Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all. I'm in the Texas hill country and I'm looking to start a small hobby system with plans to grow into a small commercial operation if things go well.

We have 30 acres which I'm currently clearing of cedar. For the hill country we have amazingly flat land with good soil, however, water is always an issue so AP wins hands down.

We have 10 horses, 6 donkeys, 4 cows, 14 chickens and rabbits on the way.

My budget is $5k to build the hobby system and "get my feet wet" and then another $50k if everything pans out and I end up going commercial.

My main issues are as follows:

1. I have done lots of research online but have zero hands on experience with AP, I have dabbled with hydroponics and have a decently green thumb. I have in ground irrigation system experience and am comfortable plumping pvc, poly tube, valves, dripline etc. I hoping to intern on someone else's operation and get some good on the job training.

2. Conflicting information online, I'm torn between vertical towers, DWC and gravel media GB. I plan to grow for restaurants in the area as well as farmers markets, MAYBE home delivery at some point in the future and am leaning towards herbs, greens and maybe peppers due to ease and profit margins? I have been looking at expanding to vanilla production and adding fresh water prawns to my system later if viable.

3. I would like to if possible also grow some sort of feed supplement to bring down our livestock feed bill.

Are these budgets realistic? Are there any "must read/watch" information sources? I'm looking to intern and learn and don't want to pay for training, I would rather work for free. I feel like you learn better that way. Does anyone know of any operations (preferably in Texas) that have intern programs like this?

Thanks in advance for any information or insights, I'm looking forward to learning

Welcome to the forum Tx-tower.

Chickens will eat a lot of the same things we do just keep them away from the plants or there won't be any left - same with some of the other critters

Oh I plan to keep all the animals separated far away from my system, I've been reading a lot about best practices to ensure food safety and eliminate cross contamination.

Has anyone tried to grow say barley or alfalfa in an AP setup?

Welcome to the forum. If you are aiming at going commercial. I would concentrate most of your time learning about DWC systems. As it is the preferred method for most commercial systems. Below Is Ryan's back porch and farm threads. As I believe his backyard system would be a good starter system for you to learn with. Then His farm makes a lot of us jealous. He also does a workshop, that I can personally attest is worth the money. It includes some hands on time.

Back porch thread
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8754&hilit=backporch+thread

Farm thread.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12589

+1

Hey Tx.. Read all of Ryans thread for a start viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12589

And then go do a course with him or employ him as a consultant, probably the best investment you can make in starting an AP business. And personally, the only person I would recommend as a commercial consultant at the moment, there are plenty of aquaponic schysters out there right now..

Thanks earthbound and floridafishin for the info. I will follow up on that for sure!

The fake "consultants" are the main reason i would rather go work for someone for free for a few months rather than pay for training, which may or may not be worth a damn.

Just got a chance to take a look at those 2 threads and apparently i will be reading all night. Coffee IV gogogo

Tx,

I can tell you from personal experience Ryan is the real deal. I also attended the last workshop he just ran at the end of last month. It was worth every penny. He was down to earth so it was more of a conversation than a lecture. Which I also appreciated. If he runs another workshop with different information in the future. If I can be there I will.

Just got done reading both posts and I'm quite impressed. Still have many many hours of research and reading but its a start. All that veggie porn got the gf sold on AP growing also!

The only bad thing is now you have to produce, produce that looks just as good.

Thats alright! It will give me a target to shoot for and hopefully keep me motivated. I really enjoy a challenge!

Research update:

Just finished JT's 84 page thread as well as several misc. hardware how to/demo threads.

Tomorrow: Faye's thread probably

Does anyone know of any threads from AP systems in Texas?

Bcotton viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16585&p=507135&hilit=bcotton#p507135

Thanks again Floridafishin

And LDS prepper. He is not on here but you can gleam a lot of info off his YouTube channel. I do believe he was a Texas boy too.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=U ... vI4iYxCT1g