You might have heard about a biofilter if you are starting to learn about aquaponics, and you might be wondering what exactly this is, and why you need it.
What does a biofilter do in your aquaponic system and how important is it?
Today, we are going to discuss the role of a biofilter in aquaponics.
Bacteria are essential in aquaponic environments – they are part of the system and how this system works. An aquaponic biofilter is the part of this system designed to help beneficial bacteria proliferate and keep the whole system healthy. A biofilter has a large surface area to maximize the area that is available for bacteria.
What Is a Biofilter?
A biofilter is where the beneficial bacteria are supposed to grow inside the system that has been set up.
It has been put together to provide the perfect conditions for beneficial bacteria, and it has the biomedia in there to create large surface area for the bacteria to grow on.
Here are just a few facts to remember:
- The waste from fish comes as ammonia, and this will accumulate in the water over time.
- If the level becomes too high, it can be harmful to your fish and your plants, but the fish are an important part of your aquaponics system, so you want to find a way to convert that waste into something your plants can use.
- The buildup of ammonia in the water will cause certain types of bacteria to thrive, which will convert the waste into nitrites.
A different category of bacteria then converts the nitrites to nitrates and this is called the nitrogen cycle – the cycle by which fish waste can be turned into something beneficial to plants which need nitrogen to grow.
Without this system, your aquaponics would rapidly run out of nutrient and not grow.
This process happens naturally, but the biofilter is there to assist it and make it more efficient.
The biofilter provides plenty of space for bacteria to grow, make sure they are working to keep your system going.
An important Thing to know:
- The presence of bacteria in your aquaponics system is absolutely necessary for its ongoing functioning. Without bacteria, waste will decompose and the wrong types of bacteria will migrate into it, making the water stagnant and killing your plants.
- Keeping your established good bacteria working and processing fish waste is critical to maintaining the success of your aquaponics system.
If you have ever kept a tank with plants and a tank without plants, you probably realize just how different the maintenance of each tank is.
Planted tanks require much less filtration than unplanted tanks.
Under these conditions, the plants are acting as natural biofilters, housing the bacteria that produce nitrites and eventually nitrates that the plants need, and growing larger as a result of these bacteria.
The entire cycle removes the toxic substances from the water to allow the to survive in the water.
This is how it works in nature.
You will never find a pond with fish in it and no plants, because the fish will not last there long swimming in unfiltered waste.
Key Takeaway: This is what you are trying to recreate in your aquaponics system with the biofilter; the plants in there would help to house the bacteria as well, but a proper biofilter is also essential to good maintenance of the system.
How Does a Biofilter Work And What Does It Look Like?
While designs vary, a biofilter usually is some sort of a tank, filled with biomedia that is designed to provide lots of surface area for the bacteria to grow on.
You will run the water in your aquaponics system through this filter to ensure that the bacteria are constantly washed with the ammonia produced by the fish to process it.
This is why the water will wash out on the other side of the filter with the ammonia removed, and grained back to the fish and the plants.
A biofilter will often be filled with little shapes that look somewhat like some sort of complicated pasta.
They are designed this way to allow a lot of surface area, and have as much bacteria grow in a minimum amount of space as possible.
The biofilter will also have the right pH values for the bacteria, and have the temperature maintained at the right level, and dissolved oxygen at the right levels for the bacteria to thrive effectively.
Biofilters are very often run underneath a hydroponics system, and they will also have a pump built into them that will draw the water into the tank and push it back out the other side.
They are very easy to set up, and the more space you dedicate to one the more efficiently your system will run.
The main takeaway here is that there are many different designs of biofilters, so it is worth shopping around until you find one that works for you and the system you want to build. Don’t just buy the first one that you see.
Do I Need a Biofilter?
To operate an aquaponics system properly, you will need a biofilter, yes.
While natural systems are fine without a manmade biofilter, aquaponics systems do not have enough surface area to handle the levels of bacteria needed to support the growth the plants in an aquaponics system require.
Without a biofilter, you will probably realize that ammonia will build up in your system, and the fish and plants will die.
The biofilter should be placed in the system after the mechanical filter, so you can filter out any other unpleasantness before the water hits the biofilter.
If you are not using a mechanical filter before, you will most likely find that the biofilter gets overwhelmed by the waste going into it from the whole system, and it will probably need to be replaced fairly quickly.
When you put the main filter in prior, it will keep the whole system from getting clogged up for the bacteria to do its job right.
Can I Run an Aquaponics System If I Don’t Have a Biofilter?
This is probably not going to work.
The bacteria is going to grow throughout your entire gallon of aquaponics systems, so the logic you have is that in theory they will equalize the rate of fish waste, just like in nature.
However, in reality, it is probably not going to happen.
The reason being, in most aquaponic systems you don’t have enough surface area to have enough growth area for the bacteria.
In addition, the bacteria will grow on the plants, the edges of your tank, the pipework, and everywhere, but still, it will not be enough compared to if you add a bioficlter.
Have You Noticed: You may also find that the pH values or the temperature values are not ideal for bacteria growth, however a biofilter will provide ideal conditions and ensure lots of bacteria is thriving and also help keep your system running at optimum efficiency all the time.
Conclusion
Do you require an aquaponics biofilter?
Undoubtedly; biofilters are essential for keeping your equipment in working order and ammonia levels low in the water.
If you do not have one, the fish waste that builds up in the system could kill the fish and any other life in the system.
A good quality biofilter will distinguish the difference between a successful aquaponics system and an unsuccessful one, so do your research and make sure that you take the time and get the correct biofilter before buying and installing one.