Risk of loss in case of mechanical failure: No mechanical system is fail-proof. Electrical failure, mechanical faults, blockages in the plumbing and malfunctioning of monitoring devices, can affect the system adversely. In hydroponics, most problems can be resolved immediately without causing lasting damage, as it has a 5-6 hour flood-drain cycle. Aquaponics has very short recirculation cycles, once every 30 to 45 minutes, so the cost of even temporary failure can be particularly high, often resulting in the loss of the entire fish stock due to toxic chemical build-up in the aquaculture tank. The solid waste produced by the fish make the system comparatively more prone to blockages too.