Making a living with Aquaponics

[GaryD]

Hi Jonathon,



So I guess my point here is we cannot compare commercial food to that of homegrown food in the sense of unconventional presentation and marketability.

I'm still not convinced. While it's true that we can eat our failures, not everything that we grow would fail the presentation or marketability test.

On a general note, commercial farming as we currently recognise is totally unsustainable so something is going to have to change. As degradation of the landscape and the real cost of water begin to get properly factored into the cost of farm production, we'll hopefully lose any silly notions that we might have about the efficiency of farming in Australia.

I'm not suggesting that everyone will rush home and start producing their own food (as nice as that would be) but the way that we produce commercially grown food in this country in the not-too-distant future will change dramatically......it simply has to.

Aquaponics systems are deficient in iron which is why we suggest periodic dosing with chelated iron.

Jonathon, you can probably buy duckweed from most aquarium stores.

Gary

[Murray]

Jonathan,
Thanks for your excellent information especially about tomatoes and their mineral/trace element needs.
I have largely overcome this problem in my system by using "Mineral Rock" fertaliser and chelated iron. I apply the mineral rock to the beds at the rate of 1/2 cup per sq mtr evey three months and a couple of teaspoons of chelated iron at the same time.
I am getting excellent tomatoes, however I am still not convinced that their nutrient needs are fully met.
I guess time will tell.
Your comments about the "good looking" veggies and fruit needed for market these days is so true. It is a shame that we, the general public are so shallow.
At our local shopping centre the supermarket (who claim to be the fresh food people) always have tomatoes that are almost all the exact same size and colour, and could be used in the third test.
Outside there is a Fruit & Veg and they offer the choice of "Local Tomatoes" which are all sizes and shapes and carry a few marks. They do not sell as well as the others unless there is a very big price difference.
Every one you talk to complains about the tasteless supermarket tomatoes, but they still walk in like zombies and buy the pretty ones.

But I think that is slowly changing.

[twintragics]

Those looking to make a living from AP, need to undertake formal fish studies. Plenty can go wrong and if you are winging it you will burn money learning the lessons of the ignorant. Tafe or RMIT courses are cheap and conveniently timed. Money well spent.
The plant side of things to me is easy, provided fish get a varied diet and we can add the required organic traces to optimize growth.
People growing monoculture crops in broadacre farming should not complain when nature works against them. Protective plant foliage growth is bred out so as not to compete with fruit for nutrients. Ground cover is undesirable bc it removes moisture from the soil. Remove ground cover and plant foliage and guess what? Sunspots. We reap what we sow.

[Murray]

Hi TwinT,
You are so right.
There is an excellent 4 day course offered at Grafton TAFE.
http://www.natfish.tafensw.edu.au/about-us/default.asp

It has just completed. I wanted to go but just could not get away...too busy making grow beds etc.

[Jonathan Dyer]

Twintragics can you name one plant on the planet that has been breed solely to reduce foliage growth?

PS: A 4 day aquaculture course will not nor cannot give anyone the required skills and knowledge to become a commercial fish farmer it may give one a good understanding but not the smaller detail that is crucial for success. It took me a year to complete my course in aquaculture and over two years in horticulture that is still going and eventually I will find my way to uni.

[sillyoldfart]

Nat fish offers a one day "Introduction to Water Quality & Biology" module - Course No: 25078.

Also a two day "Recirculation Technology Short Course" - Course No: 25079.

Or a three day workshop comprising both modules.

Dates & costs for 2008 :

Semester 1 :

Intro to Water Quality - Wed 20th Feb 2008,
Recirculation Technology - Thu & Fri 21st/22nd Feb 2008

Semester 2 :

Intro to Water Quality - Wed 30th Jul 2008,
Recirculation Technology - Thu & Fri 1st/2nd Aug 2008

2 Day Course Costs - $306
3 Day Course Costs - $486


Other Natfish Aquaculture courses are :

Certificate II - SFI 20104,
Certificate III - SFI 30104,
Certificate IV - SFI 40104,
Diploma - SFI 50104

All Certificate and Diploma courses can be completed in either one semester (six months) full time or two semesters over 12 months.

All involve two week long compulsory workshops attendance at their Casino campus facilities.

[GaryD]

Excellent information SOF.....Thanks for that.

Jonathon.....what sort of Aquaculture course did you do? Full-time or part-time?



A 4 day aquaculture course will not nor cannot give anyone the required skills and knowledge to become a commercial fish farmer it may give one a good understanding but not the smaller detail that is crucial for success.

While I agree that a 4 day program can't provide everything one needs to become a commercial fish farmer, it would be a good start since the most important things about running an aquaculture system can be learned in that time.

What would take far longer would be the business education that is necessary to ensure that the new venture survives its first financial crisis.

I've never done an aquaculture course but I could run a fish farm. It all depends on how one learns best. Some people do well sitting in a TAFE or University lecture theatre while other learn more effectively in other environments.

When I become passionate about something, and I decide that I need/want to know more about it, I find that I can easily outstrip the delivery pace of any formal course.

Gary

[Jonathan Dyer]

Yeah I do agree that you will learn (depending on the teacher) the basics of aquaculture in several days but a good month both of practical and written is much better as is a lifetime of experience. As to set up a fully operating aquaculture system whether it be 2 tonne production or 150 tonne production per year; fresh or salt water, there is a vast range of systems ie. Recirculating tank production, open semi-intensive pond production or even marine ocean culture all have different requirements and equipment to suit each scenario is massive and installing something that may not suit one’s needs can be disastrous.

I do recommend anyone considering aquaculture as a business it is worth looking at “AQUAFarmer” feasibility software by Department of Primary Industries, Victoria which is a very comprehensive program covering all economics, budgets YIYO etc and many other requirements of a recirculation tank production system. I also recommend that production should be either Murray cod or Sleepy cod as recirculation aquaculture (or aquaponics) is a reasonably expensive enterprise and these two species will make it viable due to their higher value in the market place as well as export sales. For example it could cost someone $10.00/kg to produce Silver perch, Barramundi, Jade perch where it retails for around $13.00/kg (depending where you are) not much profit there. I guess success of lower priced fish such as trout even, would lie in value adding such as smoking, fish roe, or dried fish and even the production of fry.

The web sites below could be of some use:

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/IIFET/2000/papers/rawlinson.pdf

http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au (Search for AquaFarmer)

http://www.northernaquafarms.com/knowledgelibrary/NAF_PDF_Files/RAS_mininum_standards.pdf

Yeah Garry I completed studies over a year in aquaculture at Ag school along with many other fields, horticulture, viticulture, dairy, beef cattle, sheep, wool handling and some others completing a Cert. II in them all. I have built upon my studies since completing school in production horticulture and hope to work towards a uni degree.

And as for the business knowledge necessity makes you learn pretty quickly but remember not all information given from a professional business consultant isn’t always best don’t forget its your money on the line not theirs so some bad advice even good as intentions are may not always work; look at every scenario and definitely “Aquafarmer” is a good place to start.

[GaryD]

Hi,



I also recommend that production should be either Murray cod or Sleepy cod as recirculation aquaculture (or aquaponics) is a reasonably expensive enterprise and these two species will make it viable due to their higher value in the market place as well as export sales.


While the choice of fish species is critical in commercial aquaculture, it is much less so in the case of commericial aquaponics.

Commercial aquaponics, in production volume terms, is more about plants than fish. The late Tom Speraneo (a small-scale commercial aquaponics pioneer) was quoted as saying that his ratio of plants to fish was 45 - 70:1 (the wide variation was probably a question of plant varieties).

At this rate, the fish are very much a sideline......a means to an end rather than the core product.

Gary

[Jonathan Dyer]

Put it this way Garry if not for the fish why bother with aquaponics? Wouldn’t you just employ hydroponics? Although I know your answer will be no….but think of it as if you were a commercial shark fisher, whereby the shark fin has the value and the remaining body is just thrown back into the water or you keep the body and are able to sell the shark just for a few dollars per kg. My point it is with everything even though one part may make the majority sales it is the integration of everything that makes it worth wile; so at the same time in aquaponics it will cost you so much to feed 100kg of fish whatever type it be, so why not try to farm a fish that will bring a higher value for the same cost entirely?

Why don’t we see every farmer that has the ability to grow food aquaponically?....Because the returns are just not there at this stage (this includes term loan of 10 years for the new development, interest repayments @ $60,000/yr, annual loan repayments and all other operating expenses) all fair and well to say or believe in something but without business nor commercial aquaculture or horticulture knowledge there are no grounds to stand on and any new commercial venture into aquaponics established this way will be almost doomed to failure not always the case but trying to ‘wing it’ just wont cut; and endless hours of hard work and hundreds of thousands of dollars will disappear.

[Murray]

Any new venture must be approached with due diligence and Aquaponics is no exception. You raise good points Jonathan. This is a very useful discussion. I would like to add my "two bobs worth"

There are many varied reasons why Aquaponics is the way of the future.

There is a small but rapidly growing group in the community that want their food to be produced with the use of little or no chemicals.
There is increasing evidence making connection between many modern medical conditions and the use of chemicals such as food additives and pesticides in our food production.
Aquaponics is inherently organic. It is about as close as you can go in a very practical way.

Aquaponics is an intensive food production method producing both animal protein and vegetable output using a minimum of space, and very importantly, minimum water.
Water usage is a very important consideration in this dry country of ours. See the massive cuts in water allocations in the Murray irrigation areas. The very large areas of farmland being lost to salt build up in the soil. The need to produce food closer to the consumer due to transport costs (food miles) is coming upon us with lightning speed.
For this reason alone, I believe we will soon see small to medium scale commercial aquaponics farms dotted around the Australian countryside.

Large areas of broad acre farmland now "dead", reduced to a dust bowl due to improper use of chemical fertilisers, and improper soil management. There is scientific school of thought that believes these millions of acres of "dead" farmland are a significant loss of "carbon sink", a major factor in global warming.

We have to radically re think the way we farm and produce food. Aquaponics is not a panacea that will solve every food production problem, but it is very significant.

The combination of Fish production and plant production is very efficient.

Integrated vegetable growing and fish farming poly-culture systems have long been used in Far Eastern countries such as China and Thailand. Farm wastes are commonly added as feed to fish ponds and fish are often cultured in flooded rice paddies. ....................... Horticulturalists at North Carolina State University are demonstrating that fish and vegetable crops can be raised concurrently in an interconnected system to produce significantly higher yields than either system alone. see http://www.fadr.msu.ru/rodale/agsieve/txt/vol1/3/art7.html

There are many other examples of studies that have and are being done on commercial aquaponics as a food production method.
A very notable example of successful Aquaponics is the work done at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Here is a sample of information regarding the effectiveness of Aquaponics.
http://www.aquaponicsjournal.com/articleAquaponicsSuperior.htm

It is true that a significant investment would be required to create a large scale successful Aquaponics enterprise, but small to medium scale enterprises can also be very viable, the investment required being proportional.
There are some larger scale successful farms right now. "Barramundi Blue" is the one that immediately comes to mind.

[GaryD]

Hi,


Aquaponics is inherently organic.

It might be almost organic but, given the reliance of the fish food industry on imported by-catch fishmeal, it is hardly sustainable.

Ironically, a dramatic increase in the production of Aquaponically-grown food would probably put the world's wildcatch fisheries under even more pressure than they are currently.

I believe that we need to keep working to find alternative ingredients (to imported fish meal) before we can think in terms of aquponics as being sustainable.

Gary

[Martin A1]

Excellent point Gary!

I made this realisation when I began my investigation into the wonderful world of aquaponics. It was actually pointed out to me by a third generation pond nursery man who has operated a small business in my suburb for a number of years.

I was like an excited puppy thinking aquaponics would be the way to solve world hungry until he bluntly pointed out the fact that it takes 1 fish to grow 1 fish or maybe even more? Even though some comes from by product like the salmon industry etc much of it still comes from wild fisheries. This was like a pin in my balloon as I am a lover of our wild fisheries and had hoped to change the world :D !!

Non the less, like most of you, I believe aquaponics still holds an important place in our future backyard communities and as you say we just need to develop new sources of protein to feed our fish.

Keep up the great work Gary and sharing of knowledge on this topic eg like the soldier fly larvae production. This was the instant hook that made me buy your Urban Aquaponics Manual and acknowledge you as a leader in the self sustainable backyard movement.

PS can you please find something a little more attractive than Soldier Fly Larvae? I know its just a state of mind but maggots... really:p!

[zact01]

the problem is also made a lot worse by the fact we feed so much fish to our cats. i read somewhere that a cat in Australia eats more fish per year than a small village in some Asian contrys. what we should be doing is feeding our cats more of there natural diet than canned fish. especially when u consider the fact that cats are so allergic to water they would not get any fish in there diet.

just something to consider.

[Martin A1]

The only good cat is a dead cat! Sorry cat lovers!

The toll on local bird and other wildlife is too great in my view but lets not go there on this thread! We should feed cats everything they kill and drag home to the back step - maybe they'd stop killing or the canning of fish for there consumption??

It's only insticnt I know and not really their fault!