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Cash-matters
03-02-2011, 06:55 AM
Hi folks. Just saying hi and hoping to become a regular member here. I suppose initially I have to say that I am very new to this. I have no previous experence however am a keen gardner and a fisherman so there's a start. Have recently purchased a small holding here in the UK and have plans to use the 2 acres of land to make a small second income. When I bought it I was going to use it for livestock or possibly growing fruit but then I saw Aquaponics ! No this may be a non started right from the begining so pls go gently on me. Now that I have looked into it I have thought about doing something on a small commercial basis. I have no intention (or knowhow ! to do this straight away) but something that I can aim for. Was thinking of setting something up small and then growing in size as my knowledge increases. Any inital thoughts on this ? I have read that this form of 'farming' is possiibly one of the most productive (and therefore profitable ?) ways to use land in terms of farming - any views ? One thing that I have thought which is my only negative one at this stage is that does the electricity use to drive the pumps etc mean that this is more expensive way of producing crops / fish ? I may be completely wrong here - just the intial thoughts of someone who is waiting to learn.
Do you experence people think that this is a non starter for me in terms of something commecial and that I should stick to something less interesting ?
Thanks for your anticipated thoughts

keith_r
03-02-2011, 07:31 AM
there are some folks with bigger systems, and i think a "small scale" commercial farm can provide some income.. but like everything, it all depends..
my suggestion would be to start "small" for some experience, and see if it's something you really enjoy, if so, go big or go home! :mrgreen:

i've been thinking about it more.. and am working out a polyculture system slowly... very slowly.. but the most important thing about the fish is in my opinion, get something that already is used around your area, tilapia are nice, and grow fast and breed like crazy, but the water has to be at least in the mid 70's, and 80's is better, it's expensive to heat water..
some folks run 2 "crops" of fish, a cool water species in winter (like trout) and warm water species in summer. ornamental fish may be more profitable than a "food" fish - speaking of which, i wanted some yellow perch to eat, stopped at the store and it's $14.99/lb.. tilapia was $3.99. catfish work, and can tolerate temp swings but can take up to 3 years to grow out.

good luck, ask lots of questions, and post lots of pics!

urbanfarmer
03-02-2011, 07:39 AM
Hi and welcome! :D

JCO
03-02-2011, 10:48 AM
Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers so pick a topic of your interest and start your own thread and Enjoy. :mrgreen:

Cash-matters
03-02-2011, 12:23 PM
Thanks for the welcome !

I will do as you say and start slowly. It already appears to be something that I will enjoy so starting slowly is not a bad thing in many ways.

I'm interested in the thoughts about fish. Here in the UK to get temps to stay warm may be a problem and I see that in the UK Brown Trout are popular in these systems and popular on the table to !

Your thoughts about running a pump 24/7 in terms of cost would be interesting. But that being such a fundemental issue then as it does not appear to have been raised I'll take that its not a problem. I suppose they dont use that much in terms of electricity.

How much should I expect to 'save' up to start my 1st reasonable sized system. A ball-park figure would be great.

Anybody on here from the UK. I would be interested in your thoughts about heating, fish type and crop growth. Also whether you ran the system all year round ?

keith_r
03-02-2011, 01:48 PM
what you spend will depend on what you can find! I've seen IBC's (bulk containers - if you use you want to make sure whatever was transported was food safe) go from 10 to 150..

you'll want to have at least the same volume of growbeds as you do fishtank.. and you want to pump the volume of the fishtank at least once/hour (i've seen folks stop pumping at night to maintain heat)

if you can find a couple of IBC's, you could use one as a ft, and cut the other in half for 2 growbeds, then a pump, some plumbing buts and you're good to go.. lots of growbeds = lots of plumbing bits and can get expensive

blue barrels work well cut in half, i'm thinking about doing a couple cut in half horizontally next season.. but have 2 cut in half vertically now (only using 1 pair in the basement)

brown trout are a great cold water fish imho, but are very susceptible to low DO and poor water conditions.. catfish can tolerate warmer water, and will survive the cold ok.. as will sunfish. carp are edible if prepped correctly.. if you want to use trout, i'd just record temps the first year to see how they are and work with something else unless they are cheap fingerlings you start with

Cash-matters
03-02-2011, 01:59 PM
Keith, that is great advice. In other words I dont need 1000's to trial this then ? I'm really hoping that I enjoy this and that my aim of eventually turning this into a commercial venture comes off. Any initial thoughts of me ultimately turning my 2 acres into a aquaponic farm ?!

rfeiller
03-10-2011, 10:32 PM
welcome to the forum.

i prefer using KOI and goldfish. using the pond water to nurture the grow beds. something to consider in your plan is what veggies do well in an aquaponics system.

JCO
03-11-2011, 05:59 AM
As for your question:-


Any initial thoughts of me ultimately turning my 2 acres into a aquaponic farm ?!


Many individuals have done it with less so stop looking at how little you have and get it into your head that you can do it..! 8-)

As it says in my signature below, "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION."

Now that you have been chastised, :shock: buckle down and get busy, it won't build itself..!

Don't forget to keep us updated on your progress. OH, and by the way the members really like photos and videos of what you are doing also. :mrgreen: