Afraponix

Four weeks. That's it. All of it grown in four weeks, in an aquaponics system, with no soil.

Quick check-in on the grow beds this week: the lettuce is ready and we're already eating it daily, the next batch is a few days behind, and the cauliflower and broccoli heads are just starting to form. The kale has gone absolutely wild.

Want to learn how to do this at home? Here's everything you need to know:

📅 Starts Tuesday 4 August
4 live sessions × 2 hours — Tuesday & Thursday evenings, over 2 weeks
🎙 Live with Justin Hess & Mark Austin— Q&A in every session

🌍 Join from anywhere — lifetime access to all recordings
Full success manual + certificate of completion
Foundation level — no experience needed

💸 Early-bird price of R1,499 (normally R1,900) ends 31 July.

👉 Register: https://aquaponics.africa/training/aquaponics-101/

How do I know how much air my plants and fish need?

It's the question that quietly decides whether your system thrives or crashes.

Too little aeration and your fish gasp at the surface, your biofilter stalls, and your roots go brown and slimy. Too much and you're burning electricity for nothing. Most beginners guess — and then blame the wrong thing when something goes wrong.

In this free live webinar we break down exactly how to size aeration for your fish, your plants and your biofilter — and how to tell, at a glance, whether your system is getting enough.

🎙️ FREE LIVE WEBINAR
Thursday 30 July 2026
5:00 PM (South Africa time)

💻 Live online — bring your questions

Seats are limited and it's happening this week.

👉 Register Here → https://aquaponics.africa/webinar-aeration/

Inside a working aquaponics system at Lighthouse School, Mauritius 🇲🇺

We were on the ground running a training course and had to show you what these guys have built: fish tank → mechanical filter → biofilter → flood-and-drain media beds → deep water culture, all running as one system.

And the harvest? Cucumbers, lettuce, herbs and pak choi going straight into the school kitchen — with the surplus sold to parents. Real nutrition on kids' plates, grown metres from where they learn.

Want to build something like this? Start here 👇

AQUAPONICS 101 — ONLINE
📅 First session: 4 August
4 live sessions × 2 hours | Tuesday–Thursday evenings | over 2 weeks

📚 Foundational principles • water chemistry • fish & plant biology • small-scale system design
Perfect for hobbyists and complete beginners — no experience needed

👉 Book your seat: https://aquaponics.africa/training/

⚙️ Real talk: filtration is the part of aquaponics nobody gets excited about, but it's the part that makes or breaks your system. Let's break it down.

Here is how it works:

Mechanical filtration comes first. Fish produce waste constantly, and that solid waste must be removed before it reaches your plants. If it gets through, it clogs the roots and blocks nutrient uptake. A brush or mechanical screen traps those solids and keeps them out of the growing system.

Biological filtration comes second. This is where the nitrogen cycle happens. Beneficial bacteria colonise a filtration media and convert ammonia from fish waste into nitrate, which plants can absorb. In this system, a matala mat with hundreds of kilometres of strand surface provides the ideal home for those bacteria. What exits the biological filter is clean, plant-ready water.

And the solid waste that gets removed mechanically? It is not thrown away. Once a week, that waste is moved into a separate vessel, aerated and allowed to break down. The result is a mineralised liquid that provides additional nutrients for plants.

The filter is the heartbeat of your aquaponics system. A good one makes the difference between a system that works and one that struggles.

Filtration, the nitrogen cycle and water quality management are all covered in our Aquaponics 101 training.

Our Aquaponics 101 training covers 7 topics across 4 live sessions:
1. Aquaponics fundamentals and system types
2. The nitrogen cycle
3. System setup and cycling
4. Fish selection and basic husbandry
5. Plant selection and nutrition basics
6. Daily maintenance routines
7. Troubleshooting and common issues

💻 100% online · 4 live sessions · 1 week · All recordings included
💰 Early Bird: R1,099 (save R400, sign up before 21 July) · Regular: R1,499
📅 Starts 3 August 2026 (Monday)

🔗 Learn more and register for our Aquaponics 101 training, link in bio:
https://aquaponics.africa/training/

🌿 In aquaponics, aeration is not just about your fish. Your plants need it too.

In a deep water culture system, plant roots float directly in water. For those roots to absorb nutrients efficiently, the water around them needs to be oxygenated. The way to do that is with a diffuser tube running below the floating boards, producing a stream of fine air bubbles at the root zone.

The question is: how much air?

After years of aquaponic farming, Justin Hess from Afraponix has worked out the optimum rate: 3 litres of air per minute per square metre of deep water culture.

For 10 m² of DWC growing area, that means a 30 litre per minute air pump. And because DWC systems are shallow, water pressure has very little effect on airflow, so the pump delivers almost exactly what its spec sheet says.

System design, plant nutrition and aeration are all covered in our Aquaponics 101 training.

Our Aquaponics 101 training covers 7 topics across 4 live sessions:
1. Aquaponics fundamentals and system types
2. The nitrogen cycle
3. System setup and cycling
4. Fish selection and basic husbandry
5. Plant selection and nutrition basics
6. Daily maintenance routines
7. Troubleshooting and common issues

💻 100% online · 4 live sessions · 1 week · All recordings included
💰 Early Bird: R1,500 · Regular: R1,900
📅 Starts 6 July 2026

🔗 Learn more and register for our Aquaponics 101 training, link in bio:
https://aquaponics.africa/training/

In this video I talk about why getting an Afraponix farm is really worth it.

💨 When Afraponix founder Justin Hess started aquaponics, one of the most confusing decisions was choosing the right air pump. Too small and your fish suffer. Too big and you are wasting electricity. After 20 years, here is the formula he uses:

10 litres of air per minute for every 1,000 litres of water.

A 3,000 litre fish tank requires 30 litres per minute. Two 3,000 litre tanks require 60 litres per minute. And because water pressure reduces airflow as you go deeper, you need a pump rated slightly above your calculated requirement.

The pump in this video is a linear diaphragm magnetic air pump running at just 65W and producing 80 litres of air per minute. Low on electricity, high on output, and exactly what two 3,000 litre tanks need.

Aeration is one of the fundamentals covered in our Aquaponics 101 training, alongside system design, water quality, fish husbandry and more.

Our Aquaponics 101 training covers 7 topics across 4 live sessions:
1. Aquaponics fundamentals and system types
2. The nitrogen cycle
3. System setup and cycling
4. Fish selection and basic husbandry
5. Plant selection and nutrition basics
6. Daily maintenance routines
7. Troubleshooting and common issues

💻 100% online · 4 live sessions · 1 week · All recordings included
💰 Early Bird: R1,500 · Regular: R1,900
📅 Starts 6 July 2026

🔗 Learn more and register for our Aquaponics 101 training, link in bio:
https://aquaponics.africa/training/

🌍 The response has been overwhelming and there are only a few spots left.
https://aquaponics.africa/training/mauritius-masterclass/

Afraponix is bringing its aquaponics masterclass to Mauritius on 26 & 27 June at Lighthouse Primary and Secondary School. Two full days of hands-on, practical training led by Justin Hess.

Over two days, you will learn exactly how to do this yourself:

🐟 Fish tanks and aquaculture management
🌿 Plants, hydroponics and nutrition
⚙️ Filters, system design and integration
🏠 How to build and run your own aquaponics system

This is practical, hands-on learning not a lecture. You will leave with the knowledge and confidence to get started.

The interest has been incredible and places are almost full. If you have been thinking about it, now is the time.

📅 26 & 27 June 2026
📍 Lighthouse Primary and Secondary School, Mauritius
💰 Day 1 only (26 June) Rs 3,000
💰 Full 2-Day Course (26 27 June) Rs 5,000
📧 [email protected] | WhatsApp: +27 76 349 7406

🔗 Secure your spot now only a few places remaining:
https://aquaponics.africa/training/mauritius-masterclass/

🌿 Did you know you can run three completely different grow systems in one aquaponics setup?

Each method is designed for a different type of plant and choosing the right one is one of the most important decisions when designing your system.

🌱 Vertical growing towers: perfect for herbs, lettuces, kale and strawberries. Space-efficient and high density, with 48 plants fitting into a single tower.

🍅 Flow-through media beds : the right choice for tomatoes and any crop with a larger root structure. Stone media holds the plant securely while nutrient-rich water flows through continuously.

🥬 Deep water culture boards: floating panels on the water for spinach, spring onions, celery and leafy greens. Clean, productive and simple to manage.

The beauty of aquaponics is the flexibility, you can combine these methods, adapt them to your space, and grow a wide variety of crops all at once.

In our Aquaponics 101 training we walk you through system types, design principles, and everything you need to set up your own system from scratch.

🌱 Our full training curriculum:
1. Aquaponics fundamentals and system types
2. The nitrogen cycle
3. System setup and cycling
4. Fish selection and basic husbandry
5. Plant selection and nutrition basics
6. Daily maintenance routines
7. Troubleshooting and common issues

💻 100% online · 4 live sessions · 1 week · All recordings included · No experience required
💰 Early Bird: R1,500 · Regular: R1,900
📅 Starts 6 July 2026

🔗 Want to learn how to design your own
Link in bio or https://aquaponics.africa/training/