Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi all, im relatively new to AP but not fish. im looking to start a small commercial operation here in las vegas, nv. im currently thinking of a 2000 gallon fish pond to start with and 10 3ftx15ft media filled grow beds as my start. i think this would be the simplest way to start as im not sure the raft system is all that easy to run on a one person basis maybe you can help me with this. ive also seen some NFT? systems but again this seems like more labor and may require additional plumbing details etc.

what is the best system type to start with and grow, my initial selection will be lettuce's and tomato, possibly some herbs. id like to start around 500 heads of lettuce per week then add the tomato and herb. any input on design will be greatly appreciated

I think most members advice would be to start off small, like a trial system to get your feel for it then build on that experience.

am i starting to big you think? i thought this was relatively small when in view of commercial application.
does anyone have experience with the "zipgrow" systems? the vertical style is appealing as well

My thoughts are if you are asking these questions and looking for advice on a forum.... you are probably starting too big.

i see your point, i should clarify my question. im going to start with the system type recommended by those who have used them. i would first build a small personal size system and test it for my own liking and from there scale up. im looking for input on system types first before randomly building one, if that makes more sense

Yea cool, gotcha.

I have no commercial experience sorry so Ill leave this to some one who has to help you.

It's small even on a hobby scale... in commercial terms... it's a decimal point on a page of your cash flow sheet... and most of the numbers are after it...

Except for the numbers written in red ink. They tend to gather to the left of a decimal point...

Maybe what I'm thinking of isn't defined as commercial in your sense, I'm considering a small scale operation in the income range of 75-125k. In my mind anything being produced and sold is a commercial thing. Maybe you might call it hobby size?

go for it!

how big is your current system?

what are you growing now? and are you selling it? is it profitable?

If your talking that to be your net income at $1/unit (head of lettuce or equivalent) profit margin you will have to be growing 1500-2500 units per week.

Just gross income, net I figured would come out to 50-60k. We currently have a koi hatchery,and are moving to a new location with much more land. With so much more space I wanted to utilize the fish and start the AP. I did start a small 2 bed grow system using 2 lettuce variations and some tomatoes.

So... converting metric... that's

7,500 L fish tank.... 10 x 1mtr x 4.5mtr media grow beds... presumably 300mm deep...

7,500 L fish tank.... 10 x 1mtr x 4.5mtr media grow beds... => 10 x 1350L grow beds

Allowing 50% displacement by the media...

7,500 L fish tank.... 10 x 625L... => 6,350L of water to fill the grow beds...

A considerable draw down on the fish tank.... even allowing for a sump (unspecified)... and siphons not draining at the same time...

How do you intend to cater for this??


Normal lettuce spacing in hydro, or raft... would be 200mm centres....

So each of your grow beds would be lucky to hold... 4 rows of 25... or 100 lettuce per grow bed....

So your 10 grow beds have a capacity of about 1000 lettuce.... with a 4-5 week rotation...

About 200-250 lettuce per week....

Even if you got $2/head.... that's only $500/week... or $26,000/year... GROSS...

Possibly been watching misleading video's? Its happened before...

I found most of the online AP videos very informative. The audio podcasts about AP even more so. Every red flag about attempting AP commercially was mentioned. The bottom line is if your not familiar enough with a product, process to make it, or the market for it you probably should not be attempting to start a commercial venture in it. You should also realize that it takes more than a couple days to learn a proficiency implementing a system that is not currently done on a commercial model.

Rupert,

As to a couple points you raised. If I was considering some of the design parameters for what is being discussed.

Increase the FT capacity to 5000 gal with a matching capacity in ST. That would be the minimum i would consider for a "commercial" hobby scale. Temperatures in deserts can vary enormously between night and day. Gaining the largest volume of water I could to help mitigate those fluctuations with minimal overhead to keep the water temps stable would be the primary consideration.

Next would still be along those lines I would look at sinking the tanks and the media beds in the ground (media capacity would be most likely be 2:1 FT). Airlifts interest me for moving water with less wattage but standard pumps are easier to control. Process flow would be Ft>SLO>media beds rotating on timed intervals>ST>split flow between NFT/FT with NFT returning to ST.

The next consideration I would make is maximizing natural air flow and reducing overnight heat loss with the growhouse orientation. Enough sunlight in that region is not an issue, shading will have to be employed to reduce it anyhow so tilting the long axis orientation off of the standard East/West and aligning it to the prevailing wind direction would create a funnel for air flow during the day and minimize direct area of wall getting hit on the overnights.

Minimize energy requirements for my propagation house by locating it in this case on the north side of the leeward end of the growhouse. By funneling the airflow of the growhouse into it I can increase the humidity and maintain temps in it with less energy by capturing that being generated. It won't eliminate the need for external inputs but would reduce the amounts required. Proper design and sizing of the propagation area would also lend toward production of ornamentals such as orchids, tillandsias, or sansevieria which may (or not) have a higher margin depending on the regional market. Something like Tillandsias may be worth looking at for it's ability to utilize otherwise unproductive space without additional water pumping requirements.

I would carefully look at the market to see what is going to actually sell profitably as a crop. Vegas is a large enough market with the tourist industry that food is being imported at very low margins just because of the volume. You can grow the freshest, nicest crops in the area but the bulk of the casino's, restaurants, and hotels are going to look at the bottom line more than ever with all the competition focused in that small area. How much of a niche is left in the market for the ones offering premium produce. Food distributors carry organic as well as conventional crops and putting a couple cases of organic lettuce on the truck already headed to that drop is not a logistical issue for them.

Direct marketing to the end user is going to usually give the highest margin but it also has some constraints. Farmers markets generally have fees to set up and then you have to either invest your time during their business hours to be there or pay someone to be there for you. And yes having a spouse/family member be at the stand costs you even if you don't cut them a check. If you go the farm market route is there enough traffic through it that you will have enough customers to move the volume you need to? I know where I am local farm markets and roadside stands dot the landscape in season. The supply side is enough that I don't bother growing some things because I can buy them in season as cheap as I can grow it. I instead use that space to try and anticipate what others are not going to grow that season.

As a hobby sized operation your highest margin would most likely be to establish a couple accounts at commercial businesses to maintain a steady cash flow and use the farm market to sell your overproduction and usable culls from the commercial accounts at a higher margin to a consumer willing to pay the premium for a chemically free grown product.

Edited to add:

While I would look at growing a diverse variety of crops in an AP venture there is a reason commercial operations lean to monoculture other than mechanized harvesting. Monoculture allows you the ability to tweak the system for maximum production of that crop. While multiple things may grow well under X conditions, conditions Y or Z may increase the quality or consistency of individual crops that is not possible with running at a convergence of the two.