I've been interested in Aquaponics for several years and now that I'm settled in my retirement it's time to look at setting up a system.
I live at 2,000 metres above sea level on a lakeside, near to the equator, the weather is almost constant the whole year round, plenty of rain but mostly at night.
My idea is to start with a 2,000 litre fish tank with media beds and also deep water floating rafts. Fish farming of Tilapia is carried out in the lake around here but Tilapia is not my favourite fish to eat and the returns on the fish farming side are not good. Vegetable production is widely carried out by small farmers, quality presentation is not good but doesn't seem to matter to the local population, price is all important.
Then why am I looking at starting in aquaponics? For myself, (future) wife and child to eat fresh, tasty, fruit and veg plus some fish. If I'm going to spend my time setting it up and looking after it then why not look at scaling up the operation so that my wife can have her own business and be connected to nature which she loves.
I would love to have trout and fresh water shrimp/prawns, perhaps build myself a smoker as well to add value to the fish side. Smoked Tilapia anyone? What to do to add value to the excess veg side? Chutneys? Pickles? The nearest "market" for organic veg would be 1 1/2 hours drive away.
I notice that everybody seems to set up their systems under cover, probably due to the seasonal changes in the weather. Any reason why I shouldn't just grow everything outdoors? i realise that excess water in the system is not ideal but an overflow from the sump tank to use for other parts of the garden or would that interfere with the balance of the system?
