What is Aquaponics ?

In a pond, fish naturally produce waste rich in ammonia. This waste is then broken down by bacteria into nitrates, a form of nutrient that plants can readily absorb.

The roots of the plants, submerged in a grow medium or simply in the water, take up these nutrients to grow. By filtering the water, they purify it, allowing it to be returned to the fish tank.

This virtuous cycle makes it possible to grow vegetables, herbs, or even fruit, while raising fish at the same time. The whole system runs without soil, without the addition of chemical fertilisers, and with very low water consumption.

Three players work together, and none can be removed without the whole system falling out of balance. The fish provide the raw material, the bacteria transform it, and the plants consume it. Bacteria are the most commonly overlooked element, yet they are the true engine of the system. They naturally colonise the surfaces of the filter, the grow medium, and the walls of the tank, and their population generally takes several weeks to establish itself.

In practice, the water circulates in a loop. A pump sends it from the pond to the growing area, where it passes through the grow medium or the roots before returning to the pond, most often by gravity. Depending on the setup, this circulation is either continuous or governed by flood-and-drain cycles, which allows the roots to breathe. Additional aeration is almost always beneficial, as dissolved oxygen benefits both the fish and the bacteria.

The good news is that there are relatively few parameters to monitor: temperature, pH, and ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. A few regular tests are sufficient to keep track of how the system is performing, particularly during the first few weeks.

The Aztecs were already growing vegetables on chinampas, man-made islands set on lakes that were naturally fertilised by fish-rich waters. Across Asia, certain traditional rice paddies incorporated fish farming: the fish fertilised the plants, which in turn purified the water, forming a virtuous cycle. The idea of combining aquatic farming with plant cultivation is therefore nothing new.

These ancient practices were not aquaponics in the modern sense of the word. They relied on open environments and observation rather than on a controlled closed-loop system. They do show, however, that the underlying intuition — bringing together water, fish, and plants — has crossed centuries and continents.

It was during the 1970s that the modern concept of aquaponics was rediscovered and formalised, largely in the context of the search for sustainable alternatives to intensive agriculture. The research carried out over the following decades moved the field from intuition to practical sizing guidelines, most notably by defining the relationship between the amount of feed given to the fish and the growing area required. These guidelines remain useful today, even though every system is ultimately a case unto itself.

Today, in the face of water management challenges and a growing demand for more locally sourced food, aquaponics is experiencing a new surge of interest. Aquaponic farms are springing up on city rooftops, on the urban fringe, and on former brownfield industrial sites.

In France, the movement is more recent than in North America and is developing along two parallel lines. On one side, private individuals setting up small systems at home, driven by curiosity or a desire for self-sufficiency. On the other, urban and peri-urban farms seeking to produce food as close as possible to the consumer.

Local, seasonal produce: you grow ultra-fresh food at home, reducing your dependence on industrial supply chains.

Water savings: the vast majority of water — around 90% depending on the setup — is recirculated in a closed loop. Only evaporation and harvesting account for any real consumption.

Natural growing without chemicals: fish and bacteria are at the heart of the system. Using pesticides would be fatal to them, which rules the question out entirely.

Dual production in a small footprint: in the same space, you harvest both vegetables and fish.

No soil required: growing is done without soil, which makes it possible to produce food where the ground is poor, contaminated or simply absent — on a terrace, a concrete slab or a rooftop.

Minimal weeding and little heavy lifting: the growing beds are raised, there is no digging or hand-watering, making it accessible to people who can no longer garden at ground level.

It would be misleading to mention only the benefits. Aquaponics requires a continuous supply of electricity for the pump and aeration, an initial investment that is generally higher than for a conventional kitchen garden, and regular attention — if only to feed the fish. Some heavy-feeding crops do less well than leafy vegetables, and getting the system up and running takes patience. These are perfectly manageable constraints, but it is better to be aware of them before you start.

Thanks to our aquaponics kits designed for home use, it is now possible to set up a productive system at home — even indoors — without necessarily needing a large garden. Transform a corner of your house into an indoor kitchen garden or set up a small pond on the patio: home aquaponics adapts to almost any space.

Many families today choose domestic aquaponics as a way to reconnect with nature, learn to grow their own vegetables and introduce children to ecology. Whether you have a small balcony, a patio, a garden or even a greenhouse, there are solutions suited to getting you started.

The choice of format depends mainly on the space and light available to you. A small aquarium topped with a herb trough fits on a worktop and needs only a supplementary grow light. A patio pond is already enough to produce lettuces throughout the growing season. A greenhouse, finally, extends the harvest period considerably and shields the system from temperature swings.

It is also an excellent educational tool. The nitrogen cycle, photosynthesis and the very concept of an ecosystem become visible and tangible, which explains the success of these installations in schools, libraries and community centres.

By combining local food production, reduced chemical inputs, and low water consumption, aquaponics offers considerable advantages, particularly in urban areas or regions facing water stress. Innovative farms are now using aquaponics as a lever for sustainable productivity, while providing consumers with healthy, locally grown food.

These professional aquaponic greenhouses can produce year-round, even in environments that are ordinarily poorly suited to agriculture, thanks to precise system management, grown without soil and under glass.

At this scale, running an operation becomes a genuine profession in its own right. Sizing, production, processing, sales, and managing an entire team all require skills spanning aquaculture, market gardening, chemistry, and commerce — disciplines that rarely overlap and that demand complete, well-rounded teams.

The business model most commonly relies on fish production, which is more profitable than vegetable growing and can be processed to achieve high added value. Herbs, salads, tomatoes, and strawberries are also among the crops regularly grown at large scale in aquaponics. Proximity to the consumer, freshness, and the absence of treatments are the main selling points of these farms.

Univers Aquaponie is a brand of the Aquaponeasy group, which also develops this type of large-scale farm. The first project, covering approximately one hectare, will break ground in 2027 in Vic-sur-Seille, in the Moselle. The aim is to bring to large scale what we champion at a domestic level: reconnecting people with their food and choosing quality produce from sustainable farming.

The farm will combine trout farming with the production of various vegetables and herbs, with an on-site processing facility and a vermifilter system to make use of fish sludge. A farm shop and a dining area are also planned. To find out more, visit aquaponeasy.com.

Aquaponics, born from the combination of "aquaculture" (fish farming) and "hydroponics" (soilless plant cultivation), offers a sustainable and ecological solution that differs from hydroponics in many ways.

Unlike hydroponics, which relies on prepared nutrient solutions, aquaponics creates a symbiotic ecosystem where fish waste naturally provides the nutrients plants need. In return, the plants purify the water, which is then cycled back to the fish.

This circular, self-sustaining model of food production makes aquaponics a more natural approach, whilst yielding healthy, high-quality produce. By choosing aquaponics, you opt for a method that addresses the challenges of food sovereignty and water conservation, drawing the best from both aquaculture and hydroponics.

That said, there is no need to set the two techniques against each other. Hydroponics remains simpler to manage, since you have precise control over what you feed your plants, and it can deliver very high yields with demanding crops. The trade-off is that you need to purchase nutrient solutions on a regular basis, and it produces only plants.

Aquaponics requires a little more patience at the start, while the bacterial population becomes established, but it then offers excellent stability and a dual harvest. Many growers also describe the water as more alive and better buffered, forgiving minor fluctuations more readily than a purely mineral solution. The best choice ultimately depends on what you want to produce and how much you enjoy tending a living ecosystem.

There is no need to make a definitive decision either way. Vertical growing towers, for instance, work equally well whether fed by a hydroponic nutrient solution or connected to a fish pond.

Faced with changing lifestyles and uncertainty around food supplies, many households are looking to produce part of what they eat. Aquaponics fits naturally into that approach.

It makes it possible to grow fresh vegetables and raise fish at home, all year round, even in limited spaces.

With a well-designed aquaponic system, anyone can improve their quality of life by reducing their reliance on conventional supply chains. It is a straightforward and effective way to take back control over what you eat, while taking concrete steps towards a healthier diet that is kinder to the environment.

It is worth being realistic about the scale involved. A domestic system will not replace your entire weekly shop. It does, however, cover salads, microgreens and fresh herbs very well — precisely the products that are most perishable, most expensive per kilogram, and most often imported out of season.

Many users combine approaches: an aquaponic system for quick-growing fresh crops, and an outdoor kitchen garden for potatoes, squashes and storage vegetables. The two complement each other far more than they compete. And there is something genuinely rewarding about feeding the people you love with quality food you have grown yourself.

Whatever its size, an aquaponic installation relies on the same building blocks. Understanding them makes it much easier to choose a kit or design your own setup.

The fish pond is the starting point. Its volume determines almost everything else, since it dictates how many fish you can keep, and therefore how many nutrients will be available for the plants.

Filtration works on two levels. Mechanical filtration captures solid particles, while biological filtration provides the bacteria with the surfaces they need to break down ammonia. In small grow medium-based systems, the growing bed often handles both roles at once.

The pump and aeration keep water and oxygen circulating. These are the only components that consume any real energy, and the ones whose failure makes itself felt most quickly.

The growing area takes several forms depending on the project: a grow medium bed filled with clay pebbles, floating rafts on a pond, nutrient film technique channels, or vertical towers. Each has its strengths, and there is nothing to stop you combining them within a single installation.

To this you can add a few simple but invaluable accessories: a thermometer, water test kits, and something to shade the pond in summer. Nothing overly technical, but these are the things that make a real difference day to day.

This is the question everyone asks, and the honest answer starts with a nuance: it depends mainly on the season and the temperature of your water.

The first step is starting the nitrogen cycle, commonly known as cycling. This involves letting the bacteria establish themselves before introducing a full fish population. Depending on the temperature and method used, this phase typically takes three to six weeks. Adding a bacterial starter can often shorten it, though it cannot be skipped entirely.

During this period, you monitor ammonia and nitrite levels, which rise and then fall back down, while nitrate begins to appear. The system is generally considered established once ammonia and nitrite return consistently to zero.

On the harvest side, leafy vegetables move quickly. Lettuces, basil and microgreens can usually be harvested within a few weeks. Fruiting crops such as tomatoes or strawberries require a well-established system and a sufficient fish population, as their nutrient demands are higher.

It is also quite common for a first year to serve mainly as a learning experience, with the second year generally proving far more productive. This is not a failure — it is the normal pace of an ecosystem finding its feet.