Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

@everyone in general but Yavimaya in particular...

Many environmentalists take the view that we are no greater than animals and if that is so then it stands we should be equal to animals. If you follow that logic then we are just as entitled to live out our natural desires as caterpillars, locusts, thorn of crowns starfish, foxes or any other animal that depletes its own environment.

My environmentalism mostly stems from self interest and secondly a desire to care for our planet because it is a treasure that I want to preserve. Which really comes down to self interest and self interest.

I think they are building a swimming hole

This system may not be the largest in the world but certainly the largest in these parts. It is important to keep it in perspective, this is not a commercial aquaponic system it is a commercial pilot for a proposed larger facility. Basically this is just a test facility which will be used as the nursery and hatchery for the larger one. Discussions have started for the larger design which will be between 10 and 15 hectares should this pilot bear out the information we need to commercialize it. No we will not be replicating this one, that would not be wise.


The system itself is, in its purest form, integrated aquaculture. It has a 30 ton minimum recirculating aquaculture system inside an insulated building which is environmentally controlled with all that a recirculating system entails.


We had considered growing trout in the desert but at this scale the cooling required was not worth the investment. We will evaluate the species of fish for the larger facility, currently Tilapia and we are investigation several other species. We have capacity to breed fish in the quarantine room within the fish shed or buy fingerlings in. So we have some flexibility with fish supply which is uncertain at this point.


Like everywhere else Tilapia have a very low value here in UAE which makes it very difficult to see long term viability. Frozen imports are about a dollar a kg and fresh import (questionable fresh) are around $3.20/kg. I doubt that Tilapia will be a long term crop and expect we will only use it to skill the staff up during the first year.


It has a recirculating floating raft set up inside a 4000m2 polycarbonate/polyethylene greenhouse with 3577m2 of growing space (approx. 90% use of capital space). The greenhouse is 112 metres long by 36 metres wide. Cooling pad the length of one side and 28 extraction fans on the other with some mixing fans throughout. It has capacity to grow around 1,000,000 plants per year or 100 ton (100gram) of greens.


Plant species have not been chosen yet but we will trial 7 or 8 different types and see what the market wants from there, then we will set the production and controls to suit one or two crop types. The reality is 1 acre is not much in the way of farming so we can not viably produce too much variety of crop if we are to sell all if it through markets. The alternative is to micromanage the facility and sales which I do not wish to do. We are seeking an experience production technician to manage the farm.


The integration between the two main components is very much a replication of biological hydroponics. It is fully controlled across all parameters including humidity, sunlight, temperature, ph, conductivity and dissolved oxygen (injection). It uses 100% of the water and nutrient wastes and even collects water from the environment control of the fish shed as there is very little rain here.


I wont compare this system to soil based agriculture because it would be comparing a car to push bike. The reality is it will use water as does all farming. Here is some comparisons of water consumption for this system between its parts.
•In the worst case scenario it will use 5.2 million litres of water per year.
•The aquaculture by itself produces 1kg of food (fish) per 175 litres of water.
•The hydroponics by itself produces 1kg of food (greens) per 52 litres of water.
•The combination of the two produces 1kg of food per 40 litres of water.

This is considerably higher than what the actual use will be but a reasonable prediction.


I have been posting updates only on my facebook page with photos as we progress through the construction. I am expected to have it built and commissioned by the 19th of December this year. To design and build this in as little as 3 months is a huge undertaking but we are currently on track.