Aquaponics filtration for small systems
Filtration is what keeps an aquaponics system alive between water changes. In a small system it happens in three places at once. The grow bed and intake sponge trap solid waste, bacteria living on the media convert ammonia into nitrate, and the plants take that nitrate up as food.
Our guide to the nitrogen cycle explains the bacterial side and why pH, temperature, and oxygen matter so much to it. Mechanical and biological filtration covers the physical side, including how to choose between clay pebbles, lava rock, gravel, and sponge. For all three stages in one piece, the article on how aquaponics filtration works walks through them in order and shows where desktop systems run into trouble.
Guides and articles
How the nitrogen cycle works in a small aquaponics system
How fish waste becomes plant food, which bacteria do the work, and why pH, temperature, and oxygen set their pace.
GuideMechanical and biological filtration, and how to choose grow media
What each kind of filtration does, and how to choose between clay pebbles, lava rock, gravel, and sponge.
ArticleHow Aquaponics Filtration Actually Works
How mechanical capture, biological nitrification, and plant uptake work together in an aquaponics filter.