Comparing Bioponics to Aquaponics and Hydroponics. What's so good about it?

Bioponica is a developer of systems and processes for improving sustainable farming. www.Bioponica.org
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There we're building a Boxcar Farm (goo.gl/mWM375) with 4 shipping containers, for living quarters, produce retails and an NPK Brewery. This project will include 1500 SF of soilless growing in greenhouse plus an NPK Brewery producing organic liquid fertilizer for local farmers and growers.

[@nereidapr1]

Those tomatoes are amazing. I took my basil into my raised bed. I have 3 kind of basil. Your basil looks great.

[@mday1416]

Okay, I have to look into what you are doing. This much growth means you are doing something right! 10 thumbs up!

[@mef1975]

I think he's basically using compost teas of some sort, or wads of rolled up decomposing plant matter, as if a compost is part of the system (i've heard of ancient Chinese aquaponic farmers using all sorts of weird mixtures to increase nutrients in the system), so as to not really depend on fish (although there are some). Processed fish feces is actually not the ideal plant food, so if you are using fish in your system, a compost tea that focuses on things like potassium, calcium, iron, ect (not nitrate) would be best. I recently learned of the Rakocy feeding method, in which more food than the fish need is allowed to decompose in the system to give the plants the minimum requirements of nutrients lacking in the processed fish feces, but the method leaves one with an excess of nitrates, thus requiring the use of a denitrification system (if you search youtube for "Denitrification Discussion Freshwater Aquarium", you can learn more about that. One problem with including anaerobic bacteria in your system is that it makes truly figuring the total nitrates virtually impossible (there would be many different types of nitrates to test for), but heck, it works, right? His doing so well could also just simply be the sign of a mature system.

[@spencer5553]

I noticed your tanks are the black pipes. How did you plug the ends to hold the water? Great video. I learned a lot.

[@PM-jp8yz]

Am I correct in stating that nothing prevents anyone with knowledge of aquaponics and regular gardening from doing this. chris freeman developed this at A&M here in Texas so the technology is freely available for implementation. converting an existing aquaponics systems is EXTREMELY easy...

[@AviatorDave]

Dave, the questions that I had asked was answered in your earlier videos. Excellence work and thanks again.

[@camphorror5395]

Some of this is a bit over our heads but man it is interesting. Very cool stuff!

[@HeirloomReviews]

im slowly moving in this direction once i relocate im probably going to be doing some of this nice channel thumbs up an subbed

[@tribalwind]

I'm confused. the system includes fish , that inherently makes it Aquaponic does it not... regarding the plants in mesh bags, how can a small bit of biomass decomposing be enough to adequately feed many more plants, seems the fish manure is compensating for this. Regarding what you call a "nutricycler", is that simply your proprietary term for what's commonly known as an Anaerobic Biodigester? I've only known the term BioPonics to refer to using Bioslurry effluent from a biodigester to replace fish and chemical nutrient solutions for hydroponic systems.

[@KritiPPatel]

need more data on bioponics, like which biomass to add for different types plants

[@philipryan476]

I think you need a little calcium on the tomatoes to fix up the end rot. try crushing up calcium vitamins and ad them to the feed water I have put dried milk powder in the garden to fix this problem on occasion

[@bioponics]

Milk powder will do the job but it's probably expensive. Try a bit of bone meal, extract of green biomass or wood ash.

[@carolinacollector3513]

how do you plug the ends of the pipe

[@GlobalTubeTruth2]

Do you have a video that shows how you construct the system?? I'm curious how you cap the ends of the large black tubes you use.

[@leslieleonpacher1767]

yes, please, would also like to hear how those tubes are capped.

[@thlynnnydb3279]

ok so now that I have a better idea what you're doing here I want to ask you to try applying your nutrient solution to a Kratki no pump system to see if it will work without any circulation of the fluids. we have many kratki set ups that are nothing more than a 55 gallon barrel split top to bottom leaving the bottom in tact and heated to fold it out clam shell style. the halves are wrapped in black heavyweight trash liners to form double layered tanks that with the black plastic trays forms a light tight system. in the trays we have up to 20. 1" round holes with a 1"x 1"x 1" soft foam cube that holds our seeds at first and then our plants as they mature, no transplanting. this reduces number of seedlings lost to handling. we load nutriants into the tanks add nutriant to top of each seed pod to start the out then wait. ounce we have plants up and growing, we check liquid levels ounce a weak through out growing cycle. If liquids are to low we add as needed. so we want to know if your solutions are strong enough to carry a crop in this set up. If so sign me up. as we are looking for a alternative to commercial nutrient solution. would like to use oir fish emultion and or green compost tea.

[@bioponics]

I can't quite visualize your system.

[@blanchpaulin8678]

Please excuse my hearing deficit, but I am not sure what you are feeding the fish other than the nutrient water?? Do you put duckweed into their tank and or other stuff?

[@bioponics]

They're consuming suspended organics floating in the water. Derived from decomposed biomass we used to feed the plants.

[@thedepthsofjoy]

How often do you add the nutrients/bio teas? Wouldn't the duckweed and plants combined suck up all of it in a matter of a week?

[@bioponics]

Depends on the size of the system and volume of water/grow bed ratio and stage of plant growth. I add a gallon to 100 gallons of water every 2-3 days. This is made of a mix containing 1lb/3 gallons of Green Up Biomass - Primordial Soup Dry Mix.

[@fishlaw1]

Great informative video, thanks for sharing ! ! !

[@OmarTheAtheistAziz]

do you know any plants that live off of nutrients in the water, vs plants that live off of nutrients in the substrate?

[@Paulzy3]

Why the vortex, what is the purpose?

[@thlynnnydb3279]

we have taught of adding small fish directly into our tanks but not sure how this might work. would it be to hot with them directly in the system would the nitrites turn into nitrates without any medium for it to break down and trasform in?

[@bioponics]

if it's aerated enough and there's enough surface area forming bacterial biofilm to decompose ammonia, sure. heat is another question. how hot is your water?

[@robbie46]

David, Thanks for the video. Are you using pvc culverts as your beds?

[@bioponics]

Good question. No, they're HDPE, food grade, carbon black.

[@LazarKosticdonickoce]

Thanks for the Video! Apologies for chiming in, I am interested in your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Patlarny Gardening Expert Principle (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now)? It is a great exclusive guide for learning how to expand your produce with the clever art of aquaponics without the headache. Ive heard some super things about it and my buddy got amazing results with it.

[@juliana.rilveria5518]

How does Bioponics work step by step process... system flow?

[@RS-vv3vb]

You say that your nutrients are organic but creating fertilizer with grass clippings that was treated with chemicals while it was growing or any dead plants that were also treated with chemicals such as leaves would make the fertilizer inorganic right?

[@davidfoley6402]

Mr. Acid, my parents never fertilized our lawn, but we always had grass to mow.

[@bioponics]

At some point there will be a net removal of nutrients from soils that are harvested for the biomass to use as fertilizer. But there's plenty more biomass going to waste than there is soil deprived of chemicals.

[@roberttomsiii3728]

The title claims you're making a comparison. The introduction claims you're just doing a vlog update. I did not notice anywhere in the video where you made a one-to-one comparison, or anything remotely like that. Is this video mistitled? It seems like the title should be something closer to ( tomato and system quality and operation update aquaponic / bioponic )

[@bioponics]

Here's the comparison. All plants grow at the same rate in water, when optimized. As do plants in soil. Optimization comes from nutrients, aeration, water quality, sunlight. Test plant leaf for sugar content if you want additional comparisons. Goal is ease of use, sustainability, organic. You can see from these videos we've achieved that.

[@roberttomsiii3728]

Your after video comparison from the comments is to state Liebig's law of the minimum? If you make a title and then do not address the title or thumbnail at the most minimally tangentially, Then you have created clickbait. Could also be framed as bait and switch. I hope this helps you to better convey the context of the content you are trying to promote by advertising better towards the audience who want it. As opposed to, Acquiring clicks that are not in the least interested in the content you have provided.

[@louis-philippehuot4109]

I like your system. You should find a way to put calcium in it cause your tomato are rotting from the apex "pourriture apicale" in french.

[@AviatorDave]

Hello David, Thanks for the video and insight that you provide to the general public on your bioponics system. Are you using any red wiggles in the grow beds? I was wondering about the rate of growth on the Duckweed since is looked like it was being somewhat shaded from the sun. Have you done any test on the O2 content of the water? Have you supposed of using fresh water shrimp to clean the settlement from the bottom of the water vessels? I’m a new Subscriber to your channel. And THANKS again.

[@bioponics]

Hi Aviator Dave, Red wigglers naturally colonize from the worm casting leachates I add to water periodically. Yes though they do proliferate, esp in the plant roots. Generally we'll find every root mass contains several doing their work. O2 is good. We add organics so it'll fluctuate a bit but we minimize additions to prevent fish stress. Duckweed growth is about doubling every 24-36hrs with good days. Shade is actually a good thing. Tends to blanch and die with direct sunlight, at least that so in the GA summers.

[@AviatorDave]

Thanks for your reply and have a nice day.

[@alex46215]

Do you add chelated iron any other stuff to your system?

[@bioponics]

No need for added iron. There's plenty in the biomass. Can also use plants that scavenge iron like ironweed, etc, that contain high amounts of organic chelated iron, naturally.

[@josuebetancourt9859]

Would organic greens from a grocery store make good food for plants?

[@bioponics]

Yes, they'd be excellent. To do that I'd let them decompose in a barrel anaerobically, then take the leachate and process it through aeration and biofiltration for a few days. Works like it was meant to be!

[@josuebetancourt9859]

I just have water bottles stuffed with organic greens floating in my fishtank/tub. They decompose to a certain point then i feed the decomposing leaves to the goldies who eat it like sharks lol will that work? The tub gets plenty of airation and i have worms in the growbed

[@josuebetancourt9859]

So if i let it decompose anaerobicly for a few days, then remove the decomposing leaves and airate the water, i would have organic hydroponic nutrients?

[@bioponics]

Just need a biofiltration system to convert that high carbon water to something more plant ready. We do this with a vortex Nutricycler.

[@bioponics]

I let it decompose for 2-3 weeks in warm anaerobic conditions. Then mix, biofilter and aerate. Yes = organic hydroponic nutrients

[@awesomegames254]

could i put blood meal in my fish tank?

[@bajandan]

What size pipes you have and where did you get then from?

[@bioponics]

18" get them at bioponica.org!

[@o.o1163]

Doesn't it smell bad though

[@jayson9217]

How many pounds of fish do you have in this setup?

[@bioponics]

1-2

[@sajidhussain9535]

David what types of nutrients you are using

[@bioponics]

Blends of readily available organic biomass. We've used coffee grounds, brewery grains, grasses, ashes, etc.

[@kimriecken922]

Fan tastic!!

[@georgegibson707]

Good work. By the way the link in the description takes me to www.bioponica.com/ which warns me is not secure. So I try just www.bioponica.com which is Italian language or something. Finally went to bioponica.org/ which you mentioned and I guess is right.

[@bioponics]

Thank you for the heads up. It's .org.

[@billunderwood5453]

You are clearly good at what you're doing, but you are lousy at explaining what you're doing. Your title says 'Comparing bioponics to aquaponics and hydroponics.' That is NOT what your video does. Let me know if this is correct: You are raising duckweed to feed your fish. You are using the fish waste to feed your plants. You are putting plant waste in soluble bags to decompose to fertilize the - duckweed? Is that correct? You apparently are using some other amendments, but you weren't clear what amendments or how much. Urine? Bone meal? Please be clearer.

[@timeWaster76]

BIOCHAR!