Akvaponika je okolišno prihvatljiva tehnologija uzgoja hrane koja se temelji na prirodnim biološko – ekološkim procesima te nema nikakav štetan utjecaj na okoliš. Predstavlja sustav proizvodnje hrane koji kombinira tehnike akvakulturne proizvodnje riba, s tehnikama hidroponskog uzgoja bilja. Budući da je u Hrvatskoj akvaponski uzgoj nepoznat, cilj pilot projekta je ukazati na potencijal akvaponike u proizvodnji hrane. Za izradu sustava korišteni su većinom reciklirani materijali, a ribe su ulovljene u lokalnoj rijeci. Praćenje stanja sustava je vršeno uz pomoć testera za kemiju vode (amonijak, nitrati, nitriti, pH). U pet mjeseci trajanja pilot projekta, urod povrća je bio veći nego u tradicionalnom vrtu. Ušteda vode u sušnim razdobljima je velika, umjetna gnojiva nisu korištena i održavanje vrta se svodi na praćenje kemije vode i hranjenje riba. U dobro uravnoteženom akvaponskom sustavu možemo proizvesti više hrane na manjem prostoru tokom cijele godine, pri čemu ulažemo manje rada i, dugoročno gledano, manje novčanih sredstava.

Aquaponic is environmental friendly technology of food production which is based on natural biological – ecological processes and does not have any harmful impact on the environment. It presents a system of food production that combines aquaculture techniques of fish production, with hydroponic techniques of plant growing. Because this way of growing is unfamiliar in our country, with help of this pilot project I will try to show its full potential. Recycled material was mostly used for building the system, and fish was caught in the local river. Monitoring was done using water chemistry testers (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH). In five month duration of this pilot project harvest of vegetables was bigger then in the traditional garden. Water saving is significant in periods of drought, artificial fertilizers are not used and maintenance comes down to monitoring of water chemistry and feeding the fish. In a well balanced aquaponic system we can produce more food in less space during the whole year, wherein we invest less labor and less money in the long term.