Aquaponics Start-Up in Long Island City Dreams Big

Aquaponics combines hydroponics, a growing method that forgoes the use of soil and emphasizes nutrient recycling, and aquaculture, or fish farming.

The book “Aquaponic Gardening,” by Silvia Bernstein, pushed Clarke to rent studio space and begin growing. Zachary Stieber/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—It’s not your typical growing operation.

A closed loop system circulates nutrients and water through a fish tank, a worm bin, wheatgrass, and plant roots in the top floor of a Long Island City building.

“The fish provide the nitrates, the compost worms break down the decaying matter,” and ash added into the system supplies potassium, said entrepreneur Rael Clarke, who compared the system to what occurs inside a fish tank.