Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

but in another context, if the water was going there to water the plants anyway, then putting fertiliser into it doesnt constitute a 2nd use or "saving" unless you were previously fertilising seperately and adding water for dillution.

Which almost all farmers do. Various forms of fetiliser are spread on paddocks particularly in the organic sector. Using the irrigation water to distribute fertilser from manure is possible but challenging so people don't tend to do it.

That fish farm at Echuca looks like it was using the waste water in big sprinklers over a 10 acre paddock

I should clarify that.

Of course all farmers need to fertilise sooner or later.

Non-organic farmers tend to use very dense fertilisers and don't need to spread fertiliser very often. Organic farmers tend to use fertilisers/composts that are quite bulky and require a bit more effort to spread.

thats ok, i was only talking about liquid fertiliser anyway obviously... because other ferts cant be pumped down a pipe line.

There are some people that develop liquid fertilisers from manure but its tricky to do and needs a bit of extra energy to make it work.

lol ok lets not get into some sort of "thing".... you know what i meant.

Hi Stuart
I bet you are getting fed up with advice.
I know very little about you personal circumstances and even less about agricultural land in Australia.
Recently I was reading an article in El Pais ( Spanish newspaper) about the problems of rural depopulation.
Whole villages are dying. People moving away to the city.
You can buy a whole village; houses shop, bar and land for less than €300,000
Now I am not suggesting you move.
It does strike me however that your dreams, if realized, will add value to less attractive land.
Investment and the creation of employment opportunities are always welcome.
You however bring water.
Life to land.
A valuable commodity to encourage other agricultural enterprises.
As Monty Python said,”What did the Romans ever do for us?”
Er? Aqueducts, farming and jobs!
Yes! But apart from that?
Er? Roads, education and health care!
You get the picture.
My ten cents worth.
I wish you well.

No I'm not getting sick of advice titus most of it has been very valuable.

Yes I am aware of the situation in Spain and also Italy, probably others as well.

If the Spanish government were to make me an offer, I'd almost certainly take it.

Its one of the arguments I've used with the government. I have been given extensive advice by the ATO and AusIndustry about how they can assist us grow our operation but they can't help get us started. Once started they can help a lot, but we have to get through our first year first.

For years I've talked to wealthy people, super funds and the like and I've demonstrated that aquaculture and hydroponics in the one system have lower costs of production and hence can generate a better return.

They have come back and said, "we love your ideas, we love your data, we love your modelling but we want to see one that works."

I've said "well there are a large number to look at in the states and we can go for a tour and you will see that the method works"

They say "Didn't you said all those systems are not profitable!"

I reply "Yes because they don't have a decent scale. Which is why I'm asking you for funds to build a 1ha greenhouse. Integrating an AQ and HP operation lowers your cost of production by a significant fraction but building a system at a scale of 2000m2 or less increases your cost of production by a factor of 5 to 10."

They say "Well once you have built the first one, we would love to work with you on the next ten."

Very frustrating.

Having had that said to me over and over again motivated me to find a way to start small and grow without going broke. I've now got that plan.

I'd love to make it work as part of a larger farm and I'm going to give that a go but I've also got to focus on gathering support and funds.

Hi Stu,
build a greenhouse 1/10 of a hectare, and multiply the troubles by 10, the costs by 10 and the profits by 10 and see what happens..! OR
Is the only difference between a hydroponics system and a Aquaculture/hydroponics system is fish waste.?? if so. then why not start to sell dried or liquid form fish waste to a Hydroponics setup and go from there.?
If you don't back yourself by building at least a small scale setup (1/10 of a hectare)
I don't think that anyone will back you before you start.
"BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME."

Did you ever watch "THE SHARK TANK" when it was on TV Stu...
Great show.
Did you often see that after some people explained their business/proposal to the sharks, they were asked "why are you here, you have only got an idea, we need to see real facts and figures. You are looking for investors to put in a lot of their own hard earned money into a business that doesn't even exit.
The time scale on any return would be far too long a wait for any investor because its all starting from the very beginning..
What concerns me most is that it looks like that you won't invest in it yourself without the backing of others.
which is really not a good look...


Thanks for coming but unfortunately........."I'm out"

Mudeye I think you either don't know enough about what I've been doing and the responses I've been getting or what I'm trying to do now.

I've been backing myself for years.

Three times I've had investment funds committed on the strength of what I was offering and three times things have fallen through. The first time was to do with something wrong with the project namely a ridiculous planning outcome. The other times things went wrong with the investor.

How many so called small commercial systems have you seen over the years that people have started and how many have failed? Why would I repeat that? Why would building a small system that can NEVER generate a positive return on investment be a good thing or a good idea. How would that demonstrate anything other than my lack of business sense?

If I had all the funds I need to start right now I would but I don't.

If you have useful advice I'd love to hear it because I do need help and good advice is useful help, but just telling me to back myself doesn't help me at all.

I really do wish you luck & good fortune Stu,
you know, I could have quite easily have been one of your larger investors, BUT if you cant show me, tell me, or draw me damn pictures of what your planning on doing with "my" money then I suggest you get something ready for the next bloke that comes along.. because biting the arm that could possibly help set you up isn't the right way to go about it.

cheers

That wasn't a throw away line I genuinely do mean it. If you can help with advice or suggestions then please help. Ebs criticisms of the website were useful because I could act on them.

I've got no idea what to do with your suggestion of "back myself" other than what I am doing.


It very hard to judge tone on the internet because text is such a single channel communication medium. I don't think that I was "biting the arm that could possibly help set you up". At worse I was expressing frustration with a comment that I had no idea how to interpret let alone act on.

As for drawing you a picture or telling you what I might intend to do with investment funds I can't do that until you express an interest in knowing. Even then I can't do it publicly here or on my website because it would be illegal. The corporations act is seriously strict about what you can and can not say about financial products on the internet. Its illegal to publicize share offers or other investments to regular investors without the proper financial licenses and having prepared product disclosure statements and a prospectus.

Stuart,

Could you possibly set up the planned 2.5ha greenhouse and run it hydro, generate income from veggie sales, then fund the aquaculture with profits? Then once you integrate the aquaculture you can go back to the guys who said they want to build 10.

Just my thoughts. Good luck it sounds like a really cool idea.