djs - sa

[djs-sa]

hi im dale from southern suberbs of adelaide. Me and a mate are seting up a fish farm in a fully lined shed to farm barramundi. Our setup is underway in the construct stage(waiting for our tanks to arrive)the idea for us is to start with 4 2800lt tanks and once way have the fish underway we will start our greenhouse. well thats it in a nutshell.

thanks dale,

[GaryD]

G'day Dale,


Welcome to APHQ.

I'm a former South Australian too.......but I'm gradually getting over it. We moved up here about 10 years ago.

Your barramundi project sounds interesting......we're looking forward to the progress reports.

GaryD

[Hamish]

Yes we will all be watching closely. Sounds very interesting! Are you going to cool the water in the tanks - or are Barra ok at ambient temperatures in SA?

[fishfood]

Yes we will all be watching closely. Sounds very interesting! Are you going to cool the water in the tanks - or are Barra ok at ambient temperatures in SA?
I think barra need heat

[Jonathan Dyer]

28C is ideal growth temperatures for barra too much lower than this or higher will cause stress and retard growth. But why grow barra? @ a farm gate price of $10.00/kg if your lucky where as Murray Cod should fetch say $15.00 to $20.00/Kg when the cost of production is very similar if not the same (if not lower for the latter). And all under 900kg production of fish for the year will be very difficult to make net returns on investment, yet, I wish you the best of luck in your new venture I know it wont be easy and you’ll find it will occupy a great deal of time and effort to say the least.

What plants do you intend to grow?

[djs-sa]

jon dyer,
wat costs do u think i need to recover, wat hobby's do u and have how much do u spend on those activity's. Me and my mate have saved our fishing trip money and collected alot of stuff at bargin prices to build this hobby i repeat hobby. the set up is fully paid for and we spent $2000 max and we will produce 180Kg per mth after the 5 mth ok. thats plenty of fish for us.we also plan to set it up for school groups to look through our set up after the 5 mth stage too as my son is at primary school.
How long does murrycod take from fingerlings to farmgate?

As for plants i will market what is needed in my local area but tomato's for sure as my son loves them.quility herbs are needed in my area too

[djs-sa]

sorry this post was in introductions yesterday we are not small commercial farm.

[Hamish]

Wow - that sounds great! Huge scale hobby - thats the way to go!!! Cant wait to see the pictures.

How are you planning on heating the Barra? Do Murray Cod need less heat? If so then Murrays may cost less to keep.

Murray has some murrays (sorry but no other way to say it) and they seem to be doing well. Murray - what temp are you keeping yours at?

[djs-sa]

8 x 300watt fish tank heaters all enclosed shed fully lined so we hope that the heater wont run too much i have done some maths on it so in theory it shouldn't be too bad 2 per tank. i'm a sparky too so i'm making my own solar set up too, plus i have half that many running now inside with my tropicals so i am basically stopping that hobby and upscaling from that with a change of species.

[Hamish]

I had a 6 foot tank with African Chiclids for years - and I stopped doing that because I couldnt justify the $$$ going out in upkeep and power consumption - yes I liked them but what did it give me back other than decoration for my house? AP gives me the pleasure of keeping fish as well as veges and fish - fantastic! Keep up the good work mate.

[Jonathan Dyer]

A hobby is slightly different than a commercial fish farm as it was titled but that’s ok.

Murray Cod should reach plate size from initial stocking to harvest in 10-12 months and yes there water temperature requirements are lower than Barra.

[Murray]

Hi DJS-SA,
I moved your thread to Commercial because it would appear that is what you are heading for. We have a policy of moving threads and posts to wherever in an attempt to keep the forum subjects relevant.

While it may appear to be very easy to start up an Aquaculture project, the countryside is littered with failed attempts. Why did they fail ? It might be a good idea to find out.
It takes specialised knowledge across many disciplines to make a success of any farming project and Aquaculture is not an exception.

Seeking some professional assistance would be wise.
You may have to pay a firm to consult, or Dept of Fisheries in SA may be a good place to start. There may be other State Gov departments that can offer assistance with marketing etc.
Deciding on the fish species to be farmed would be one of the very early decisions I would suggest, then obtaining detailed knowledge as the the habits and needs of that species would be imperative, if you want to have an even chance at success.

[djs-sa]

Murray,
where does it say we are commercial outfit we expect it to cost us money and are willing to lose a set amount b4 we reap to produce. 4 2800lt tanks without veggie patch whats so big about that, but we are farming barra for sure, yes we have all realvant info from PIRSA plus my mate has studied aquaculture so i'm doing a little of my own home work whilst I have 3 weeks holidays. so hope u can move this murry

[djs-sa]

thanks murray for moving my thread
cheers dale

[djs-sa]

my 4 tanks are coming to the shed this monday cant wait
:):)

[Hamish]

Just remember - photos photos photos!

[djs-sa]

went shopping today and got most of all my pumps and battery back up system parts and the bio balls required 4 my filters.
my air pump is a HAILEA aco9730 it is a beauty:)

[Hamish]

Hi - have a look at the 12V switched Murray has. They are really good. They have a relay that holds the 12V circuit open when there is 240V present. As soon as the 240V switches off (ie power outage) the 12V circuit closes and the 12V backup pumps switch on. Very nice!

[djs-sa]

hamish thanks for that i'm a sparky mate , i'm sure murray's switchs are nice but wait and see my back up system! first thing I made and cost me nothing except a battery charger $36.95 i will have pics up during the week:)

[Hamish]

hamish thanks for that i'm a sparky mate , i'm sure murray's switchs are nice but wait and see my back up system! first thing I made and cost me nothing except a battery charger $36.95 i will have pics up during the week:)
Fair call - will be interesting to hear about the specs for your backup system and how it works when you get a chance.

[djs-sa]

well i slept well last night! I was up at 5.30am drove out to the barrossa valley to pick up our tanks and on the way back we also collected the bio balls i had ordered from solardome in norwood. then continued on our way home. got home at 1.30pm. we off loaded the tanks into the carport then returned the caged trailer back to the servo. then collected 1ton of db4 sand to lay down under each tank as a base, off loaded that then leveled it and then lifted the babies into place. and now the time was about 4.15pm and a quick check that all was sweet and level.... now time to add the water it's 4.30pm

[Hamish]

Cool - dont forget the photos!

[djs-sa]

here are some photos its half a day old and we had to half fill 2 of the tanks with water to get their shape to build the frames but its working out just as planned now :):):)

[Jonathan Dyer]

Do your tanks have a bottom drain right at the base of the tank where the sand is?

[djs-sa]

yeah they do we fitted them and leveled it to fall slightly that end