Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all, I've been pretty keen to get into the realm of AP for a while and now have a job (hence the username) and possibly the funding to get started.

I'm hoping to run a trial growing 'bush tucker' (native australian plant, fish etc species)

If anyone has experience in this area I would greatly appreciate any help.

cheers,

Michael

Hey Michael, welcome to the forums. I'm not too far away, in Bendigo and there's a few AP'ers around here. I think there's one in Horsham as well and there was a guy doing yabbies down near the Otways.

I've got Silver Perch and Catfish (Tandanus) in my IBC and they are going well. Over winter I had a 300W electric heater and I ran it overnight with the pump off and then in the morning the pump turned on and the heater turned off. It kept the water warm enough the fish never stopped eating - until the heater broke, but that was well into August. From what I've read most SP's and cats stop eating around April.

Bendigo, and I think probably Horsham, could have too short a winter to run trout - it can be done but if the weather warms suddenly there's problems. So I made the choice to look for warm water species. When my new system gets going I want to try Murray Cod and even perhaps Barramundi.

Good luck and have fun. See you around the forums...

Welcome mate,

Mantis is out your way and there are heaps in western Vic

Hi and welcome and yes I am in Horsham. I have silver perch and tandanus catfish that have been in my outside systems for years with no heating needed. Also our cool seasons are long enough to get trout to a good size and mine are still going now.
I also have murray cod in a greenhouse system that have been there for a year or more and just do their thing
Baramunda are not allowed as far as I know but might be wrong, but even so they wouldnt get big enough as they need warm water for at least 5 months and that doesnt happen here many years, if at all

There is a guy in Bendigo who sells native fish. Can't remember his website.

If you are thinking of Central victorian fish he has shut down

Central Vic Fish were in Maldon I think and they have shut. Interesting because he had a large system running. You'd think with so much investment...?

As far as I know the place in Ballarat is still going but I think that's mainly trout. Glen Waters in Glenburn north of Melb is still in business and they ship I think.

I spoke to the guy at Glen Waters yesterday. They are taking orders for Silver Perch at the moment, reckons they will be ready in about 4 weeks. I bought trout from Ballarat about 3 months ago, they were great to deal with.

thanks all for the info it will certainly help.
I'm currently thinking silver perch somehow with mussells. Though as a beginner I have noted there are some issues I will need to read up on with keeping both if I only have resources to have them in the one tank!

Do these contacts also supply equipment?

What sort of equipment?

For IBC's there's a guy in Shepparton who has very clean ones for $50 - or they were that last year. Bit of a trip for you but you can get 2 on a 6 x 4 trailer. You can do 4 actually (done it a couple of times) but the drag is significant and petrol costs would go up accordingly.

Other than that, try your local irrigation place?

Pumps & air pumps are usually cheaper online than in shop but fittings etc can be quite reasonable in-store. We've got Midland Irrigation in town and they would be about 1/3 the price of Bunnings. Depending on what you have planned, you can get Uniseals from Earthangroup, although not immediately as he is in UAE doing a major AP project.

I get my fish food from BigNutrition in Qld - 20kg of quality food delivered to my door for ~$80 is a lot cheaper than anything I could get locally, although if I'd hunted around Melbourne I might have found some. Pool salt (for Nitrite spikes or disease) I got from Bunnings - 20kg for ~$7.

Wow, this all seems a long time ago - there have been some pretty massive changes at work which we are only just coming out of.

To be honest we started looking at this idea from a healthy lifestyle/eating approach, but there is also interest in putting together a business case.
Funds have been tight and we haven't quite got off the ground yet.

I can understand that there might be issues with engagement if we are planning a commercial enterprise, but there is the need for a LOT of upskilling for our interested people and I'm wondering if anyone in the Horsham/Wimmera area would be prepared to give us (prob 2 or 3 people) a tour and chat of their operation?
(Moderators I couldn't find a terms of reference and appologise if this line of questioning is inappropriate)

You don't need to have a huge setup, we would just like to look at systems that incorporate NFT and media beds. We may be able to offer someone to help you out as a pseudo work experience/trainee type that we would cover expenses for.