The technique may seem slightly fishy at first, but a young Texas entrepreneur is creating a way to use your home fish tank to help fill your refrigerator.
“The fish create waste and the pump suck up the fish’s waste into the grow bed and bacteria convert this fish’s waste into fertilizer,” said Jack Ikard, creator of ‘AquaSprouts‘.
That’s right, a system that takes the poop out of your fish aquarium at home to grow vegetation right above. Jack Ikard didn’t invent aquaponics, but the 20-year old St. Edward’s student invented ‘AquaSprouts’; offering a new way for consumers to look at how they grow their food.
“I take some basil and put it into my sandwiches all the time. I have a whole system at my house dedicated to wheat grass and I’ll cut some wheat grass off and throw it into a smoothie,” said Ikard.
The best part according to Ikard is that you won’t have to clean your fish tank again.
“All you would have to do is essentially feed the fish and you can even put an automatic fish feeder like on the side right here, so it could be truly self-sufficient.”
While it may seem a bit bizarre, ‘AquaSprouts’ is catching on. What started out as a few Tupperware boxes thrown together has turned into a product that caught the attention of the South by Southwest Eco convention earlier this year.
‘AquaSprouts’ has also been on display at local farmer’s markets and local nurseries like The Great Outdoors on South Congress Avenue have started selling the product.
“I’m really hoping to you know basically get this concept out there, have people understand what aquaponics is, and share my passion to this for the world.”
A patent is pending on ‘AquaSprouts’. You can find out more at www.Aquasprouts.com.