Aquaponics - Commercial scale

[qwertyuiop]

Hi all, I'm just starting this thread to discuss the prospects of getting into aquaponics with a growth to a commercial scale in mind.

From my current to one scaled large enough to not only live on, but also turn a profit from the surplus of food.

My calculations so far are based loosely on lettuce -

Grow density - How many I could have per I.B.C grow bed. (but also wanting to expand to vertical grows and A-frame multi tier horizontal pipe grows /\.

Harvest times - Seedling to harvest I've averaged to ~40 days (any others observations of other plants grow times would be awesome to know if you could share)

Market price (no idea of bulk sale prices though) - This goes under the assumption that I'd be able to sell the product as 'organic' thus yielding a greater return per head. $1.50 normal -> $2+ organic. ( Again, any experience of sale prices and quantity's to independent grocers, restaurants, farmers markets would be handy to know)

..urgh I've gotta go now..I'll hopfully be able to edit this later with some more info n such..but for now please do lend me your experiences!

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I'd also like some livestock incorporated into it for making use of the surplus plant matter / lower quality produce
Fish <-> plants -> compost -> worms/larvae -> fish/chicken/ducks

This I envisage having mainly growing in a sizable greenhouse (to ensure stable(er) yields then the animals in their respective henhouses blah blah....

Edited March 8, 2014 by LUWA

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

My research suggests the more decorative the lettuce the more appeal for restaurants etc to use it for garnishes blah blah. I worked at a Mexican restaurant in my teens and a lot of effort went into lettuce garnishes and preparations etc, always the curly and green red purple etc... You could also try Asian greens if you do lettuce, plenty of places need good quality Asian stirfry style stuff and it's very easy to grow, including leaf verges and herbs, all as easy as lettuce in my small scale runs (fishtank and kids pool!).

You'll need a steady no decline in production setup though to keep them happy year round... But I'm still sure it's more convenient to have it delivered by you every 2 weeks, then they only shop every other week for produce... Then there's always the fluctuation in quality and they mightn't be happy with only a supply of half of what they need... I guess you just gotta have it down before you approach these places as you can't miss a weeks production and keep people waiting.. It's bread and butter stuff once you delve in that deep i'd imagine, I wouldn't like to be relying in seasonability to make my coin, I'd like it steady and year round.

As for organics if you explain your process to the clients and you only use organic fish food, water purifiers etc then you can pass them off as organically grown, but certified organic is a whole different story. You want to build the business on the story anyways, get the clients involved, take em a nice cane basket full of good produce. Make it look steller. Then invite them to come pick there first batch fresh and check out the organic real life fish setup you've got. I'm sure they'd happily spend 30mins if your local and come check it out if they care about the quality of there food..

My 2 bobs anyways!

Edited March 7, 2014 by prioritise

[2XB]

Hi, my close friend has been field testing a medium scale system for about a year. He's a plumber and and lives on a farm its a pretty rad setup! He grows all sorts of things, his aim is to be somewhat self sufficient and supply surplus to local markets.

He says the same about organic certz.... I think shit like not within a certain distance from a normal farm ...

But like prioritise said just be straight up. Sell organically grown not organically certified and be up front about the differences and the yuppies will buy it..

Super super fast growth!.

[teonanacatl]

Id approach an already established fish farm and wack the ponics part onto their fish, they look after the fish, you look after the lettuce and pay some rent.

Would love to see your current setup, inputs and outputs if you have them. If not start monitoring them now before you try to upscale and realise its not financially viable.

Wouldnt bother with the livestock, just use excess veges to farm black soldier fly to feed the fish.

What fish are you planning on using?

[teamwhy]

i think it has to be pretty big to make a living from it.

i fantasize about quitting my job and doing this. i am of the thinking that the veggies cover the cost of running and the fish is where the money is. and then i would have to grow at least 2 tonne of fish to make enough to support my family. so for me now it's still a pipe dream.

[qwertyuiop]

Just some rough calcs from numbers given by by this video:

5000 lettuce sell @ $1.50 per lettuce ~1 month grow time.
== $90,000 per year
== $7500 per month
== $1875 per week
== $267 day

Just with that system..even though I'd probs be leaning towards more vertical grow systems like vertical stands or A-frames like in this vid:

Minimizing greenhouse space needed while maximizing grow area.


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I'm still unsure of the 'bulk' sale prices in Victoria but for organically grown (but not certif'd) as a basis on the $1.50 being QLDs bottom range (Maybe that's supermarket, farmers market etc rather than commercial sale) ... It seems like a very livable earning amount... even 1/3 it, considering my own food costs would be reduced significantly.

Right now I feel it's a bit of a pipe dream too, but I really really see some potential in it... I just wanna buy some rural land, get some prefab shipping containers / a granny flat on it, get a small business loan to seed this aquaponics idea... and do all this splitting the costs 3,4...6 ways with some like minded mates. It's just that initial capital and diluting the risk. Edited March 16, 2014 by LUWA

[Bigred]

I think shrimp would be the best starter as they mature much quicker and eat algal blooms and other microorganisms .

plus they fetch a higher price per kilo than most best eating table fish in australia.

Mercury free shrimp ( my mouth is watering already )

Plus it would be a niche market

Edited March 16, 2014 by Bigred

[qwertyuiop]

Hey yea, that's a niffty idea. I was thinking fresh water mussels and cray too. How's your aquaponics going btw Bigred? Do you have any stats you'd be able to share for your opperation - in regards to input efforts, qty produce, $ if you sell any surplus?

I've just gone and got an I.B.C for $50 from a place on gumtree (melb) that has LOADS. Here's the link if anyones interested: http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/yarraville/other-home-garden/used-ibc-water-tanks-for-aquaponics-or-water-storage/1041409972

[teonanacatl]

One of the aquaculture staff at JCU made a fair bit of cash adding lettuce production to an already established fish farm. My opinion is that as the fish are the intensive part of the operation it is not worth adding fish to grow lettuce, but is is worth add lettuce to already growing fish.

My bro is in aquaculture and Ive worked with him before and its very much like having your livestock on life support, systems go down and you loose 100000 animals in a few hours. High risk high reward is how Id phrase it. Unless you are growing Tilapia

Years ago when I was doing a lot of reading around aquaculture I found there was a fellow starting a commercial aquaculture venture somewhere (Mt Isa? maybe) out of IBC's and a rented commercial yard. Last I saw it was in production but Im not sure how it went.

I wish you guys the best for your dreams and look forward to seeing some pictures.

[Bigred]

In one bed i had mullet 30 of them and in the grow tray i had lettuce . It was a near completely sustained system as i

would feed the lettuce to the fish 12 months later they were 400 graqms range and i put them in a dam at the moment

(2 years later they would be 2 3 kilos's

Edited March 17, 2014 by Bigred