Wheat Belt WA system.

[Paul]

Hi All

We are farmers from the wheatbelt of W A .I am very interested in the aquaponics system to maybe create some diversification on the farm and produce food for ourselves , as im a bit worried that the cost of food in the future outside of cities will be a nightmare .Im very new to aquaponics but we have lots of underground water and lots of shaded sheds that are cemented that used to be a piggery,and im trying to utilise the resources we have. Have been farming yabbies in the past when dams allow it ,which led me to fish which led me to aquaponics.
Is there a book i can buy to start my learning process as ive been reading your posts since i found your site last night, and thought it was a good place to start

Looking forward to reading more of all your posts
Regards Paul

[Hamish]

Hi Paul,

Gary has written a good guide to get you started off on the right track - I found it very useful. You can find it on Garys web site here:

http://www.urbanaquaponics.com.au/products.html

or on Murrays web site here:

http://www.urbanaquaponics.com.au/products.html

Murray also makes a very good selection of tanks and grow beds made from Fiber Glass that will last you a life time. Not the cheapest thing you can buy when compared to recycled products - but they will last damn near forever and they are very tidy and solid and wont fail causing potential losses of fish. They are also inert - causing no chemical contamination of the water or fish - unlike some plastics.

Sounds like you are well on the way already having sheds set up. Would be ideal to have the fish housed in tanks in the sheds and then pipe the water outside to water the grow beds (perhaps in a grow tunnel/greenhouse depending on your climate) then back to the fish tanks.

Would be great if you could collect the water off the roof if you arent already - to store and use to top up the system.

I am constanly amazed at how easy aquaponics is. I have zero experience gardening - but all my plants are growing like crazy and I am yet to loose a fish (other than a couple of the initial gold fish that were handled badly at the pet store and went into shock). All my jade perch are growing rapidly and are eating all they can get.

Depending on your climate and the fish you wish to grow - it might be also be good if you could use the roof of the sheds to heat the water by pumping the water slowly through large coils of black tube. Or on a timer - fill the tube, stop the pump until water is hot, then fill the tube again once up to temp. Turning off at night. Just use a simple timer for this.

If it is hot there during summer you could create a cooling system using the same coils. Pump the water through the coils at night to cool the water instead.

There has been some research done on using lupins to feed fish - might be worth growing some if you have the land - as a cheap alternative to commercial fish food. Also try to incorporate some duck weed growing in troughs to feed the fish - silver and jade perch seem to like it and it grows rapidly with next to no nutrients.

Good luck - perhaps post some photos of the area you are looking at using so we can make suggestions.

Paul - what is land worth in your area - im looking for a few acres.

Regards,
Hamish

[Paul]

Hi Hamish great to hear from you,
Will take on board every thing you say .We can get water from roofs .have thousands of sq meters to do it but at the moment have fresh bore water on tap. We have hot summers and cool winters and plenty of lupins{we actually grow them on the farm } .Land around us is about $400/acre and its broadacre but there are lots of towns where you can get 2000 meter sq blocks quite cheaply.
Regards Paul

[Hamish]

Fantastic - 10 acres at $400 please!

Can I put a house on it? Probably not allowed to build on rural land?

I am really keen to build a shipping container house - cheap and very robust.

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2006/09...-home-kit.html

Here are some links to lupins as fish food:

http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/op/op...mmary.php?0306

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/a...004/output-330

I have been trying to find a place to buy some de-hulled lupin to test on my Jade perch - but cant find them for sale.

[Murray]

Paul, I have moved your thread down here to New Aquaponics Systems. Sent email.

[Jonathan Dyer]

First off Hamish land zoned rural in WA you are able to build a house with no approval necessary contrary to what some may think (only a works approval may be need in some cases but a sea container wont be) so go and start buying up big here in WA.

Hi Paul,

As only being a stone through away from me and also being a farmer in the Kellerberrin/Tammin district in the family for 104years now I know what you are up for and what will work best for you. What works in Queensland very well is much harder for us here so a slightly different approach is needed for best results.

Over the past several years we have diversified our farm to grow intensive horticultural crops such as pumpkins and rockmelons, I have an excellent understanding of most horticultural crops and a sound understanding in aquaculture with TAFE degrees in both fields so integration of the two was easy for me.

I have had a aquaponic system going for near two years and as of yet I haven’t lost one fish, but I have been looking to expand on my system, if you would like feel free to give me a call on PH: 90454252 or I could give you a call at night to discuss the fundamentals and perhaps we could work close together on a system design as with a poorly designed system is a cause for disaster and intern a great loss of money.

[Paul]

Hi Jonathon
Thanks for your reply,we are only a hour or so from you 70km se of merredin,just got back from perth so wont call you 2night but maybe tomorrow ,and well see what we can come up with .
Hamish, most shires out here bent over backwards to help people move here , it just depends if you like being 3 hrs from a city and you can handle the flys.
It just depends on what you need , but if you are serious let me know i may be able to guide you to where you want to be.
regards Paul

[Jonathan Dyer]

G’day Paul,

How have the rains been out your way?