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The use of vertical constructed wetland and ultrasound in aquaponic systems

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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 m3 Pond A with an initial carp load of 0.6 kg/m3; 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/m3 inflow water and 0.22 kg of produced fish/m3 inflow water, respectively). The presented aquaponic system could be useful for semi-natural fish farming with fish loads up to 2 kg/m3.

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Acknowledgments

The research was performed within E!5007 FISH-CWUS project. The authors are grateful for all the support.

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Correspondence to A. Krivograd Klemenčič.

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Krivograd Klemenčič, A., Griessler Bulc, T. The use of vertical constructed wetland and ultrasound in aquaponic systems. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 1420–1430 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3463-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3463-x

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