Aquaponics

The basics

What is aquaponics?

Aquaculture (raising fish) + hydroponics (growing without soil), joined into one closed loop.

It's the same thing happening in every Minnesota lake — fish feed the plants, and plants clean the water for the fish. We just copy and pasted that indoors.

💧
one closed
loop
Fish
Step 1
Fish
Eat & excrete waste into the water
Bacteria
Step 2
Bacteria
Convert that waste into plant food
Plants
Step 3
Plants
Absorb nutrients & clean the water
Fish
Step 1
Fish

Eat & excrete waste into the water.

↓
Bacteria
Step 2
Bacteria

Convert that waste into plant food.

↓
Plants
Step 3
Plants

Absorb nutrients & clean the water — which flows back to the fish.

↺   and the loop repeats
Fish... weed... what?

Why did we choose aquaponics?

It's riskier and more difficult than growing plants in soil. We do it anyway — mostly for the environment. Here's why it's better:

Powered by fish, not factories

Big grows lean heavily on synthetic fertilizers that are mined or manufactured — cheap, but often dirty to produce. Our main input is fish feed (fishing-industry leftovers), plus trace amounts of mineral supplements to round out the plants' diet.

No soil, no tilling

Our roots hang straight in the water — no dirt needed. That matters: tilling or harvesting soil releases stored carbon and worsens our soil degredation problem. We leave the ground, and its carbon, right where it belongs.

Clean and contained

Growing in water means no irrigation runoff — and none of it carrying fertilizer or pesticide into the lakes. The same water cycles between fish and plants over and over. Every drop of our water starts as rain on the roof or condensation from our dehumidifiers — we don't even have a well.

Fish are cool (and efficient)

We love fishkeeping, so fish were always going to be part of this. They're also one of the most efficient animal proteins out there — pound for pound, far less land, feed, and methane than a cow. We're still working on approval to grow edible fish, but someday… fish tacos anyone?

Step by step

Follow the water

Every drop in our system makes a full loop — from fish tank to biofilter to grow bed and back again.

💧

01

Fish eat & excrete

Our fish eat, swim, and do what fish do. They excrete ammonia-rich waste through their gills and digestive systems into the water — which would be toxic to them if left unchecked.

Fish
↓

poopy water moves to the biofilter

↓

02

Bacteria do their thing

Beneficial bacteria living in the biofilter convert toxic fish waste into usable fertilizer for the plants.

Bacteria
↓

fertilizer-rich water moves to the plant ponds

↓

03

Plants drink it up

Nutrient-rich water flows into the grow ponds, where cannabis plants float on rafts with their roots submerged. They pull out the nutrients as fertilizer and, in doing so, scrub the water clean.

Plants
↓

clean water moves back to the fish tank — and the cycle starts again ↻