Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Haha only at my house Charlie!

Tilapia is a great fish and makes an AWESOME ceviche.

I have found 2lb gives the fillets that people like. Do you harvest all your fish at 1>1.5 Ryan?

1lb for whole plated fish, 1.5 for fillets. The tilapia growth rates will drop off as they get older so though I like growing them big (have a few 7 pounders) science says fillet at 1.5lb. It would make a huge difference on ROI in a strictly Aquaculture setting but Im lucky if I produce 1500lbs in a year.

I've made some nice sushi also.

true about the growth rate. those guys look full for harvest though. do you cut feed pre-harvest? purge? i was told putting them in clean/new water for a week will improve quality. i haven't seen a difference though.

A crossover system would have to take this into account and design in such a way that pre-harvesting and harvesting techniques are maximized. This is because on harvest day you still have to look after your plants. so fish tank size and shape should be according.

Now I am looking to make some money from my system I want to share my thought process and how I am going about it.

The way I see it, all the money I spent on AP so far is well spent and I value the stuff I have learnt over the years, I wouldent even try to calculate the energy or money spent so far the only thing that matter now is that what I have pays for it self. My very first task is to rearrange the AP system for the crops I have chosen that means more of a monocrop or to be more precise, scheduled type planting and harvesting. My aim is to make sure that any plant sales can cover the operating cost.

I think I would look to cover your costs with the fish, and the profits come from the plants, since they are more profitable.

I think it ALL depends on your local client needs.....
They want fish? Concentrate on fish...
They want herbs? Concentrate on herbs...
They want salad? Concentrate on leafs....

COMMERCIAL doesn't really allow much for what YOU want (unless it coincides...)

Barbados sounds like a LOT of fish from daily catch - so you would have to give them something they can't get daily in port or the beach - Tilapia??

Also Barbados doesn't sound like a huge mono-culture market.

More like a boutique market - lot's of tourism, so try to supply the better hotels and restaurants first, then expand into what THEY WANT!!

Also, if fish is the primary product, you will need something green that you can grow in a massive way!
If you want to make money from fish you need LOTS of fish -which in AP-terms means you need LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS and ....(you get it?!!) plants to clean the water!
[Might be time to think about RAS only and use some of the water for your personal plant needs]

IF fish is NOT the primary product - forget about it initially and concentrate on the plants.
IF things get big enough (e.g. Ryan...) THEN start to think about fish as a product (vs. TOOL) again...



Cheers,

thjakits

I have a pretty good idea of what is necessary its going to be some hard work to rearrange the thanks I have. I also have to collect some tanks I lent out to some friends, the area is overgrown with grass to about waist high. I borrowed a cow to eat the grass around the parameter and I would of cut the grass this week but my Wacker is broken.

The big problem I am faceing now is that to get power to the site I have to rewire the 40f contaner and it will cost about 1000us to do that. Soooooo its a wait for sure.

I will post some pics or do a video once I get the grass cut.

....wow! Barbados must be super expensive.
Wiring up a 40-footer 1000US$ ??

thjakits

The grass is cut I will put up a short video of what's there and what I want to do with it on Sunday.

Hello,

Well, i can't say im hobby farmer, since my ongoing project is coming over 700m3 and over 90mt fish per year...
Ofcourse my main focus is going to be on aquaculture and using fish fertilized water for growing plants will be just a side business for first years until i get more land space and ideas going.
I have made a topic request for project. Its under the review of moderators as atm.
Project dedicated web page is up, but its only about 5% ready. I will add info in my spare time as much as I have time for it.
Its viewable here: http://fishfarm9.wix.com/rasresearch

...hellou?

Anyone home?

How is it goin'?



thjakits

@ thjakits i finally got some funding for my system upgrades. now have to buy the pumps and controllers..but i should be selling parsley for christmas!

Good Luck!!

thjakits