Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looks great bioaquafarm, looking forward on seeing this venture unfold.

Great looking system, cant wait to see some more pics as it all comes together.

Hi Bio
Your system is shaping up very nicely and can see that you have put a lot of work in,

One thing to think about when you get your visit from the Fish Health Inspectorate and that is waste disposal. With two tonnes of fish you are going to have a lot of guts to get rid of and the Environment Agency etc will want to know how you are going to dispose of it. Never been a problem here but a lot of people answer the question by stating " Insineration" on the form. Keeps everybody happy.

Hope the floods down there are easing a bit. We have been flooded out twice and over the New Year we have had two big polytunnels torn to bits by the weather. Have to wait until March /April to recover them.
Such is horticulture.

WD and OH.

thanks for the support guys, please keep asking question, I really value all of your help and as soon as the farm is ready I 'll organise a big aquaparty for the whole comunity and you will all get an invitation.

Welsh Dragon, you have read my mind, I was going to ask you about waste disposal as I remember you have mention about the pig-digesters but I knew that would have been a concern to some officer, I have one question regard "insineration", it means do I burn it myself or do I take it to an special Insineration facility?

Today they finally booked the farm inspection for next monday, FHI inspector said he will come with an eviroment officer too, hopefully it's all going to be ok.
I have to say that finding a fish vet it's not easy, any hint?

PS; Phill If you need help to get the polytunnel cover on let me know and I see If I can make down to you, I know how hard it could be as my GH cover was (9x32mt) and a total weight of 60kg!

Good luck with the inspection next week, we'll all have our fingers crossed for you. Regarding the vets what about contacting Blagdon Lakes and asking if they know anyone in the area? Actually ring the Bristol Uni vet dept at Langford, they are bound to know someone.

Hi Bio

Take advice from the two guys visting you. If the FHI guy is Rob Packham then pick his brains, he is a good chap.As I have said before they are only really interested in control of fish disease, so they will be wanting to hear about how you implement a "biosecurity" policy. Common sense really and I think we gave you stuff relating to it all, recording fish on the premises, off the premises and mortalities. Put out a footbath for them to tread in with some iodine water. They will usually have their own wellies and sprays.
They might insist on you taking the guts to the local vets for incineration especially if you are producing lots of the fish guts as you would be.

You will find most vet practices have one of their members who knows about fish. Ring them up and ask and then make a note of the name for your records.

When dealing with organisations such as these just tell them the answer to their questions and nothing more. Giving too much enthusiastic chat can sometimes drop you in the soft, smelly stuff.

Thanks for the offer on the polytunnel. We have just received a clear woven tarpaulin which OH and I will stretch across the torn part and hope it will keep the inside dry until the weather warms up in a couple of months when we can start re-covering the tunnels. The biggest task is digging the trenches to bury the cover ends and sides. It gets harder as you get older. Probably hire a mini-digger.

Let us know how you get on.

WD and OH.

We are finally an Official Aquaculture Production Business!
The farm inspection from Fish Helth Inspectorate(CEFAS) went really well, they are very keen to support our project and they will mention and use our farm as an examples to other fish farmers that would like to approach and convert to AP, he said that that in the last two year they have received a great number of application but mainly backyard system (mickey mouse scale as he described).
He was impressed with my knowledge and understanding of Fish Biosecurity Measure Plan (I've taken an online course from a Vet University), and he could see that we have confidence in aquaponic methods and possibly use this as a training platform in future.

PS: The Enviroment Agency was so interested in this that they sent 3 officers today (mainly curiosity) so I ended up giving a one hour lecture on AP system and benefits.
In the end they wish me luck and they look forward to hear about our succesfull progress.

Welsh Dragon,
thank you so much for your help it was great to have your support and knowledge, Brian Mander came around today, luckly he was so excited too because he's been experimenting with AP and he loves the ideas and our set up. He awarded us with a licence!

Congratulations, excellent news ! Will you be running tours in the future ?

That is interesting he said about lots of applications recently, even if they are small scale. I guess the more people who experiment in back gardens, the more we'll see bigger projects springing up as people look to expand.

Thanks Pipkin,
yes we will be running informational farm open days and tours and at some stage even courses, that only once I've established the food marketing and distribution supply, it's only me working on the farm at present and I have a big work load on for the next couple of years, maybe I will be able to run a one-to-one course.
It'e easye to get hooked in aquaponcs but at commercial level is not just a hobby and it takes a lot more preparation and skills, and the lack of sunlight during winter months means you have to came up with a good ideas for those few plants you can grow.

Great news

One more hurdle out of the way... must be a relief. Congrats and good luck in moving forward.

thanks Charlie, one dowm ..more to come!
next tough inspection will be from the FOOD STANDARD AGENCY for the inspection of my processing facility which I will begin building in April.
Luckly I came from catering industries and I'm well aware about regulation for food handling/processing facility.
early next month the first batch of 300 trout will be introduced and every month and a half I will be restocking that much for a total production of 2400(1.2tonnes) trout year round.
If sale go well and the businnes is taking off, we will double up the size of the project.

Please let me know if you do have an open day, I'd be very interested . Are you actually right by Glastonbury ? We used to live Rooksbridge/Mark/Wedmore way and still have friends in the area .

I can totally see the challenges of the winter months on a commercial set up , it's a world apart from a hobby system when you have all the overheads to meet. You've got a lot on your plate but it sounds as if you are off to a great start and it's really good to see an AP farm of the scale yours in the South.

We will launch the website around March then you will see every detail on farm open days and I will personally try to contact you.
We are located in Blackford (between Mark and Wedmore)

Great, thanks. I know Blackford , DD would have gone to school there if we hadn't moved. Lovely part of the world, just a bit wet when the rain gets going !

This is really inspiring stuff bioaqua! You are living my dream!

I sincerely hope you make a go of this, and develop the distribution market with local restaurants/markets.

What will you be able to sell the trout for per kilo you reckon? And, are trout more valuable than talapia where you're from?

Again, Amazing system, amazing concept, and all the best! After almost a decade in food service, I am moving towards a very similar goal.

Cheers.