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  1. #61
    Members
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
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    Albertville, Alabama
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    16

    Re: Commercial Aquaponics – Why is it not pervasive?

    Quote Originally Posted by JCO
    I agree and that's what I was hoping....kind of an AP "THINK TANK" with many minds, with many ideas coming together to make a project viable.
    Reading your book right now, was surprised to see we USED to live only 40 miles or so from each other. Last house (2008) on the inter coastal in Brunswick GA., used to ride with my M/C group each week to Jacksonville for chow or some M/C event.

  2. #62
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Orange Park, Florida
    Posts
    1,830

    Re: Commercial Aquaponics – Why is it not pervasive?

    We probably even went to different schools together..! So why did you move?
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  3. #63

    Re: Commercial Aquaponics – Why is it not pervasive?

    Hi Everyone! I just found this forum and post today after doing some google searching for an efficient pump for a new AP project we are starting. After some reading, I can see that there are many experts here on the forum.

    As an intro, I have been researching and doing AP in my own garden and networking with local friends that are doing the same for a few years now. We have launched a non-profit food coop that plans to grow veggies and fish aquaponically in order to share with all member of the coop. It'll be urban AP farming with each family in the coop specializing in a few crop and sharing/selling their surplus to the coop. We plan to host a weekly farmers market where coop members can share/trade/ or surplus food with each other and locals who wish to purchase high quality food free from chemicals.

    At the moment we have broke ground on the construction of our AP community garden and showcase on a 30'X60' lot and would appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism.
    Thanks and have a great day!

    Richard

  4. #64
    Members Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Tampong/Muang Rayong
    Posts
    5
    Well, lets have my thoughts also here:
    I am living in Thailand, the local farmer do what they do since centuries and provide a common stock to the market, everybody the same.
    AP is not so far known but HP is coming up.
    Deepwater grow beds are in coming and still the same Product hits the market, now no grown on soil, therefore cleaner and also more equal quality. The HP bed are covered under Roofs with nets at the side, temperature control is more the decision of the weather itself.

    I have been raised up in Germany and have HP farmers over decades in my Family in Holland and Germany using Greenhouses.
    Why Greenhouses? Mainly to produce a cimate that allow to grow more flexible and in a wider range.
    This idea came to my head as I relocated in Thailand. Family members of my wife with worn out bones moving dirt and harvest. And then I have seen over the past 13 years here, the behaviour of the Thai consumer changes drastically. They want bio, the are changing their meals and are more open to try new introductions. AND they are willing to pay a bit more for a nice scran.
    Example: I love mashed Sweedes and in Germany a 1.5 Kg root costs me 1,49 EUR/Kg.. Now I found them Imported as a 250gr Root for more than 8 EUR in Thailand's Supermarkets.
    What we need is what we did in Europe. Climate control and how to archieve it? Buying a Greenhouse.
    I am just beginning picking the brains as I have got from my Uncle in Law 20000sqm of infertile land after approval with a 120sqm test farm that this idea might work very well (the test farm was consuming as little as 25000EUR in 4 years). So 20000 sqm is a bit too much for the start but slowly slowly catching the monkey.
    1800sqm is phase 1 and here we go.
    To get it running the Greenhouse will be 300000 EUR incl AP stuff inside.
    The first plan must be, Fish is just a helper to cover a few expenses but is still essential to go "Bio" so the fish has to hide under the grow beds.
    Grow beds need access and acess means waste of grow space = loss of money.
    Hence, you need to go vertical.
    Vertical requires more energy for pumps as there will be a huge flow rate for raised deepwater grow beds.
    Can the space saved catch up with the additional costs? Can the Product beeing made cheaper as to import it?
    4 years in my test Greenhouse says me: YES it can.

    BUT, a test field did not mean business, as the greenery starting exploding in the racks and the entire village was eating as mad just to have spacce to run further tests with other plants we fed left over (much it was to the chickens and buffalo) there was the next idea born:
    What about unsold Products.. Some fishes love greens but you need to add things to it. So we bought more chicken just for the AP farm and we were running in an overstock of eggs. Then we found out eggs are a good add to the fish food so what else to mix in. You want no slimy roots and full digested food.
    3 Family member were working 3 years just to create the perfect fish food and at the end we needed to buy only one single ingredient more to make it perfect. Wastemanagement done! Still no business touched.. But from nearby villages some people bought already for resale.
    Here ends my story as I just start to put all learned into a bigger testfield, but this one needs to pay a bit back and sure it shall not end like the 120sqm that our buffalo rampaged one night.

    I have made a thread in Commercial Aquaponics and feel I am at the begin again. Instead of one fish tank we plan now 6 recks with each 11 tanks. A new issue comes up.. Nobody of us is a plumber, so how to distribute water when you have more than 1 tank and 120sqm growbeds..
    Any help is appreciated under the forum Commercial Aquaponics thread 20000sqm in Thailand.

    Conclusion: If you think Big go first for space reduction, a sqm Greenhouse wasted is a sqm that costs insted of gains.. To make it profitable you want to use every squarecentimeter to make $$$$$. and that off cause without blowing more in as that comes out.

    Will
    all men are made equal, but only the finest become seafarers

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