Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

They're beautiful fish! I saw them on your Facebook page and was going to ask about them. Do you grow them for fun? Or because you prefer them over Tilapia? I'm using goldfish over the winter because I have a feeling tilapia won't make it. I'll get some in spring and grow them out though:-)

Thanks Dan! I grow them for fun, because they're really cool fish, they fetch a good price and like you said... Tilapia go
off feed in cooler weather so these guys can keep things going during cooler months. I like having a mix of fish species and plan to raise 5 species over the next year. Ive got 8 tanks running right now... 500 to 1200 gal each

Tilapia fry:

Ryan, at the new farm, are you planning to sell food fish much? Or are they more for you and the family and the fertilizer source for the plants?

If selling food fish, which varieties and how are you selling them? (live, whole on ice, or ?processed? if so how are you getting them processed?)

Ryan/anyone else who's priced them out in the US, any good sources for 400gal+ aquaculture tanks?

Fishbits,
Do some searching to find the closest large mold roto-molding plastic company in your region. The issue is shipping Large tanks across country gets costly so even if the base price for the product might be very reasonable, it can often cost almost as much as the tank itself to have it freighted to you if it is not manufactured near by.

Otherwise I could sell you a nice 410 gallon tank.

You may have already tried this fish bits, but do you have a local Tractor Supply Company?

TC- the majority will be food fish but I am also doing a few types of ornamentals. I'm not ready to discuss which varieties I plan to grow as it seems there are many people in my area that specialize in copying crap off the Internet (a big reason I haven't posted updated system pics). I want to be 100% operational and expanding before I have local nitwits trying to knock off my design.

They will be sold live, fresh on ice and processed(building my own building) depending on the client. The 2 contracts I already have in place want them whole and gutted.

Fishbits: it really depends on how big of a tank you want (ex polyethylene tanks max out at about 3500gal). Aquatic Eco Systems has a ton of tanks and can get you custom pricing on just about anything. I think poly tank is up your way too. I would try to stick with an "aquaculture duty" tank and not just any big tank from a rotomolding company. All tanks are not created equal

My father inlaw just bought a smallish tractor at an auction Sunday... And he's going to park it here! Woooo!

It's got a bucket so it won't be long before I start digging some ponds. Stoked!

I also finally got the roof in for my fish building so I will be putting that on over the next week. Usually done before the instillation of a fish system but I chalk that up to me just having abnormal circumstances for the first build.

Ryan out!

What sort of food safety certifications/licences have you had to obtain Ryan....

Well Ryan, If you have a small fish processing facility, let me know if you have some one who wants to buy more catfish than you can produce there, I currently have three 1000 gallon tanks on my farm for catfish. I can't afford to build a commercial kitchen at the moment though I was wondering about getting a food service trailer that I could use for processing but I can't afford that at the moment either.

Oh, and if you are planning on digging ponds, I've been told that a front end loader on a tractor is definitely not the best tool for the job. A backhoe is the tool for digging holes and ponds. But having a tractor on site is definitely a good thing.

Wooohoooo Bucket Tractor!!!

Rupe- you have to get an initial inspection from our state dep of ag, go through a food management program, then get input into the state database for routine inspections and testing. Not bad just expensive. I'm going to use it for much more than fish or it wouldn't really be worth the coin

TC- I'll let you know if the situation ever presents itself. I've actually dug a few ponds and a backhoe is good for digging a deep hole but if you want a graded out typical square pond, we use a bucket. I know Joe at Blackwater dug his 65 acres of ponds with a big T35 bucket... We just don't need to go that deep here in Fl (nor can we!).

Heck yeah Bill! It's got a forklift attachment too do I can actually get the next greenhouse to the farm without depaletizing everything!

Are you required to do a HACCP analysis/plan.... or will you anyway??

I might be interested in working out some sort of arrangement with you with the kitchen if you are game once it is built (renting out the facility could be an additional revenue stream when you are not actually utilizing it yourself.) There seems to be so many things that I could sell but only legally if I have processing facilities. I'm actually seriously considering getting a trailer for just such purposes (I don't want to get a building permit.)



Very good, interesting to know. I had wondered, especially since most ponds we would want to use we actually want to be shallow and very rectangular to make seining easy.


Yea, the fork is what I would want. Makes getting deliveries so much easier to have a forklift on site. At least as long as the front loader is able to handle the weight of whatever you are unloading. How big is the tractor? What's the front hydraulics weight capacity?

I was looking for tractors a while back and I actually had some people recommend that I get a smaller tractor that I could use for mowing and stuff and a separate skid steer for the front end loader/forklift and it would be cheaper than getting a single monster tractor that would have a bucket capacity of one ton.

I definitely would encourage folks to get a small (30 hp) compact tractor. Our 4010 Hydrostatic Mahindra came with a bucket , 3 point hitch and fluid in the tires. We also got the forks for it and live hyd for the back end.

With the forks I can stack 800 lb round bales in the barn to save space and rip up the thickest quadkgrass thatch stands. With the hydrostatic drive I can move the tractor from the ground. The power steering is easy enough with 1 finger. I'm finding alot of things to do with it I never thought of before like pulling small trees while I'm on the ground instead of climbing up to the seat. I'm also able to do alot of digging given a long enough ramp to get down as deep as I want (8')

Just some food for thought.