constructed wetland and ultrasound in aquaponic systems.
abstract: Treatment performance, fish production, crop plant biomass production, water consumption, and water use efficiency of a pilot aquaponic system for small-scale land-based cyprinid fish farms were evaluated. The system consisted of a 36 m(3) Pond A with an initial carp load of 0.6 kg/m(3); of a treatment chain with a lamellar settler, a roughing filter, a vertical constructed wetland filled with expanded clay and planted with tomatoes; and of a low power ultrasound unit installed in the corner of the pond. The average circulation of the water in the system was 1.2 times per day. Pond A was compared with Pond B of the same dimensions and fish load but with no treatment chain or ultrasound. The treatment chain was efficient in mass removal of total suspended solids , biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, NH4-N, total nitrogen, and total phosphorous (57, 49, 35, 42, 31, and 25 %, respectively). Negative removal of NO3-N, NO2-N, and PO4-P indicated the need for the introduction of additional hydroponic beds in the system. Pond A had markedly lower nutrient concentrations compared with Pond B. Fish body weight increase and specific growth rate in Pond A were higher than in Pond B (102.6 %, 72.1 %; 0.19 %/day, 0.14 %/day, respectively) indicating better rearing conditions in Pond A. Tomato biomass production was high. Water use efficiency was higher in Pond A compared with Pond B (0.31 kg of produced fish/m(3) inflow water and 0.22 kg of produced fish/m(3) inflow water, respectively). The presented aquaponic system could be useful for semi-natural fish farming with fish loads up to 2 kg/m(3).
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Zdravstvena pot 5, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia, aleksandra.krivograd@zf.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krivograd Klemenčič
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Griessler Bulc
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D002347:Carps / Q000254:growth & development; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods; D005398:Fisheries / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D018527:Hydroponics / Q000379:methods*; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000254:growth & development; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis; D061005:Ponds; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000379:methods; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus; D009584:Nitrogen