Questions about recordkeeping

[commander]

I am starting the buildout on my first system and have been thinking about record keeping. I know it is important to track vital information on the water condition, temps, etc. I thought maybe others could share their ideas and methods of record keeping on their systems. How do you maintain your records. What do you record and how often. How detailed are your records? Any information would be useful! Thanks

[keith_r]

i started out with good intentions.. i still have most of my water test results...
i should have kept better records, but lots of my big steps i posted online, so that helps
i've never been much of a record keeper, and keep telling myself i'll start, but i always find something else to do.. spreadsheets work for some..
do what you're comforatable with

[urbanfarmer]

What are the records for?

[foodchain]

Excel is great for data entry, and allows you to make charts and the like to make it more visually appealing. You can keep records on whatever you want, as long as data collection is the same and consisitant every time. EX: want to track DO, check it at the same times throughout the day. And on every day following the exact same way/time. Otherwise you are compromising your own data. Track a large enough sample period of time to develop trends. For instance, I know my DO drops off very quickly in the early AM hours, but about an hour after sunrise starts to come back. Some people it's a shorter period, others it's longer. I know what MINE is, because I tested it and tracked the data, then went to the computer with my handfull of scribbled notes and input the data. But you can track anything you want, PH, DO, $'s spent, electricity, water consumption, evaporation, temp swings, food consumption....the list goes on....one of my favorites though is tracking growth and development in relation to the number of days/weeks. This tells you when your fish need the higher protein feeds to max growth and minimize waste. Feeding the high end feeds to fish that aren't having a "growth spurt" is a waste of resources as they aren't utilizing it in the same way. Tracking this data allows you to become more effecient, but also helps you to know YOUR system. What is a proven process for someone else, may be a flop for you...you have to know your system. And be aware that what you do at one end of your system, may effect and probably will something at the other end of it.

[commander]

Thanks for the input. I am sort of a data geek and I like to keep records of all of my projects so that I can see what works, what doesn't work, how changes affect systems, etc. I use both Excel and Access extenvely so this shouldnt be a problem.

On other question. Does anyone have a line on remote sensing/testing equipment?

[foodchain]

What do you mean by remote? Most are about as remote as the end of your hand....or probe. Not familiar with access. Excel, if you play with it a little bit does everything I could ever want, from bar graphs, pie charts, etc. And imports from the standard base screen where you input the data which is a major help with dealing will pages and pages. The data though is only as accurate/consistant as you are taking it. So it's imperative that you do it with clean equipment, etc. Consistancy.

[keith_r]

sensors? pretty cost prohibitive except for ph and temp..

[urbanfarmer]

Thanks for the input. I am sort of a data geek and I like to keep records of all of my projects so that I can see what works, what doesn't work, how changes affect systems, etc. I use both Excel and Access extenvely so this shouldnt be a problem.

On other question. Does anyone have a line on remote sensing/testing equipment?

This is on the back burner, but I plan to make a DIY system using Arduino as the platform. It will allow for some very advanced monitoring and data collection, but at a very low cost using an open platform. The DIY portion will take quite some time though and right now it's not even something I can play with.

http://www.arduino.cc/

But, what purpose do you envision for the data that is recorded (if any)?

[commander]

Ill try to answer several questions with one post. I envision a system that eventually can be monitored 24 hours a day an almost in increment of time at various points in the system. The data would be collected automatically and written to either an Access or SQL datatable(s). This data could then be cross referenced with data collected on feeding, planting, etc to develop some trend tables and to track and plot changes in the system versus external changes. (type and amount of fish food, lighting, temp, etc).

Also, as an MBA, I am always interested in doing various types of cost analysis and ROI analysis on any system in an attempt to maximize output. I know it may seem like overkill, but it is the kind of data that I love working with and if I can integrate it into my aquaponics projects it just makes it more interesting.

[urbanfarmer]

Well, there is plenty of data to be had. Have at it!

keith is right though. It can be a costly venture to get this set up. I haven't even seen the high-end commercial growers doing this. I want to do the same thing though! Maybe eventually we can swap notes.