Aquaponics Lab Explores Food Production for Earth And Possibly Mars .

Aquaponics Lab Explores Food Production for Earth And Possibly Mars.Professor Peter Merkle can envision his research, which involves networks of ecotubes full of plants, fish and fish waste, one day helping feed humans living on Mars. Aquaponics combines fish farming, known as aquaculture, with hydroponics, which involves growing plants without soil, into one integrated, mutually beneficial system.The fish waste provides an organic, nutrient-rich fertilizer for the growing plants, and the plants act as a natural filter for the water in which the fish live. Beneficial bacteria in the aquaponics system convert the ammonia from the fish waste into nitrite and then nitrate, which fertilizes the plants. Water is cycled through the system to collect the fish waste, pump it to the plant beds, and then return it to the fish tank. continue