Aquaponics Project near Marburg Qld.

[Murray]

We have started work on a Commercial system to be installed on a property near Marburg in SE Qld.
It is a 4 stage project having 4 x greenhouses 10M x 26M in size.

The project is at an advanced stage of Local Council, EPA and Fisheries approvals.

The first of the 4 greenhouses is currently being manufactured.

The growing system will be Floating Raft. The floating rafts will be in our fiber glass troughs 20M long x 1.2M wide x 0.4M deep.
The troughs are manufactured in 5M sections and assembled on site.
The troughs are positioned at a good working height of 800mm (top of the trough edge) This provides a comfortable and efficient working environment for the farm staff.

The system will have fish tanks, swirl filters, particulate filters etc all manufactured from marine grade fiberglass.

The entire system will ultimately be run on its own solar and wind generated electricity.

The construction and commissioning of stage 1 will run over several months.

[aussieap]

Great Muzz. Anyone we know?
Look forward to seeing it all unfold, sure to provide plenty of impetus for aquaponics commercially up your way.

[french]

Hi guys,
Its facinating to see how these systems are soo popular in Australia yet here in Costa Rica, Central America its practicly unheard of. I moved down here from Connecticut (USA) 4 years ago and am now currently looking into the different designs available and their costs in hopes of purchasing one and setting it up and getting it up and running as soon as possible. Some here just have a "pond" dug up placed a liner in and voila there you go, but Im hoping to set up a "commercial system". Theres quite a demand for both products (fish and veggies).

And I must say there really isnt much in the way of information from my side of the hemisphere! A lot is from Australia. Are there any "mini solar systems" that can be easily connected to the aqauponic system that can/will allow me to slash at least a portion of the electricity expenses? I have ample sun rays to say the least.

[Murray]

Hi French,
It would appear that Australia is leading the way...... but believe it or not, most people here have not heard of it either.
It's a very new industry as far as public awareness goes, but a very old thing all at the same time. Aquaponics in it's modern form has been around for decades.

I believe it will eventually be the dominant high density food production method because of it's many advantages over Hydroponics and regular dirt farming. At first glance Hydroponics would appear to be easier, but usually proves not to be so easy, and you can't produce fish in a hydroponics system. The cost of nutrients for aquaponics is much lower in the long run. (two crops for the cost of one nutrient input)

The down side to Aquaponics in a sustainable sense, is the need for power to run the pumps. A sustainable supply of commercial feed is also a problem, but I believe that will be solved in the near future.
Solar would be the immediate obvious answer to the power for pumps.
Currently the cost of solar panels and battery storage is just to ridiculous to be practical, especially for small scale domestic and commercial systems.

Currently we are running very small pumps to cut down on the power requirements. We have got the pumps down to a small as possible I believe.

There is plenty of info and an ever increasing knowledge base here in our Forum. We have members that have tried just about everything you can imagine, so ask questions and do heaps of reading...The info is only a click or two away.

[french]

Murray,
I heard youve helped others in 3rd world countries to set up "concrete tank" systems. Would you mind sharing what countries these have been set up in? Id love to be able to provide or be the first to use the fiberglass systems here in Costa Rica and be the area representative for these systems. I wonder how much more economical a concrete system is as opposed to a fiberglass system?

Any idea if there are any "bundle packages" available? Such as if you buy a "commercial" system you can get a % off of the courses? I know that would definately be a kicker of an idea.

[Murray]

I have had the opportunity to speak with a lot of people from third world countries about ways to implement aquaponics systems, but have not yet seen any outcomes.
Fiberglass can be done on-site in third world countries..easily in fact. I worked in PNG and up into the Philippines for a number of years building fiberglass boats and other products using local labour.
One job I can recall was erecting a number of steel and concrete block buildings for an oil palm mill. That was a massive project that destroyed thousands of acres of native rain forest...but that is another story.
We also built a number of round water tanks from concrete bricks. With assistance and direction the locals can achieve almost anything.

The real difficulty in establishing successful systems in such places will be reliable electricity for the pump/s and also on-going management of the system/s

Trouble is that most third world locations where there is disparate need for food do not have infrastructure like reliable electricity. Some other way of running a aquaponics system is needed. Solar power is what immediately comes to mind...but that is not all that easy and is way to expensive. A lot of panels and batteries are needed to run an aquaponics system.

I feel a better solution is to help adapt regular gardening practices that are suitable for a given location. Some sort of improved dirt gardening practices...a bit of permaculture thinking perhaps. Each location has it's own set of problems and constraints.

One would need to be on-the-ground, on location, for some time to see just how things are done locally before coming to any conclusions.

When I lived in PNG we would see some well meaning do-good person fly in and in a couple of days have it all worked out (so they thought) trying to apply white mans thinking to the local situation......most times it just doesn't work.

[french]

As previously mentioned Im in Costa Rica, Central America, and yes its considered a 3rd world country. Yet, the electric "service" is quite reliable hence the reason Im considering getting a fiberglass system installed here. Of course for redundency reasons Ive thought about getting a generator (gas powered) since the power outs are of short duration. And your right, solar systems are expensive (although Id love to know the total power consumption for a system w 4-1000ltr fish tanks, 8- 650 litr grow bed, 1- sump 1000ltr, 1-250ltr header tank, 1 pump for freshwater). I trust your familiar with a system such as this. The location or buisness offering this system is in Australia yet I havent had any luck getting a response from them yet. Ive tried 2 times already. The market here is soo strong Im truthfully looking into purchasing 3 of these systems and bundle them together. Im hoping maybe I can time a visit to australia and match the trip dates to course dates that way I can (together with my wife) take the course and ship the system away prior to my departure.

Thats why I asked if you knew of any bundle packs offering courses with the purchase of a system or 3 (haha).

[Murray]

That is not us you are talking about....we do not have such a kit as you describe.
I am sure we can help you. When I get to work this morning I will email you.

[french]

Hi Murray,
I wasnt referring to you or your company when I posted the last one. The reason I stated "I trust your familiar with a system such as this" is because I figured you are probably familiar with a layout such as that and can possibly assist me since I couldnt reach those on the website I contacted earlier.Sorry for the misunderstanding. And I do look forward to receiving any assistance with this!

[Muchea]

QUOTE Murray. We have started work on a Commercial system to be installed on a property near Marburg in SE Qld.


G-day murry any more news on this thred... any pics