Jaymi Heimbuch
DCL
What do you get when you combine your container garden, your fish tank, and your water fountain all into one piece of equipment?
Answer: A perfect solution for a self-contained food growing system.
Earth Solutions thinks so, anyway. They've created these gorgeous Farm in Box Aquaponics systems that put healthy gardens on any front porch.
The aquaponic tanks are a meeting of aquaculture and hydroponics. Fish waste from the bottom tank is transported up into the soil-less planter and becomes a rich fertilizer for the plants. The water is filtered as it works its way down to the fish tank, giving your fish pure, clean water to enjoy. The cycle is repeated every hour, and both fish and your veggies are nourished.
Ranging in price from $35 to $3,000 at Earth Solutions, you can really customize just how involved you want your garden to be. However, the basics are all the same. And since the basics are all the same, you can also DIY your own aquaponics system.
You can raise both fish and plants for the dinner table, or just raise the veggies for food while the fish remain productive pets, or raise them both as something nice to look at. It's all up to you, but it's a system that certainly works.
