Aquaponics In Thailand

[andycrosby]

very helpfull like I said this will be a hobby thing for me to learn. I will go with your pump it sounds like a winner. Thanks to all I can not wait to get started. I will post the photos as we go

[grimleybob]

very helpfull like I said this will be a hobby thing for me to learn. I will go with your pump it sounds like a winner. Thanks to all I can not wait to get started. I will post the photos as we go

This is a link to the pump they quoted @ 1200 baht Bob

http://www.jrpumps.in.th/products-detail/sep/iw250n_main.asp?Type=iw250n

[grimleybob]

OZZYDOM

It wont surprise me if the price rises as soon as the season gets into swing.last year when local beef was 120 bt kg and pork 100 baht ,Tilapia were 80 baht (75 baht from us ),now beef is up to 160 baht and pork 150 baht.

There is a direct correlation in the pricing of protein foods.

I couldn't agree with you more with your forecast. The only fear I have is the price of the food will be jacked up to match. Bob

BTW you mentioned about selling the Tilapia in large quantites. All I can say at the moment is that we have a plan.

Edited October 5, 2011 by grimleybob

[Smithson]

very helpfull like I said this will be a hobby thing for me to learn. I will go with your pump it sounds like a winner. Thanks to all I can not wait to get started. I will post the photos as we go

This is a link to the pump they quoted @ 1200 baht Bob

http://www.jrpumps.in.th/products-detail/sep/iw250n_main.asp?Type=iw250n

Has anyone used this pump? I'm looking to get one myself and this is about the size I want, but I've not had good experience with cheap pumps.

[IsaanAussie]

very helpfull like I said this will be a hobby thing for me to learn. I will go with your pump it sounds like a winner. Thanks to all I can not wait to get started. I will post the photos as we go

This is a link to the pump they quoted @ 1200 baht Bob

http://www.jrpumps.i...asp?Type=iw250n

Has anyone used this pump? I'm looking to get one myself and this is about the size I want, but I've not had good experience with cheap pumps.

Really good question Smithson. I have an Italian three inch sewerage pump which cost about 7,000 baht, and "knock wood" has performed well for over a year. I would like know if cheaper pumps are a viable option as I will need another one.

One thing I decided on was to limit the power consumption as electricity supply in our area can be variable. My pump is 750W and delivers 450 litres a minute.

[andycrosby]

I never cut corners it does not pay but if something is good its good might be worth buying this one as a back up to your good pump.

[Smithson]

If anyone is interested in ICBs, today I saw some for B1,400, however they are a little different to the standard one and have an outlet in the bottom. The guy has a lot of them and needs to clear his lot, so I'm sure there would be discounts for quantities.

[grimleybob]

I never cut corners it does not pay but if something is good its good might be worth buying this one as a back up to your good pump.

@ 1200 baht why not buy 2 and keep a spare. That is what I will do. When I asked them if this pump would run 24 x 7 x 365 days they no problems. They didn't try to get me to buy something dearer. Bob

Edited October 6, 2011 by grimleybob

[IsaanAussie]

I never cut corners it does not pay but if something is good its good might be worth buying this one as a back up to your good pump.

@ 1200 baht why not buy 2 and keep a spare. That is what I will do. When I asked them if this pump would run 24 x 7 x 365 days they no problems. They didn't try to get me to buy something dearer. Bob

...selling the Tilapia in large quantites. All I can say at the moment is that we have a plan.

I'm feeling pretty good this morning and read this topic after having spent yesterday afternoon with my expensive pump running while I limed my pond. The above quote reminds me of a show I used to like a lot, Black Adder, Baldrick used to say, "I have a cunning plan." I can see so many parallels to life here in Thailand in that show. Thanks for the smile Bob.

Back ups and spares? Here in Thailand? Here in Isaan, the land of the midnight shopper? I had a brand new ordinary water pump as a spare some time ago. I wasnt "using it" so someone else "borrowed it" to drain out water as they sunk a well by hand. Obviously there was no need to ask first, I didnt "need it". When they had finished they did as I had asked and "put it back". Eventually I did have a need for it and went and got it out to find it seized up solid. Who had used it for the wrong thing and hadnt even bothered to wash it out? Who knows, one of Thailands mysteries? I'm not crazy Bob, me keep spares?

Just taking the number ones guys.

Edited October 6, 2011 by IsaanAussie

[grimleybob]

I never cut corners it does not pay but if something is good its good might be worth buying this one as a back up to your good pump.

@ 1200 baht why not buy 2 and keep a spare. That is what I will do. When I asked them if this pump would run 24 x 7 x 365 days they no problems. They didn't try to get me to buy something dearer. Bob

...selling the Tilapia in large quantites. All I can say at the moment is that we have a plan.

I'm feeling pretty good this morning and read this topic after having spent yesterday afternoon with my expensive pump running while I limed my pond. The above quote reminds me of a show I used to like a lot, Black Adder, Baldrick used to say, "I have a cunning plan." I can see so many parallels to life here in Thailand in that show. Thanks for the smile Bob.

Back ups and spares? Here in Thailand? Here in Isaan, the land of the midnight shopper? I had a brand new ordinary water pump as a spare some time ago. I wasnt "using it" so someone else "borrowed it" to drain out water as they sunk a well by hand. Obviously there was no need to ask first, I didnt "need it". When they had finished they did as I had asked and "put it back". Eventually I did have a need for it and went and got it out to find it seized up solid. Who had used it for the wrong thing and hadnt even bothered to wash it out? Who knows, one of Thailands mysteries? I'm not crazy Bob, me keep spares?

Just taking the number ones guys.

You sound like my Doc when he asked if I had difficulty passing urine.

I said I'd no problem passing urine just Pubs.

[ozzydom]

Ah yes ,"farang plans",the old timers on this forum may remember them well.

The bloke who was going to buy up all the rice direct from the growers ,store it and resell when the price went up.

Same with Cassava.

Or the plethora of intensive fish farmers.

Maybe a thread called "Where are they now" would be interesting.

[IsaanAussie]

Ah yes ,"farang plans",the old timers on this forum may remember them well.

The bloke who was going to buy up all the rice direct from the growers ,store it and resell when the price went up.

Same with Cassava.

Or the plethora of intensive fish farmers.

Maybe a thread called "Where are they now" would be interesting.

Come on my ol' Tassie Devil mate,

What happened to "Have a go ya mug!" or in the case of aquaponics "Jumping in at the deep end"

Start ups are never easy and often fail. Not just here but everywhere. No excuses for poor planning, management or judgement, but sympathy for circumstances changing beyond your control. In the case of farming, well what could go wrong, will at some point, making it all the harder. But I agree it would be a valuable tool for those of us who get close to the wire to understand the why things went wrong for others. I doubt the failures will make the time to tell us, so my bet is lack of understanding the market or lack of personal commitment.

Ozz and the other old timers, I'll bet you all have been there on the edge once or twice, either lacking funds or desire to continue. But you kept on going, battled through, Aussie style. I know you and many others try to help newbies by offering advise. More fool them if it isnt heeded.

Remember the Irishmen who bought a truck to go upcountry and buy watermelons? They loaded up at a few baht each and returned to the big smoke where after more effort than they had thought it would be, sold the melons for a few baht each. After much deep discussion and thought, they decided they would improve their lot by buying a bigger truck. Recipe for success?

Isaan Aussie

[ozzydom]

IA, Frank Sinatra,s great song "My Way"could be my theme except that he says "Mistakes ,I made a few, but then again ,to few to mention".

In my case the mistakes have been many,but I reckon I have learned from each of them and rarely made the same one twice.

The wheel and the mouse trap have been invented so all we can hope for is to improve.

I have risen from the ashes more times than I care to remember,but about the only thing that ever beat me was scheming wives and divorce lawyers.

My advices to anybody is given with their best interests at heart and from lessons learned (usually the hard way).

The person who said "If it sounds to good to be true ,it usually is" was right on the money.

[IsaanAussie]

Good for you Oz or should I say Frankdom,Crash and burn so what, you had a go and when it took a bit more you put it in. My kinda guy!

[kikoman]

One has to learn by his mistakes, I grew 400 catfish and did not know anything about fish farming. My family has had all the catfish they could eat, lost only a few during that venture as a matter of fact the last of those are still in the fish tank. What I learned was that raising fish from fingerling's to eating size is extremely expensive, and was not cost effective for me to do.

I also learned that I needed to know something about what I am required to do to have success with the aguaponics system, the 187 page book that is completely free (the forum that Smithson included in his post) many of you would be wise to read. I also learned that the Aguaponics system has limits on the amount of fish you can raise and it is in direct proportion to the amount of grow area you have . I was planning to raise a 100 fish and found out that with the amount of grow space I was planning I could only raise 25.

Fish are only part of what the system can do, but I will also try to raise vegetables that are not sold widely in LOS like celery, summer squash,big tomato's,Barker hot green chili, etc. for the consumption of my family and myself.

It would be wise to listen to some of the issue addressed on this thread.

Good Luck

Cheers:

[grimleybob]

Good for you Oz or should I say Frankdom,Crash and burn so what, you had a go and when it took a bit more you put it in. My kinda guy!

My Frankie song has got to be That's Life "I've bin up and down over and out but I know one thing, each time I find myself flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in the race"

I can't resist these lines "as funny as it may seem, some people get their kicks, stompin on a dream" Only joking Ozzydom I realise the your observations are made in good faith and I agree with some if not all of your comments but as you already quoted it' got to be "My way" but "With a little Help from my Friends" Joe Cocker

Bob

Edited October 7, 2011 by grimleybob

[andycrosby]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

[IsaanAussie]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

Andy,

Man after my own heart. I have never been a keen fish eater but i draw the line at those that glow in the dark. Think about using worm castings as the nutrient supply. Since you want to experiment, I'll play ball and supply the castings to start you off if you like.

[ozzydom]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

Can see that you have never eaten butter fried skinless boned fillet of Pla Nin, or for that matter a slab of Murray cod or Red Perch.

[grimleybob]

If anyone is interested in ICBs, today I saw some for B1,400, however they are a little different to the standard one and have an outlet in the bottom. The guy has a lot of them and needs to clear his lot, so I'm sure there would be discounts for quantities.

I apologise. You were right about the volume of gravel. It is 2 to 1. I re-checked my own paperwork and found that I have in my plans 1 x 3.5m round tank 1m deep ( 9500 liters ) has 2 X 20m x 1.5m beds 300mm deep @ 9000 liters giving 18000 liters in total. You were right. Bob (I'm not crazy but sometimes confused)

[andycrosby]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

Can see that you have never eaten butter fried skinless boned fillet of Pla Nin, or for that matter a slab of Murray cod or Red Perch.

no but id put a fresh dorado against any off them.

[andycrosby]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

Can see that you have never eaten butter fried skinless boned fillet of Pla Nin, or for that matter a slab of Murray cod or Red Perch.

no but id put a fresh dorado against any off them.

[isaanbeef]

Kikoman, pls keep us updated on your progress. I would recommend joining that forum. You will also need to buy some chelated iron, as there is no iron in the fish poo. If you have trouble finding this, pls let me know. Circular tanks are best as you can get a whirlpool effect to remove solids.

ICBs are around B2.5, if you want to use these for your systems then Download the IBC of Aquaponics Here

Another thing, IA quoted the price of Tilapia at B90, I think in Bangkok it's cheaper, maybe more like B65.

90baht kg is the price in the local markets around this area for fish around the 1 kg size.

The wholesaler who buys from CP farms on the Mekong and transports live them to the resellers at the different markets marks up 10 baht kg and the resellers another 10 baht.

It wont surprise me if the price rises as soon as the season gets into swing.last year when local beef was 120 bt kg and pork 100 baht ,Tilapia were 80 baht (75 baht from us ),now beef is up to 160 baht and pork 150 baht.

There is a direct correlation in the pricing of protein foods.

Make that 180 baht

[andycrosby]

Ok Chaps need some help I got the crane in today and had 4 round cement tanks droped off. They are not small what i want to do is stagger the hights so they get smaller and smaller big one comes in a few days time, when they put the floor in it. That will be 5ft high and 5 ft wide for putting fish in. The next two are the same size they are both 4ft h and 3tf deep and the last one is quite small about 2x2 ft

Q1) What i want to do is use the centre two as my grow beds at what hight should I have the outlet to take the water to the pump tank under the gravel would 6 inch be ok or does it need to come out near the bottom ?

Q2 ) would i be better putting a tank in between the fish and the grow beds to catch the fish shit ?

I welcome any ones advice if you can think of a better system please say so now before I get to far these things are not light weight . If anyone wants to jump on a bus and come and give us a hand you most welcome to a free room food and beer.

one last thing i have put them in the shade next to the brand new 25 meter chicken house the overhand is 1.8 meters so the whole system will never see direct sun light apart from the last hour of each day. Is this the right thing to do ?

[andycrosby]

Kikoman, pls keep us updated on your progress. I would recommend joining that forum. You will also need to buy some chelated iron, as there is no iron in the fish poo. If you have trouble finding this, pls let me know. Circular tanks are best as you can get a whirlpool effect to remove solids.

ICBs are around B2.5, if you want to use these for your systems then Download the IBC of Aquaponics Here

Another thing, IA quoted the price of Tilapia at B90, I think in Bangkok it's cheaper, maybe more like B65.

90baht kg is the price in the local markets around this area for fish around the 1 kg size.

The wholesaler who buys from CP farms on the Mekong and transports live them to the resellers at the different markets marks up 10 baht kg and the resellers another 10 baht.

It wont surprise me if the price rises as soon as the season gets into swing.last year when local beef was 120 bt kg and pork 100 baht ,Tilapia were 80 baht (75 baht from us ),now beef is up to 160 baht and pork 150 baht.

There is a direct correlation in the pricing of protein foods.

Make that 180 baht

agreed were getting 70 per kg for end of lay hens now. Its like weigh your old shit stock in and get a point off lay bird for about 40 baht more. Goats, geese , turkeys and ducks are up and are up to stay me thinks!!!

[grimleybob]

Ok Chaps need some help I got the crane in today and had 4 round cement tanks droped off. They are not small what i want to do is stagger the hights so they get smaller and smaller big one comes in a few days time, when they put the floor in it. That will be 5ft high and 5 ft wide for putting fish in. The next two are the same size they are both 4ft h and 3tf deep and the last one is quite small about 2x2 ft

Q1) What i want to do is use the centre two as my grow beds at what hight should I have the outlet to take the water to the pump tank under the gravel would 6 inch be ok or does it need to come out near the bottom ?

Q2 ) would i be better putting a tank in between the fish and the grow beds to catch the fish shit ?

I welcome any ones advice if you can think of a better system please say so now before I get to far these things are not light weight . If anyone wants to jump on a bus and come and give us a hand you most welcome to a free room food and beer.

one last thing i have put them in the shade next to the brand new 25 meter chicken house the overhand is 1.8 meters so the whole system will never see direct sun light apart from the last hour of each day. Is this the right thing to do ?

Your fishtank is 2 cuM so you are light on the growbed side. you need 4 cu M of gravel and as it's the veg your more interested in why skimp on the beds. I would set the fishtank at least 2ft below ground. It helps with water temp in hot weather and you can gravity feed the water back to the fish. Let the shit go into the beds, get some of I A's or Wormfarmer's worms to take care of the shit. When you harvest veg you can clean up the beds, roots etc, thin out the worms and feed them to your hens Bob

[andycrosby]

sounds like a plan bob for what they cost I could add a few more tubs the total bill so far for the 4 tubs was 800 baht the large one on order is 500 so 1,300 I can not belive there so cheep. First time in Thailand ill be under buget on a project ..LoL

[c64]

After reading the posts on this topic here. I got a bit interested and did some searching and found a placewith some real info about setting up aquaponics/hydroponics/aeroponics. Some very good howto's there as well I'm not promoting grass but the links and the discussion regarding the setupwere quite enlightening. I still have my opinion about druggies but when itcomes to growing, they are real rocket scientists.So, look away from what they're growing and just check the tecniques andinfo they're talking about ;-)http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/http://forum.grasscity.com/aeroponics/

[kikoman]

I only can help you with your question about having your whole system out of direct sunlight. I do not think it would bother the fish at all but your veggies would need some exposure to the sun to aid in their growth.

Also I believe you would be better off if you buried your fish tank underground, this would insulate the fish tank and give you good gravity feed from the grow beds to your fish tank. I would also build a cover for the fish tank to child proof it, also to protect your fish and keep the fish from jumping out of the fish tank (a problem I had with my catfish).

Again Good Luck,

Cheers:

[ozzydom]

See why you two have so many posts just talking to each other. Point out again for everyone I am setting up an AP system as a hobby for a bit of fun. grow some veg for me and the kids a few fish for the wife. This is not my living and I dont want it to be I am a poultry farmer. I hate fresh water fish id sooner eat dog shit . Sorry eating muddy fish is not on my menu. I might not bother with the fish just chuck some chicken shit in the water..!!!!

Can see that you have never eaten butter fried skinless boned fillet of Pla Nin, or for that matter a slab of Murray cod or Red Perch.

no but id put a fresh dorado against any off them.

I did not realise that Mahi Mahi were fresh water fish.