Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Actually, why not grow paranna in your AP? You could feed them almost anything, including unsuspecting competitors that you give a "friendly" tour of your systems. You can then focus fully on the veggies. It also would solve your salary problems for the workers, just let them "slip" into the tanks at the end of the month. Very economic, because that way your fish feed is at least partially for free, while you save money on salaries. Any left over bones can be used for calcium in the grow beds.

With good design you can harvest, grade and sort the five tanks in 8 man hours and deliver the day in front, now when it comes to cleaning the tanks, if you have to I think this is the sign of a under performing system, with enough talipia, plecos and good enough water movement you shouldent need to clean your tanks ever.

Now to some calcs for the last 60 day tank the 1000 fish will be leaving at 680g each = final total. Fish weight of 680kg or 1500lbs
With a start weight of 475g /fish= 475kg per1000 fish plus 5% allowance for spoilage. = beginning stocking weight of 500kgs

Tank number 4 will supply that, 500kg. To stock that tank I would start with, 350g/fish + 5% for spoilage = 370kg tatal start weight for tank 4

Tank number 3 will supply that 370kg, start weight of tank 3 is 165g/fish + 5% for spoilage= 173kg tatal start weight.

Tank number 2 will supply that 173kg, start weight of tank 2 is 50g/fish+5% spoilage = 53kgs

Tank no1 harvest weight = 53kgs, start weight of no1 = 5g/fish+ 5% spoilage = 5.3kgs.

Now to see how big the tanks must be. Well to think of it spoilage will be different for didderent stages.

( info used to determain stocking dencities was taken from the chart on this page, http://rdaquafarms.com/Tips.html )

Using a stocking density of 35 kg / 1000 L

Tank 5 = 500-680kg
Tank 4 = 370 - 500kg
Tank 3 = 173 - 370kg
Tank 2 = 53 - 173kg
Tank 1 = 5.3 - 53 kg

Now to find the liters for each tank I will calculate start volume and end volume as well. Just change the volume of the tank every 10 days to adjust to fish growth

Tank 5 final volume = 680×30=20400L
Tank 5 = 500kg @ 35kg/1000L = 1kg/30L = 500×30 = 15000L
Tank 4=370kg×30=11100L
Tank 3=173×30=5190L
Tank 2=53×30=1590L
Tank 1=5.3×30=159L


Now to vidualise I will figure out what diameter tank will hold final fish volume at 36in deep.


Tank 5=17.4f
T4=12.9f
T3=8.7f
T2=4.8f
T1=1.5f

Looks very fabanatich too me.

I am reading 556L for every running foot of a 40 filled to a dept of 30 in.

Tank5= 36 feet
Tank4=20 feet
Tank3=10 feet
Tank2=3 feet
Tank 1=.3 feet.

For a total of 70 feet or 2 forty foot containers. This is good news.

.Now to calc how much total water volume will fluatuate

20 400 - 15 000 = 5400L taken from the main tank at harvest.

T1 gets 1590-159=1431L
T2 gets 5190-1590= 3600L
T3 gets 11100-5190=5910L
T4 gets 15000-11100=3900L

Total needed to add to 4 tanks= 1431+3600+5910+3900=14841L

Total extra storage of water = 14841-5400=9441L

So i would need a 9441L tank to handle my needs, this could be a water lettus tank, more on that later.

I lost you about a page back...

I can brake it down for you dude, page five goes like this we start out talking about the history of the aeroplane, domani is confused about who achieved human powered flight in the modern world, he quickly ralise I am not going to get derail from my aim then changes the topic and try to tank a stab at defining comertial AP, (this was a hot topic in 2005 and still is to my surprise) I still don't understand why we like to bend the rules and call hobby systems comertial, but don't ever waiver in out definishion of what is true AP.

The tread then moves on to organic certification and the benifits of higher price, this highlights a bigger problem in AP, the fact that it is being developed by industrial cultures when in fact it should be developed by developing cultures, I say this because in my culture no one cares about organic cirtification, one the price is right it is sold, and we all now I wanna farm not teach, so not looking to educate people just get them good food at better prices.

Then I start to pic up some traction on what the fish op will look like to supply a weekly sales of$500

Then domain gets off track, he does this from time to time,for a good reason this time he want me to use newer more revelent info, I agree and uses uvi feed ratios in my calculations. Now he wants me to feed people to my pet piranna, not such a bad idea concidering the quality of people the system is producing recently.


Then I dive into the numbers to calculate what size tanks I would need for each 60 day phase of plant growth, to vidualise placement and scale required on a AP system doing $500 weekly in sales, look suprisely like a fabanatich sequence. Then I notice some problems, I want a over head rail system that I can net the fish, remove until I get the right weight and slide over to the next empty tank. Playing with the weighting, harvesting, grading , transfiral system, I reasise raceways will be better for the rail system,

Where it gets different is that I realise I will have to change the volume of water in each tank every ten days to keep ideal conditions for fish growth, I normally do this by raising the drain stand pipe by the required amount. In other words when i harvestbig fish from one tank and put in smaller fish I don't need as much water as before so that gets redistribut through out the other tanks as needed. But I still need a buffer of 9500L to add to the total system during the 60 day cycle.

Wow. Good luck Damian. If you have the space (land)to use different tanks to seperate the cohorts, you may find it cheaper in the long term than overhead cranes and full days of grading. Grading is hard on fish, overstocking to account for mortality results in wasted money feeding these fish.

In a one man op like this it is practical to let computors con trol the water turnover rate and feeding rate, etc. I will have to calculate those later but my whole aim here is to get a clear idea of what is nessary for $500/week in sales. To get a ruff system blue print, now I build system is I vidulase it in my head and atualy use it, feed and harvest I can do this quite clearly in my head down to the way the moss grows in the fold of the pondliner.

One there are no consultants on my island and 2 I don't like the idea of paying some one to do something I was doing for 9 years daily.but I do know the value of a new point of view.

Hi Ryan, grading is hard, I don't understand you about the different tanks? Do you mean grow fish in one tank from start to finish? The problem with that really is uneven growth rates, with grading done every 60 days it should keep the size of fish at harvest equal, as fish processers have problem with to much variation in fish size.

I am using 5 different tanks when I harvest tank 5 just net from tank 4(contains my biggerst fish) to fill the now empty tank 4 I will net from tank 3. Any fish that are to big or small goes to the canivour tank. Over stocking does call for wastage but that is nessery to get the intended amount of fish at harvest fish processes want stedy dependable supply, manageing the overstacking process in this way is how not to waste to much as you can tweak you system to closer to what is needed with time.

Ok, back on track than. I will follow your progression with the greatest interest and looking forward to see the results of it. Sorry I couldn't offer any help.

Me too........... maybe you can tell a joke, as I have no sence of what a sence of humur should be.

On the real, I am honured that people are showing a interest in this tread. I believe commertial AP is achaviable and just needs a good plan. One I am sure byap will guide me, as I said this is the second attempt that means the first one dident make it. Help is nessaery.

I can take a look at the plant side....... to do that I need to determin the min amount of fish in the system. Then using that I can determin what the nutrient level will be I chose the min amount as that will be the stedy amount for dependable plant production I hope it is over the required amount for plant sales of lettus.

Here goes.....

This from an earlier post.
Tank 5 = 500-680kg Tank 4 = 370 - 500kg Tank 3 = 173 - 370kg Tank 2 = 53 - 173kg Tank 1 = 5.3 - 53 kg

So i add up all the stocking weights = 500+370+173+53+5.3=1102kg
Final weights. = 680+500+370+173+53=1776kg
Flutuation for 60 days= 1776-1102=0674kgs
Or 674kg/60days. = 11.23kg per day.

Total feed for stocking weight= 1102 * 1.8 (talipia feed conversion ratio)= 1 983kgs.......................
I have to go..................

You are getting there mate! now next question should be..... what feeding ration per square meter are you running your system and from that you should be able to calculate you grow area.
If you ask me about my feeding ration x square meter is way below what UVI utilise(almost half that)

well there are many variables again here, I know some here would say use a 2 to 1 GB to FT area, that depend on your system design, you can have less and you can have more!.... as much as 3 to 1 or as low as 1 to 1 (very depending on system design, solid filtration, type of plant grown in your system)