Patent ID: 8677686

Claim:
An aquaponic system comprising: a solids separator configured to receive waste water and separate the waste water into settleable solids and suspended-waste water; a first component configured to receive the suspended-waste water and convert the suspended-waste water to nutrient-rich water suitable for hydroponic plant growth, wherein the first component comprises, in series, a nutrification tank configured to convert the suspended-waste water to mineralized water, a nitrification tank configured to convert mineralized water to nitrified water, and a degassing tank configured to convert the nitrified water to the nutrient-rich water; a hydroponic growth apparatus configured to receive the nutrient-rich water, to support hydroponic growth, and to convert the nutrient-rich water to nutrient-depleted water; a fish tank configured to receive the nutrient-depleted water and convert the nutrient-depleted water to the waste water; a second component configured to receive the settleable solids and convert the settleable solids to nutrient-rich sludge; a substrate based growth apparatus configured to receive the nutrient-rich sludge for supporting plant growth, wherein the substrate-based growth apparatus is a soilless media-filled growth bed; and a sludge sump configured to receive nutrient-rich sludge from the second component and nutrient-depleted sludge from the substrate-based growth apparatus to generate a mixture, and to deliver the mixture to the substrate-based growth apparatus.