Red Heeler Aquaponic Sales
Being situated near the Murray River on fertile ground in country Victoria is normally an great place to be if you are a farmer. That is until recently where the drought has forced water allocations down so low that in ground cropping is a gamble at best.
We were approached in 2007 to assist a farmer with the implementation of a commercial aquaponics system on her property. In early-October we did a site visit. Planning is the most important thing you can do!
You need to look at all local factors and conditions to ensure the system you are going to build has the best chance of success. For example it is important that the ground be reasonably flat, you take note of the weather conditions, the type of fish available (you must check local laws for keeping fish), what plants you can sell and many other factors. All of these effect the design of the system.
In mid-December we went down again to prepare for the installation. Good preparation is essential. Everyone chipped in to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Firstly we prepared the grow tunnel area. Margaret, the owner of the system, was fabulous to work with. She had done as much as possible in preparation before we arrived.
Note that there is no need for the grow tunnels to have concrete floors. It is very important however that the grow trough supports be extremely level. We do not want nearly 5,000 kilograms of grow trough to hit the ground!
We were lucky to have two of the best workers I have ever seen. Bob and Ron were simply unbelievable! Once we had the leveled supports for the grow troughs in place we dug the channel so the pipes that connect the grow tunnel to the fish shed could put in. Ok, so digging was not that hard.
Once the channel was in place we put down the pipe. Luckily we checked it before we filled in the channel. It had a small hole that we had to fix.
Then we installed the pipe in the grow tunnel.
After that we put the timber on the level stands and the grow tunnel was ready for the arrival of the grow troughs.
Next we started work preparing the fish shed. Russell and I measured out for the exact placement of the major parts. Russell started by marking where the sump would go.
By the time we had finished the floor was well marked out.
Following that we had to cut out the concrete for the sump. It is very important that the sump be lower than the fish tanks and the grow troughs.
We were then able to connect up the sump and it was ready for the rest of the equipment to arrive.
There are many important tricks when it comes to commercial aquaponics systems. Some of them are designed to minimize risk. One such measure is an isolation or quarantine tank. This is used to hold the fish when you first get them. Because the systems are closed you must ensure your new fingerlings are not going to introduce any disease to the system. So I built the isolation system and it was in use within a week.
Please go to Red Heeler 2 for the next part of our installation.
For more Information please do not hesitate to contact us.
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| Martin O'Dee | Kerri Kempin |
Last Modified: Wednesday, 30-Jan-2008 16:10:56 EST
