Aquaponics Courses in Fremantle, Western Australia

[tonyabalone]

The next weekend Aquaponics Course will be held at Challenger Institute of Technology (Formerly Challenger Tafe) in Fremantle on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August. These course have been run on a regular basis every two months for the past year and the response from participants has been very positive. The course is designed for both the backyard aquaponics person and those who are wanting to investigate the commercial potential and pitfalls.
Areas covered include:
• System components and design
• Grow out systems for fish and plants including gravel media, NFT and Raft systems
• Water quality monitoring and maintenance
• Fish selection, health, care, nutrition and disease
• Plant selection, disease prevention and nutrition
• Greenhouse design and low energy systems
• Profitability and pitfalls of aquaponics
A tour of one of the largest fish hatcheries in Australia is included as well as visits to a variety of aquaponics systems in Perth including the newly developed commercial NFT system that is operating north of Perth.
The cost of the weekend course (9a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday) is $200.00 which includes lunches on both days (Sunday is barbequed farmed fish) as well as morning and afternoon refreshments and full course notes.
To find out more or join the course phone Meredith on 92398008 during normal office hours or call me ( Tony Bart) on 92398015 if you want further information.

[kellenw]

Looks like a very good class tonyabalone.

[tonyabalone]

Several people have enquired as to how our commercial NFT system is progressing. First crop of lettuce were harvested about a week ago. The very cold mornings that Perth has experienced has slowed the plants down but at least we didn’t lose any plants to frost which I understand a number of commercial farmers around Perth did.
The fish (Trout) just keep powering on and they are looking good.
By the way I have been asked by several people if the next full weekend aquaponics course at Fremantle (August 21 and 22) will include a site visit to the commercial setup. The answer is yes.
Those wanting more info or want to enrol in the course then ring Merri on 92398008 during normal office hours.

[DaveOponic]

Wow! It's great to see Aquaponics taking off in such a big way in Australia. Good luck with it Tony. As an expat. Aussie I have been doing Aquaponics here in Brunei for the past 5 years. All DIY. I am probably regarded as an eccentric by other expats, many of whom can't find anything to do here but run around in the tropical heat and drink too much afterwards. I have changed a few people's minds by feeding them home grown Barra at our BBQ's but most folks here don't see the need to grow their own when they can buy it at the supermarket or fish market. I'm just training myself for retirement when I plan to grow more than I can eat, fish, veges, chickens and eggs and whatever else I can grow in my own backyard.

[tonyabalone]

Hi Dave,

thanks for the interest. I'm very interested in what fish species are available to you. You mentioned barra (Sea bass?) but are Milk fish (Chanos chanos) available? I've always thought that these would be a good aquaponics species as it doesn't have the high protein requirements of barra and feeds low down the food chain so would be like Tilapia, a relatively cheap fish to feed.