Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

With my home system fully cycled and (save for a few hiccups) working well, and two other large systems (30m tunnels, 34000L of water) about to be started. the need now arises to provide ourselves with Tilapia fry (fingerlings). We could just buy them from other hatcheries, but this just puts pressure on the margins.

The answer is thus to establish a small hatchery to supply me and my clients with fingerlings. The first step was to find a piece of suitable land with as much infrastructure already present. This land I found a month or two ago when assisting a local farmer in the planning stages. It consists of about 2000sq/m of sloping land, a 9m diameter dam, and 4 old concrete water tanks. I stocked the dam with the fingerlings that I bought, and have subsequently also stocked it with about 140 red male Tilapia.

If you look at one of the images below you can also see a cellphone tower. This is good because it means that there is a a transformer there, and I can probably apply for a small electricity service from this point.

I am going to use the slope of the land to my best advantage, because as they say, "gravity is free." I am also going to use aquaponic principles to filter my water because it is far cheaper than installing expensive, bio, UV, solid and foam fractionating, filters.

I have flattened the land and cleared the weeds and fynbos out, and then mowed the grass to get it started. We had some rain the night before last, so the grass is starting to grow nicely.

My plan is to have 5 levels (from highest to lowest).

* The 4 tanks at the top
* Gravel grow beds at the existing grass level.
* The dam.
* More grow beds at about the level of the floor of the dam.
* A sump, right at the bottom of the plot.

A pump will pump water up to the 4 tanks.
The water will flow by gravity through the top grow beds into the dam.
The dam will overflow onto the lower level grow beds into the sump.
I will put two homemade solid filters after each level of grow beds.

The idea is that the dam will produce 1000's of fingerlings. I will scoop these out regularly and move to the first concrete tank, and then move them to the next tank as they grow. At any one time I should then have 4 different size fingerlings for sale or own use. The grow beds will have to be under shade cloth to keep them out of direct sun and protect the plants from birds and bugs. Another problem I have here, is that there are a few troops of baboons which cause havoc with crops, especially fruit, so I will have to plan the crops I grow very carefully.

Any comments or advise would be greatly appreciated.

which mountain

there is no holding you back S'man

Sorry forgot to put that image in. Here are some more.

A couple of Ridgeback/Mastiff x should keep them out
Good luck with that lovely site.

OMG - If your going to do it - GO BIG

I like your ideas! Beautiful area too! Are baboons afraid of electric fences?

use what youve got - baboonaponics !

Electric fences and big dogs are about all they are afraid of. The dominant males however are afraid of nothing and can tear a pack of dogs apart easily. I have had a few close calls with big male baboons before on my bicycle in the forest as they can run faster than I can cycle over a short distance.

The problem I have with this site is that it is pretty remote and about 30km from my home in the middle of the forest. I have to design a system that can operate without me being there every single day. Electricity is going to be the problem, so the fence, although a good idea, may use too much electricity.

It is, however, a beautiful spot. I have a 5 year lease, and my rental is to supply the owner with Tilapia fingerlings free of charge for his AP setup for the duration.

The kind of advise I need for this spot are;

What sort of plant crop to plant?
Could I mount grow beds over the dam? (it's a 9m span)
Any easier ways to catch the fingerlings? (I feed them at the same spot and then catch them)
Any advise re: solar/wind low-power pumps? (the head is about 4-5m sump to tanks)

Cheers

Wow, makes any issues the rest of us have seem small by comparison! It's like saying "I have zombies on the site that will eat my brains if I go check on the fish. Any ideas greatly appreciated"

I think I'd rotate which tank gets the fingerlings for growout. That way you don't have to repeatedly catch and release them.

For catching them, I would think in terms of a large net that could span the tank, or rotating 'gates' like ElKayBee has. You will never get them all with a hand-held dip net.

You could mount growbeds around the edge of the dam, but remember that if you don't want to wade to harvest, you need to be able to reach the beds from the edge.

Crop selection: What don't baboons eat? Plant that. What about something like cocoa or coffee? tea? basil?

I had a crazy idea of placing beams over say half of the dam. Maybe even bolting them onto the centre pillar for strength. The growbeds would then be supported by these beams and then drain directly into the dam. They would provide shade over a portion of the dam. Tell me more about these "rotating gates". Also the dam has a 6 inch layer of mud on the floor. The Tilapia have had a ball pecking at this. Should I clean it out before I start pumping? There is probably about a ton of the stuff in there but I want to do it properly.

Synaptoman - I am so glad you are around to make my project look reasonable...

Les has "gates" that are anchored at the center of the circle. Using two gates, and starting with them against each other, you could pivot one nearly all the way around the circle to trap all fish in a small wedge. Maybe I'll feel kind and look up a link.

With 6" of mud, I would be a little leary of clogging the pumps and media. Can you get at least some of it out? Maybe at least in a 5' radius around where you will put the pump?

Aren't you lucky......I'm feeling kindly, and got lucky on the searching....

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... 8340#68340

Well done Janet, saved me a search

I used the "gates" on the weekend to catch some large SP for purging, then used them in the smaller tank when catching the fingerlings - they work well