Raising koi as an alternative fish production strategy

[Kobus Jooste]

I have been taking an interest in refining some of my previous income estimates and cost calculations regarding commercial aquaponics.  One idea that keeps coming back is the potential for buying large batches of small koi, grow them on and then supply the market.  I have seen a number of posts on this forum about large US breeders selling of surplus or small fish at quite low rates.  I would like to get some more info on the topic to see how these prices compare to what is charged for koi locally.

[Sahib Punjabi]

Namaste Adebambo,

 TCLynx has as usual provided you with excellent sources. Aquaponics is a developing way of growing food and there are numerous variables so it is simply not possible to put a traditional business plan for any loan applications or grants. You need to become totally familiar with your individual market and the opportunity it presents (unique in every environment), the scale you want to grow, your marketing edge & skills as well as our choice of AQ growing choice. Proper commercial training is essential, be it Friendlies / Nelson & Pade / University of Virgin Islands or others.

 

In this discussion, we are exploring the possibilities of using Koi & Goldfish as the "fish" of choice in the Aquaponic operation and whether they offer different economic opportunities than the traditional fish (USA + usually Tilapia while Australia uses perch + and some colder climates use trout & hybrid bass+). Koi & Goldfish farms exist on their own and in many parts of the world are a very profitable business venture. Combining Aquaponics could create a whole new world of business opportunities. I suggest that you review, purchase, download or acquire some business plans for Koi & Goldfish businesses as well as Hydroponics Farms as well some Aquaponic plans that you will receive at the commercial training. You will then have the tools to develop you own unique business plan for your own environment.

 

Good luck :-)  

TCLynx said:

There is a Friendlies commercial aquaponics training class taking place after the aquaponics association conference here in Florida.  They have a business section to their commercial training and that may be a good place to start if you can get down here to take the class.  Unfortunately there are not too many commercial aquaponics business models around to copy yet.  Another option would be to study the University of the Virgin Islands operation or to take a course from Nelson and Pade up in Wisconsin but I don't know if they have a business section or if it is just the aquaponics and controlled environment growing taught in their classes.

 

At the moment I don't know of any place where you can simply go download the business plans of aquaponics operations though.

[Kobus Jooste]

Good day Adebambo

 

While eveything TCLynx and Sahib told you is spot on, I may want to add something.  All business plans in South Africa revovle around a typical template of data that you need to complete.  Not sure how it works in the rest of the world but when I put some plans together I saw many similar ones on overseas sites.  I find that many people hate doing the "donkey" work of doing this exercise, but the whole thing really cannot be downloaded in generic form from any previous person's work.  All your costs, the market, your potential focus crops, the diversification options, legislative context etc. is not only different from place to place, but will determine the viability of an individual's plan.  What will work on UVI (I'm cautious of using an island's business model on the mainland though - their training will be good for practical purposes but the economies of Islands cannot just be imported onto a mainland setting) will not work for Georgia, for example.

 

Step one is deciding what the best market and crop is, and how much they are willing to take (and price).  Around these basic answers, you build up everything else to do a basic feasibility exercise.  If the basics still return a feasibility answer that is positive (it will also show up the danger zones) you flesh it out.  This is hard work but once you have done it, you will not only know if you will turn a profit or not, but you will know where the risks lie, where costs could potentially be cut to improve the venture's ROI or give an indication of future expansion potential.

 

Hope this did not sound preachy.

 

Best of luck

Kobus

[TCLynx]

Very good points and Kobus has experience at that sort of thing.

[Chris Smith]

I keep reading about koi as needing a lower stocking density or they will get diseased. Has any of you had problems with your koi being stocked closely? I have been growing some koi with my tilapia for almost a year. The first koi are about 12" and have grown in a comparable rate as the tilapia in a high density situation. The next few generations of koi/tilapia are doing similar.

I have a theory and I may be wrong, but people treat koi as pets. Pets usually get MUCH better treatment than a regular farm animal. I am starting to think that recommended koi stocking densities are based on a pet point of view . The koi in my systems are doing very well and holding their own with tilapia of similar size while being at a high density stocking.

[Kobus Jooste]

Chris, I have a friend who used to farm koi and he was sceptical of me using koi in AP - also the stocking density and water clarity thing.  Seems as if the fancy koi people have their fish swimming one per thousand litres in water better than bottled stuff or they "die".  Koi is basically a fancy carp and thus, in my humble opinion, can be treated like a goldfish.  I also have them mixed with tilapia, have taken them to over 30 degrees Celcius water temp and they only get tilapia food, not the fancy stuff. 

 

Perhaps it is an issue related to the breeding and breeders themselves.  If the fingerlings from expensive operations get pampered they will likely be like pedigree dogs - faster to die than street mutts.  I have another example popping into my head now.  A guy close to me set up a rainbow trout operation in a marginal situation - temperatures a bit high in summer and water issues.  He basically operated on a "bugger that" attitude and ran his fish uncooled in municipal water.  All the weak genes died out and in a couple of years he has some seriously tough trout.  Now the aquaculture people will howl in disgust as you "are not selecting for optimal growth, colour or taste" but in aquaponics I say screw that.  The fish is a secondary crop for most and if you can get a decent price for a koi that was grown in an AP scenario ( we are not trying to flog show champions here) I think the value is there.  Get a whole lot of cull or early sorting fish, toss them in and see what grows. Over here, the result will be worth more than tilapia.

Chris Smith said:

I keep reading about koi as needing a lower stocking density or they will get diseased. Has any of you had problems with your koi being stocked closely? I have been growing some koi with my tilapia for almost a year. The first koi are about 12" and have grown in a comparable rate as the tilapia in a high density situation. The next few generations of koi/tilapia are doing similar.

I have a theory and I may be wrong, but people treat koi as pets. Pets usually get MUCH better treatment than a regular farm animal. I am starting to think that recommended koi stocking densities are based on a pet point of view . The koi in my systems are doing very well and holding their own with tilapia of similar size while being at a high density stocking.

[Sahib Punjabi]

Well said Kobus,

 

For AP, "a whole lot of cull or early sorting fish" will work wonders. The problem occurs once they start growing (usually 4 inches plus pa OTE). It is at this stage that you need to pay considerable attention to the filtration and  water quality /ammonia balances. Either significantly increase your growbed capacity, especially "media" based so as to act as an additional filter and/or replace/clean the filter material more frequently.

 

Those Koi that you remove from the system due to either resale or your own hobby pond can then be stocked in a lower density so that you do not have to be constantly cleaning the filter media plus you get a chance to enjoy watching the individual fish and interact with them :-)

 

God bless, 

Kobus Jooste said:

Chris, I have a friend who used to farm koi and he was sceptical of me using koi in AP - also the stocking density and water clarity thing.  Seems as if the fancy koi people have their fish swimming one per thousand litres in water better than bottled stuff or they "die".  Koi is basically a fancy carp and thus, in my humble opinion, can be treated like a goldfish.  I also have them mixed with tilapia, have taken them to over 30 degrees Celcius water temp and they only get tilapia food, not the fancy stuff. 

 

Perhaps it is an issue related to the breeding and breeders themselves.  If the fingerlings from expensive operations get pampered they will likely be like pedigree dogs - faster to die than street mutts.  I have another example popping into my head now.  A guy close to me set up a rainbow trout operation in a marginal situation - temperatures a bit high in summer and water issues.  He basically operated on a "bugger that" attitude and ran his fish uncooled in municipal water.  All the weak genes died out and in a couple of years he has some seriously tough trout.  Now the aquaculture people will howl in disgust as you "are not selecting for optimal growth, colour or taste" but in aquaponics I say screw that.  The fish is a secondary crop for most and if you can get a decent price for a koi that was grown in an AP scenario ( we are not trying to flog show champions here) I think the value is there.  Get a whole lot of cull or early sorting fish, toss them in and see what grows. Over here, the result will be worth more than tilapia.

Chris Smith said:

I keep reading about koi as needing a lower stocking density or they will get diseased. Has any of you had problems with your koi being stocked closely? I have been growing some koi with my tilapia for almost a year. The first koi are about 12" and have grown in a comparable rate as the tilapia in a high density situation. The next few generations of koi/tilapia are doing similar.

I have a theory and I may be wrong, but people treat koi as pets. Pets usually get MUCH better treatment than a regular farm animal. I am starting to think that recommended koi stocking densities are based on a pet point of view . The koi in my systems are doing very well and holding their own with tilapia of similar size while being at a high density stocking.

[TCLynx]

I kinda think the whole breeding/show thing is probably a key here too.  I have seen huge goldfish (ya know I'm not sure how to tell a koi from a fancy goldfish) in some really small water features stocked at densities that would definitely stress out my catfish and I've seen those goldfish over and over again and none of em looked sick to me.

 

I've also seen some huge show koi in water that looked like chocolate milk that was shallow enough that their backs were sticking up out of the water and I'm not sure but I think those were the breeders for the fish farm.  I think it was only a couple of them in a rather large tank that was drained down pretty low.  I've always thought of koi as being fairly tough fish.  I guess it is just that when some one pays thousands of dollars for a fish, they are going to get really wound up about water quality and keeping the thing alive.