Mineral Supplementation in Jade Perch (Scortum barcoo) Aquaponics with Lettuce: A Comparison with Hydroponics and RAS

The global demand for local and high-quality food sources has increased in recent decades, driven by consumer preferences and a growing population. RAS, hydroponics and a 'hybrid' version, aquaponics, are food production techniques that could support such growing demand. The current study evaluated coupled aquaponics (Jade perch and lettuce) with and without mineral supplementation in comparison to standard cultivation methods, i.e., RAS and hydroponics. The mineral supplementation in aquaponics was carried out using a hydroponics commercial blend fertilizer (10% of the dosage utilised in the hydroponics treatment). Fish/plant performance, nutrient dynamics and water quality were evaluated for 9 weeks using twelve experimental units (~720 L in total; fish tank/reservoir + filtration systems/sump + floating raft-based plant tank). After two crops of plants, the results showcased the positive impact of mineral supplementation in aquaponics; however, the hydroponics treatment outperformed the two aquaponics treatments, e.g., with higher total plant wet weight and total plant length (p < 0.05). Fish in aquaponics with and without mineral supplementation presented similar growth performance as compared to RAS (p > 0.05). By comparing these different farming approaches, this study sought to provide insights into optimising aquaponics systems and advancing the integration of Jade perch into aquaculture practices.