Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

ill do my best to keep this short. my blind services counselor suggests that being there is no work here for a semi blind swine (me) that i make my own work and let him help me get enough AP going to sell veggies from our own stand out front.

he says with my woman being wheelchair bound and me poorly sighted that we would easily qualify as we are already in the USDA rural enterprise zone and that have often done the same with other agriculture methods. livestock, poultry, root crop farm ventures
even as far as providing/equipping a voice gps farm tractor for a totally blind man that already had farm going on when sight loss came. that they and vocational rehab are very interested in AP now that they have seen it in action.

i checked zoning and permitting already and even the neighbors and its all good with everyone. lesia and i are here 24/7 unless the doctors need more money so we have nothing but time to devote to a systems care
she has wonderful people and sales skills and is excellent with bookeeping.

the DBS (division blind services) counselor wants me to get him the list of parts , their prices and form up a small biz plan. so i need to see a sample plan as it relates to AP if at all possible. its been 30 plus years since i did a plan in school.

like i have said before. this location im at, one could sell grannys old used boots out front. everything i have ever put out there has not lasted long before someone will stop and try to buy it. even if its not for sale. strange but so true. i thought about some sort of consignment shop thing but thats not legal with zoning
it MUST be a product that i grow at least 65% of. so only crops. so wayne is right , AP is what i should do to provide veggie product i can legally sell from this place

my little system is almost done now and built mostly with recycled things so i dont have a clue how to price a viable new AP system in the states. i have found 1000 gallon tanks that are a bargain locally but thats it.DBS agent said they prefer to buy needed products
in same zone as the client resides. i had thought about pond culture as an option also as i have 1.25 acres but its too cold here for tilapia unless proper GH comes into play. so im thinking goldies/koi/catfish in tanks purchased locally but not sure yet.

if i was in OZ i would let our host quote me on a owner/operator sized system. but im here and hoping i can piece together a good system (with BYAP guidance). i dont want to get into extreme debt and can always expand as things move along. i set myself a cap of 10k as that is what expendable assets i have that i could liquedate if disaster did come and repayment was demanded quickly

most of you have forgotten more about AP than i know.
i know im green and probably a pain in the arse too but i really do think the AP niche is the answer to mine and lesias disablitys and our need for viable work/income/activity/purpose.

why not do it from here and enjoy what we do too?

what am i missing in this wet dream besides keeping my post short?

thanks in advance, johnny

I'm no good with actual business plan sort of stuff but here are some resources here in Florida that are probably worth your looking at before people ask you about them.
http://www.morningstarfishermen.org/fish.html Morningstarfishermen has backyard AP systems for sale, unfortunately I think most of them are the floating raft type culture but it should give you an idea what turnkey systems go for in this part of the world. The link hear the top of the page Backyard Aquaponics systems has sort of a list of several small systems. Morningstartfishermen also teaches seminars and classes on aquaculture and perhaps going for a tour around their facility would be of interest to you even if you decide not to use their methods.

Another place for pricing aquaculture pieces and parts is Aquatic Eco Systems which is here in Florida. On many things their prices are a bit high but they are convenient for having all sorts of different things you might need listed on one site.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.php

It might also be worth your while to see what info you can learn from The University of the Virgin Islands as they run some successful larger scale Aquaponics systems. There are some members on here apparently running some similar systems with some of their own modifications over in Hawaii.

An of course my standard source for pond liner might be handy for you to look up.
http://www.justliners.com/aboutus.htm

If you can stick to locally comfortable fish, then you will only have to worry on really cold nights and can probably avoid the biggest cost of a full blown commercial size greenhouse. There are many cool weather plants that will happily survive a freeze, like broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, and turnips. Then there are many that might only need minimal protection for the freeze nights. Then if you have a section of the system that is kept a bit warmer, things like hot peppers see happy this time of year in the greenhouse section of my system.

good luck and hopefully those with more commercial experience can chip in hand help you out here.

most business plans are based on theories
I have a "rigid" one for Aquaponics that has not allowed me to convince traditional banks
while I had almost double collateral to cover all risks

I wondered why
then I realized (after three years): traditional banks only work on known figures.

which means they will only support traditional agriculture

to which they are connected
and whose interests they protect

finally, through a friend certified organic fruit farmer, I was pointed to a very small bank that advocates ethical banking
within three months my plan was accepted and a loan was granted

I am now finishing building my system as you can see on
http://www.aquaponics.eu

just to be ready for the next season (it's winter here, please send me some of your heat)

frank

Just an idea but since you can't sell the fish for eating purposes and you will have a surplus of fish if you run a large system. Would it be worthwhile using the system to breed an ornamental fish that you could sell along with your vegies. Even something hardy like Koi or goldfish for that matter. You could maybe sort out a deal with a local pet store or aquarium store. Like i said its just an idea and you could still keeping eating fish as well.

ya know, many people keep channel catfish as aquarium fish until they get to big for the aquarium...

Then again. Selling food fish is probably not out of the question, it just requires getting the right kind of permit or certification which is not impossible as I know some one else in Florida who has managed to do it so he can buy other types of tilapia if he wants.

Johnny, getting the jump on early tomatoes by starting in Feburary in your greenhouse you can be setting tomatoes by easter when most all are just planting. Tomatoes grow fast and produce heavy. Lettuce is always easy and also a heavy producer. Get in early to take advantage of fresh vegitable prices before the commercial farms and there is a nice price differencial advantage. Just a little caution in commercial as I understand more than half new businesses fail in their first year. Keep your options open. If it is a fruit/vegitable stand you are planning, fruit/berry/citrus trees and a dirt garden to round it all out. A good fisherman shrimps in shrimp season, crabs in crab season and dredges oysters in between. Just be ready to dredge some oysters and also utilize a dirt garden for your root crops also maybe watered with fish nutrient water but thats just my 2 bits worth.

Good advise, BRB. I've always believed in diversification and that includes revenue streams- in the past, I've worked during tax season, sell high end dogs, landlord and renovate to force equity, all at the same time. It was exhausting but tax season only lasts three months, being a landlord is passive (no work required unless something breaks), dog sales were mostly on weekends and renovating was a task I could do on my time schedule.

Not exactly a business plan Johnny... and intended for a RAS production system... but might be of use to you ...

http://darc.cms.udel.edu/AquaPrimer/rass.xls

.

I agree about utilizing whatever you can find, like selling eggs too.

Ya know, my great grandfather was blinded in a mine explosion but survived and came home to Michigan where he kept bees. Might be worth your while to research bee keeping if you are interested in that sort of thing. I'm not quite sure how one manages that blind but apparently my great grandfather did. Renting out hives to people with orchards can be an income stream.

Johnny it is doable to build a fairly large sized greenhouse either hoop style or cattle panel like TCLinx's for just a couple/few $K. and build your growbeds tanks with liners again like TCLinx's system for a couple/few $k more. And purchase the plumbing, pumps and equipment and a dumptruck load of proper sized gravel for the grow beds and maybe a larger sized gravel for the floor of the green house. I belive based on the my experience that a $10K loan at normal 6 to 8% on 5 years is less than $250 per month. An SBA loan may only be 1.5 to 3% interest rate but everything you own is colateral, but don't let that scare you. this type of loan is what is often called forgiveable loans. If your hardship was to get worse with time a few letters and doctors verifications can get the rest of the loan forgiven. Ask about this to be sure I am correct. Try to put your dream to paper and see exactly what things costs and don't forget to hold back a little cash to keep you thru the extra costs of operating.

it is essential to calculate things and not be easy on the numbers

you have to first convince yourself of the doability

only then will you have enough confidence to convince a bank

my trick was to find a niche market and present a finished product: a traditional freshwater fish and vegetable soup
more work, yes
more variation in the work, yes
more pride in the work, yes
higher benefit, yes

frank

Given that your webpage(s) show your system under construction Frank.... you must obviously be referring to a previous system, that you've not told us about...

Can you give ua a run down of what veges you grew, what fish you stocked, what prices you received... and how you ran your system, particularly through winter, and the costs involved?

Thanks

all of you guys are top shelf and your posts have helped me a lot. if it was not for you all i would be no where near what i got going.

i been hard at it on the small greenhouse. a well sighted together guy could probably already be growing something in this GH but im still plodding along , one piece at a time. i cut the crap out of myself today too but that happens a lot.them darn blood thinner meds will make you bleed really well. ack!

i been really thinking about this hard. putting equipment and prices down on paper. i dunno if this is a grant or a loan that the blind services man is speaking of thru USDA? im 50 something now and nobody has ever given me anything worthwhile except good advice. im really leery of getting into any debt. i know i am diligent and honorable and all them good traits but all things now are so darn uncertain with the economy and lenders if its a loan. yes they might be easier because im poorly sighted but from what i have seen over the years, banks are not our friends by any way shape or form. nor are insurance companys for that matter. legal extortion for the most part.

except for some decent GB's and a better pump im almost ready and owe nobody (except my friends at BYAP). i can always expand on my own as i can if the financing gets too scary or fails to mature.


but im thinking ill hear this counselor out on what he proposes wednesday and go from there. because im just guessing at this point, what its all about now.

i dont think he will steer me wrong as he has always been nice to me and lesia and really understands our situation. ill run it by you brothers after i find out for sure whats it all about.

so far on paper i have 4 - 1000g tanks 3-600g
those are for channel cats, georgia giant hybrid bream,
goldfish, koi 1 for future sump tank, 1 for quarantine
and 1 for a tilapia try (if i can keep them warm enough)

im very concerned with fish well being so im unsure on the tilapia without a quality heated GH and to do that ill have to clear many many trees. im not sure i want to do that unless i can turn them into lumber.

i have also pondered selling my 93 toyota 4x4 , my driving days are done and everybody i know wants it. so maybe ill get all of them together over a gallon of bourbon and let the bidding begin and use that as capital for my AP sytem.

highest regards to all of you. johnny

ps: i like chickens and eggs idea also and im well schooled in them considering my family was largest egg
producer in florida for 28 years in a row until mechanized egg farms came along

I definitely agree that you want to avoid debt as much as possible. I hope there are some grants out there you could get.

So do you already own these tanks???!!?!?!


If so, you already have a good start going!!!!!! Now you just need to work out how you will do the grow beds and what type of system you will do and if it will need sump tanks etc.

You might want to take one step at a time when it come to fish and probably only get one type at a time and let them settle in and get comfortable with caring for them before getting more. Remember to work your way up slowly to full stocking levels.