Commercial systems

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Are you interested in growing commercially?  Do you already grow commercially?  This is the place for exchanging ideas and experiences, and making new contacts in commercial aquaponic agriculture

 

You might also consider joining the Commercial Aquaponics discussion group for lots more information and discussion

[Flora Erriquens]

Thanks TLC and Rupert

electricity will not be a problem becouse we already have a photovoltaic system on the roof. for about lightning probably you are right even if the building is not completely in the dark.

anyway my first question is how much a commercial system will cost??

is there a qualified company in Europe that can follow the project??

Thanks all

Flora

 

[TCLynx]

Flora, that is kinda like saying how much will a building cost?  Or how much will a school cost? or How much will a custom designed house cost?  It is really hard for some one to put a price tag on something without knowing the scale, size, or any of the specifics of the operation.  How much will a car cost?  Gotta know the make, model and year to even get a vague idea of a ballpark price.

And it sounds more like you need a qualified company in Europe to LEAD the project instead of following it.

Flora Erriquens said:

Thanks TLC and Rupert

electricity will not be a problem becouse we already have a photovoltaic system on the roof. for about lightning probably you are right even if the building is not completely in the dark.

anyway my first question is how much a commercial system will cost??

is there a qualified company in Europe that can follow the project??

Thanks all

Flora

 

[Carlos A. Gorricho]

Chris,

Actually your remarks are very valuable because they are realistic. Thanks!

Christopher Meunier said:

i am not trying to tell anyone that they shouldn't get into aquaponics/greenhouses. i do believe that this is the future of feeding the planet. let jeff stated it depends greatly on a number of factors. We decided to go with the most advance system that we could find. unfortunately we did have to contract out a lot of the work in order to keep our other business running and let that business supply the aquaponics with the capital that was needed. i believe we spent around $80,000 on contacting (electrical, plumbing, landscaping, construction, etc). again like jeff stated i am in the upper midwest, we average around 100" of snow per season so my greenhouse was built to withstand that. in florida i am sure you could use a different house that wouldn't cost as much.

i was not trying to scare anyone away, i was only giving the numbers that i have available to me.

[Kimberly Irene Lewis]

I am very interested in biogass generation. Can you send me some links to this sort of information? 

Kim
 
Chris Smith said:

Aloha Jeff,
Aquaponics has huge potential in colder regions now, due to current research here on the Big Island of Hawaii by Friendly Aquaponics.Their research project is producing biogass with farm wastes and using the biogass to run a generator, which will help power the farm and heat from the generator can warm greenhouses. This is very simple technology and could make it economic to operate aquaponics greenhouses very far north. Friendly Aquaponics system designs improve on the UVI technology.They offer the best training available because they operate many systems and are making a living doing aquaponics on a large level...Friendlyaquaponics.com

[Andrew Courtney]

I am wanting to do something similar in the Dayton area. I just moved from Lima about a year ago. Wouldn't mind exchanging ideas.

Jeff Givan said:

We have been working a great deal on a business plan for an Aquaponic based business. Have thought about it a great deal here where we live now in So California. But, have also considered doing it in NW Ohio, LIma specifically where our kids and 1 year old Grandson lives. It make so much more sense in Ohio because of their high cost of produce in the grocery stores and what is in the grocery is shipped in from Mexico or South America. We just got back from there and the produce was horrible. It makes so much sense especially when the future cost of fuel will affect shipping costs of produce being transported 2000+ miles. Just consider all that produce is usually picked before it is ready and then gassed with chemicals just so it can make the journey. It is amazing how much produce could be grown in a small greenhouse say the 30'x50'. Problem for us is getting the funding to do this, we are just poor Realtors hammered by the So Cal economy! Anyone want to invest

[Conner Goertzen]

Christopher, can you give us some numbers on your production? What are you able to produce each month and how much of it? Also I am interested to know how cost is associated with hiring out planting and harvesting labor?

Christopher Meunier said:

i am not trying to tell anyone that they shouldn't get into aquaponics/greenhouses. i do believe that this is the future of feeding the planet. let jeff stated it depends greatly on a number of factors. We decided to go with the most advance system that we could find. unfortunately we did have to contract out a lot of the work in order to keep our other business running and let that business supply the aquaponics with the capital that was needed. i believe we spent around $80,000 on contacting (electrical, plumbing, landscaping, construction, etc). again like jeff stated i am in the upper midwest, we average around 100" of snow per season so my greenhouse was built to withstand that. in florida i am sure you could use a different house that wouldn't cost as much.

i was not trying to scare anyone away, i was only giving the numbers that i have available to me.

[leo gutierrez]

I'm going to use 1/2 an acre for a fish tank and I wanted to know how much grow space i need. can anyone help.

[Robert J]

Leo,

 

I believe Sylvia's book has a pretty good section about system sizing.  Also Nate story has a video that gets you started with the math.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKGiXoJMLbo 

 

[TCLynx]

Well for basic media bed aquaponics, I like to have about twice the volume of grow bed as I have fish tank, so that would mean about an acre of grow bed the same depth as your pond.

Or if you are doing raft aquaponics, you would need to have enough filtration to support the water volume and fish load and then you could probably have 3 square feet of plant area per fish, if the fish are growing out to 1 lb each.

It really doesn't take that much fish or fish tank to grow a really huge amount of veggies.

leo gutierrez said:

I'm going to use 1/2 an acre for a fish tank and I wanted to know how much grow space i need. can anyone help.

[Jeff Kier]

Hi

On a commercial quantity level does anyone have any good sources for pelleted lettuce seeds, also seeds in general.

There could be a discussion out there on this subject, if there is I apologize in advance for the repeat; 

[Jessica Johnson]

I love Johnny's. They ship fast and are non-GMO. They have organic and non organic pelleted seeds and they work great in the seeders. They also have a lot of options which I like. Germination rates are tested and they have a symbol in the catalog for everything which makes finding greenhouse varieties easy. Just wish they would carry organic rainbow chard =) http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

[Jeff Kier]

Thank you , will check them out

Jessica Johnson said:

I love Johnny's. They ship fast and are non-GMO. They have organic and non organic pelleted seeds and they work great in the seeders. They also have a lot of options which I like. Germination rates are tested and they have a symbol in the catalog for everything which makes finding greenhouse varieties easy. Just wish they would carry organic rainbow chard =) http://www.johnnyseeds.com/