T. Elvis, V.B. Mulye, B.R. Chavan, A.S. Mohite, V.V. Vishwasrao, R.K. Sadawarte, M.T. Sharangadhar, T.G. Kazi, R.R. Jadhav, T.A. Pagar and S.A. Rawool
Abstract
The present research was conducted to design and fabricate a working horizontal aquaponics system for a housing complex. The materials used for the actualization of the design was after careful price durability analysis of the existing materials easily available in the market. The system consists of a 1mÃ1m frame made from galvanized steel square tubes, PVC half round pipe of 1 m for grow beds supported by L shaped hooks on the frame and water circulation line made of flexible PVC. Three grow beds were placed on a single frame and the frame was erected on its four supports made of same material. The fish were kept in an aquarium tank of 20 L water holding capacity. 18-Watt submersible pump was used to maintain a water flow rate of 1.45±0.02 L min-1. The plant and fish grown in the system showed 100% survivability during the culture period of 56 days. The initial average weight of the fishes was 1.44±0.32 g while final was 2.54±0.22 which showed a 76.38% weight gain. The mint plants had an initial length of 9.43±0.25 cm and final length of 35.94±7.7 cm and the final biomass was 93.32 g recorded.