Le Baromate Aquaponic Aquarium

You call us, and a callout is arranged between two scheduled visits, generally within 24 hours depending on the team's availability.

Eleven edible plants are available, supplied by partner nurseries in Île-de-France:

• Infusions: mint, lemon balm, sage, verbena.
• Herbs: basil, coriander, chives, parsley.
• Fruit and vegetables: strawberries, cherry tomatoes, mesclun.

You can arrange your trays however you like from this range, including dedicating an entire tray to a single species. Our selection of plants that thrive in aquaponics overlaps considerably with this list.

Yes, that is precisely the intended use: harvesting is unrestricted. No chemical fertiliser or pesticide enters the system; nutrients come solely from the fish.

Expectations do need to be calibrated: a Baromate provides herbs, infusions and some fruit, not enough to supply a canteen. For the strawberry plant, which is the most demanding of the eleven crops, our guide to strawberries in aquaponics explains what to expect from it.

Four inhabitants, each with a role:

• Guppies: in open water, they produce the bulk of the nutrients.
• Corydoras: near the bottom, they clean up debris.
• Neritina snails: they graze algae from the glass.
• 1 CPO crayfish per aquarium, Cambarellus patzcuarensis orange: it disturbs the substrate with its claws.

We explain these species choices in detail in our guide which fish to keep in aquaponics.

Guppies can breed, and males and females are easy to tell apart: males have a gonopodium and more developed caudal and dorsal fins. Neritinas, however, do not proliferate: their eggs do not develop in fresh water — they would need brackish water.

In four steps:

1. Fish waste loads the water with ammonia.
2. Nitrifying bacteria, in the biofilter and the grow medium, convert it into nitrites and then into nitrates.
3. The plant roots absorb these nitrates and clean the water.
4. Pumps concealed within the columns return the water to the aquariums.

The only input to the system is fish food. The full mechanism is explained in detail in our article on the nitrogen cycle in aquaponics.

Because a submerged plant would also draw nutrients from the water, to the detriment of the edible plants in the trays, which are the whole purpose of the system. The manufacturer places decorative elements instead, which serve as hiding places — essential for the crayfish immediately after moulting.

A living wall is decorative and relies on fertiliser brought in from outside. A desktop hydroponic kitchen garden does produce food, but with a nutrient solution measured out by hand. The Baromate, on the other hand, produces its own nutrients from the fish: no fertiliser enters the system.

A thorough comparison of the two techniques is set out in our article aquaponics or hydroponics.

Yes, and it makes a great excuse for an in-house workshop. The manufacturer's method:

1. Take a healthy stem of at least 10 cm with 3 side shoots.
2. Cut it at 45° with clean scissors or secateurs.
3. Keep only 3 leaves at the top and remove the bark over 1 cm.
4. Root the cutting in an opaque container, changing the water every 5 to 7 days.
5. Replant the rooted cutting in clay pebbles.

As the unit remains the property of AURA Urbaine, renewal, changing to a different size, moving to another floor or another site, and return at the end of the contract are all handled on a case-by-case basis with the manufacturer. If you already know your premises are going to change, let us know before ordering: it will determine the choice between 12, 24 and 36 months.

The manufacturer is based in Île-de-France and that is where the installation teams and cocooners are based. The rest of mainland France is handled on a case-by-case basis, and overseas on a quote basis: please contact us before ordering.