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  1. #1
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    Aquaponics revival

    Hi all,

    just wondering if anyone is busy with Aquaponics and has interest exchanging sone knowledge do's and don't do's.

    I started spring 2014 and by now half of my Thai family is addicted.
    We built a test system in our backyard and built rebuilt upgraded and learned from mistakes.
    Now, 5 years and about 500000 baht plus "easier" we are sure, we want to go for a real farm.

    If here is a group or single people into that kind of stuff I am willing to do some photos from start till where we are now and what we are planning.

    I did post here a few years ago but then became so busy that I forgot about TD.
    I also can't find these posts anymore, they must have been deleted and I must have been declared for dead here

    Cheers

    Will

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Was it this thread here: https://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gard...oject-any.html (My huge Pond/Park Project, any tipps to sucess?) ?

    I vaguely recall there was someone else doing something similar a whiles back, can't remember who now for the life of me though

  3. #3
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    Sounds interesting. Lets see some pictures.

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    I was thinking of trying to raise two headed lizards for the Chinese market.

  5. #5
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    I would be very interested to see some pics and get some info about your smaller scale projects.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by AntRobertson View Post
    Was it this thread here: https://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gard...oject-any.html (My huge Pond/Park Project, any tipps to sucess?) ?

    I vaguely recall there was someone else doing something similar a whiles back, can't remember who now for the life of me though
    Cheers mate,

    that was it but we can let it die.
    The Uncle of my wife did some Bullshit, based on greed, they had never so much cash in their life before and as it came to the Chanote... well same old story, just that I am living long enough here and secured all in case the chit hits the fan.
    The court case went till last month and the Uncle of my wife went through the mincer.
    We won and the Freehold Chanote gets handed out in two weeks and the good thing is that they Land is meanwhile worth almost triple the price we paid..

    So I guess we just continue here with the start and where we are now with our Test system.

    It began actually spring 2014 as my wife asked me if we cannot have a rice farm as my retirement plan.
    I also was thinking about when I stop offshore not to end at the stone table but keep myself going.
    So I tried by my father in law driving a Buffalo with a rake over the rice field.
    I really made myself looking a Muppet as the Buffalo went everywhere but not where I wanted him to go.
    The Rice Field was looking like... well as a German I would say, my Grandpa has been in Stalingrad in the same muddy Situation..
    It simply went badly wrong to the full amusement of the entire Village..

    So we came on the idea, a farm, OK but then we fly to my Auntie in the Netherlands, they own a successful Greenhouse farm and my wife can have a look.
    So 2014 we booked the flights, took also the little niece with and went top Germany to my Parents from where we visited the Auntie in Alkmaar.

    Neither my wife nor my little niece have ever seen so much Tomatoes and Cucumbers on such a small space and such an equal size.
    We stayed 3 weeks there and both girls soaked the knowledge in like dry sponges. That was to them a complete different world of farming.

    Back in Thailand they were over the moon. Pa Laem German was the main story and the rice farm plans died. (Lucky me and lucky Buffalo)

    I told my wife that we have now a complete different Situation. The Climate here, different challenges and plants.
    So I planned and built our first test System..

    And the first steps in Aquaponics, well think of the Buffalo please!

    more next page...

  7. #7
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    the first steps:

    Google knows: So I drove top the local hardware store and got myself an Aquaponics system, The relation between the Fish Tanks and the Plants was by accident on the spot.
    But that was it all so far.

    Aquaponics revival-2-jpg

    Chopping off the Palm tree would be bad luck according to my wife but an engineer like me finds of cause a way around.
    Aquaponics revival-16-jpg

    3 weeks later and a hell of a fight balancing the pipes that the holes not overflow what they continuously did, a lightning struck that bloody palm tree and as it was falling dying to the ground it took the entire System with it.. (The Muppet was back)
    But after a few days swearing, chewing barb wire and pissing napalm I was back under a boost of high motivation.
    And there was the first trial System.
    Aquaponics revival-23-jpg
    And hell yeah, the plants were growing.. Beside after each rain shower the entire system had to be balanced again (what about the Muppet?)

    more next page..
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  8. #8
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    the first success story, some greens grew others just burned by the sun but that was expected
    Aquaponics revival-60-1-jpg

    and the fish tanks became clear, we could see out crayfish the first time. The plants took the nutrients and the algae died so Muppet won his first battle.
    We could even try our first Red Claw Crayfish meal and they tasted so good!
    But that they taste good also the crays realized fast and after each molding some were eaten by the others (Yeehaaw, Muppet is back) but we knew, we need more space..
    Aquaponics revival-21769467_1464695723648409_368310417_o-jpg
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  9. #9
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    and so we raised our dead born child. It was spring and the weather was comfortable but as April came the pipes became hot. Instead of re-thinking Muppet built some Ebb Flood beds under the terrace.
    Aquaponics revival-26828584_1575124369272210_1695119505_o-jpg

    The only thing was that the Nitrate values raised and the dangerous Ammonia decreased because of the huge amount of Nitryfying Bacteria that found a home.
    Beside that it was another waste of money coz under the terrace it was too dark for any plant to grow. But Muppet had another success story in the Books.
    Because it was now nice dark in the crayfish tanks the population exploded. Berried females we found on daily base. Well and the pipes also cooled a bit down.
    Aquaponics revival-27787321_1600049460113034_1525092505_o-jpg

    that's so far for today folks. My night shift at work is over, but if you did like it till now, I'll continue the story.. By the way I reckon the first 100.000 baht were spent till there.
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  10. #10
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    SW interesting - there's a restaurant out Korat way that has an aquaponics sets up - its not easy to make money farming in Thailand in any set up - good luck though.

  11. #11
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    fark - yer P&IDs and ISOs must be intense

    the internet is a system of toobs

  12. #12
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    @Baldrick, Just not mention P&ID symbols and ISO to a common rice farmer. Useless to say more. They must make pipe for pipe themselves and what it has an ISO stamp its literally made in Germany LOL beside this its just a miracle when they find out why the pipe works that way they built it. LOL

    @NamPikToot Not easy to make money? You will realize that when you are reaching the point that nobody comes and buys your products and you have even to ennoble your waste and this ennobled waste gets even further evaluated, then you might come to a profit. You are so right you said.


    Ok we have meanwhile autumn 2014/spring 2015 and as seen above, the crayfish population is exploded. So more Fish tanks had to be bought, the access to the once so relaxing terrace was blocked and it was bubbling and splashing. My wife was happy and full of success stories (...and I still a Muppet.)
    Also a juvenile Station (the black cubes in the shelf) had to be developed and added to the system. (at least the Muppet had the insight that it had to be integrated into the system)
    Aquaponics revival-received_1611023312348982-jpg

    yea but more Crayfish made more dirt and so some filters (Invented by Google knows) needed to be added.
    Aquaponics revival-27744896_1600049420113038_1375954802_o-jpg

    and the Muppet thought the first time about saving, hence he engineered a easy Filter, but hard to maintain and it was also not Crayfish fry safe. These little critters marched through the entire system.
    They were worse than the Mosqiuito larvae, they literally invaded every pipe pump and went out of control.
    Lesson learned: The Filter units were absolute useless, Filtering means more than a plastic Bowl, some Material and heck all.. Nice try!
    Aquaponics revival-received_1612164928901487-jpg

    The time was reached to say to myself: Now its just the right moment to become a professional and not to give up.
    A new huge boost of optimism went through my head and I had somehow a change in my mind to say "we fecked it completely up? NO we came so far already!"
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  13. #13
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    What for a Muppet thinks like that??? So far already!

    Then, the day came and I received an e-mail: A student named Samuel Patrick Doyle was contacting me via an Aquaponics Forum and this gave me a bit of hope as I got basically confirmed that my set up is the right way to go but just not the right way gone.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by See Will View Post
    These little critters marched through the entire system.
    They were worse than the Mosqiuito larvae, they literally invaded every pipe pump and went out of control.
    aggressive food. The idea of raising some crayfish for home consumption sounds interesting.

  15. #15
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    Based on all the lessons learned so far and the new friends that told me all about water testing using real digital instruments instead of the nose of my wife and nephew.
    We found out that our Nitrates were way too low but our ammonia levels were as required in the very safe readings.

    Remark: If you buy an electronic Tester teach any experienced Thai rice farmer using it, HOW to use it with a step by step guidance and make clear you cannot test you water by throwing the whole thing into the Fish tank.
    It won't work and it WILL not work anymore and anytime. (380$ in the bin)

    So as our dead water tester told us in his last breath taken: We need more Nitrate for the Plants and our terrace (and entire System) is occupied by bottom dwellers not capable to pee and poop more than they actually did by then. Because of the fact that Crayfish are calculated by square-meters of living space and not by cubic-meters of water we actually wasted a lot of valued volume of water.
    We needed fish that can live in an Aquaponics System and even better we needed to control the escaping crayfish fry plus contain them better.
    My office went into the bedroom and the living room became a Baby Station due to an overfilled backyard and terrace.
    Aquaponics revival-img-20180718-wa0002-jpg

    and some Tilapia Tanks were designed. First doubts that these cube are too small were eliminated as we had in each tank 3 Tilapia as a sign we love our animals and wanted to give them as much space we could effort. Unfortunately Tilapia need the so called cuddle effect and the first died of loneliness cos they missed the protection of the school they usually live in.
    So we chuck in each cube 50 and that was working out well.
    Aquaponics revival-35534030_1738577112926934_2102707763535675392_n-jpg


    Based on all we have learned so far we had on the spot the right values and were capable to control the Nitrate (Fertilizer) values by the feeding Ratio of our fish and density of plants.
    The Muppet and his Thai wife got promoted to backyard Aquaponic farmers .. and she drowned another electronic PH and Temperature Tester (only 120$ this time) by multitasking, holding a Crayfish in one hand and the tester in the other... well and as the Crayfish pinched her with all his force of the main Claw the tester dropped.. naah forget it, shit happens!

    Now with abundant fertilizer in the System and boredom of Salads and Fish we fancied some Tomatoes and Peppers too. But they can't be hold in the Pipe system and falling out at the first wind gust, beside the fact that the big root system clogs the pipes and the overflow problem returned.
    So Will (not Muppet) built a Dutch Bucket System suitable for tall plants...
    Aquaponics revival-received_1574645715986742-jpg


    Which actually failed due to the high Temperatures in Thailand and permanently clogged irrigation pipes.. What to say? Its by then spring 2016 and about 400.000 Baht later.
    I got more and more the bad feeling that continuously upgrading and adjusting something that is not supposed to be that size is the wrong way to go.
    Also because of the fact that all lessons learned were brought into a design how our farm later would be looking like.
    Aquaponics revival-last-stand-08-2019-jpg

    A busting year Offshore kept me off the plans to rebuild the entire system and it had to wait until the season is over.
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  16. #16
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    January 2018 I finally got the time to break down the old System and build a new system not looking like our planned farm but in detail copying all its features and the entire set up.
    First we had to give our System a natural selection by meaning we had to reduce all our Livestock keeping only the best Quality and Sizes for breeding and increase our Cholesterol levels sky-high.

    Thanks to all neighbors and friends participating on our Saturday BBQ that went into the Sunday night to get the required breeding stock, giving all a worst hangover and slimmed my wallet a good 20000 Baht. But never-mind the offshore season was long and its was a good re-socialization weekend after such a long time on a vessel at sea..

    The Terrace with the filter beds got cleared and the filter-beds got a space where was abundant sunlight available. The Dutch bucket system had to bless the time and got scrapped too but don't worry. That System will NOT work in Thailand's heat. Therefore the Ebb Flood System used as host for the nitrifying Bacteria will do.


    We used smart-board and coated it with food grade polyester resin. In our commercial farm will it be foam-concrete with potable water paint like the drinking water tanks on ships.
    The installed bell siphon worked as required and the intervals between ebb and flood was on the spot. Confirmed, the lessons were learned.

  17. #17
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    SW the real question is, can you get in your house?

  18. #18
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    The Pipes with all their temperature, balancing and clogging problems have been exchanged to deep-water grow beds.
    And to stand off the crowd and starting a revolution that has never been done in aquaponics before we decided to do what we tested with the old system by accident.
    We wanted to use the space on the bottom of the grow beds for grow out more crayfish.
    The grow beds are worldwide recommended to be 10-12 inches or 30-36 cm. we went for a depth of 60cm.


    The fact that aeration is either necessary for the plant roots and more water is always a benefit for a more stable system plus by experience that the (escaping) Red Claw Crayfish is not a bully to plant roots like the common Yabby (Cerax Destructor) but an excellent gardener who selectively clips the rotten roots out as it only likes decaying matter it protects sensible plants from root rot.

    The next experience we made was that they introduced themselves as some very tidy fellows and kept the solids on the bottom moving until these left to the filter. How to maintain them in our commercial system is another story but worth a try as there will be lots of bottom space what could bring another ton of crays on the market.
    (not to mention that the worldwide production of red Claw Crayfish just covers 25% of the Japanese demand and the middle class of China where they become just a trend in the white table cloth restaurants grows as much as the entire population of Australia per year.)

  19. #19
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    I hope its still from interest how we proceed and what we did more.
    Still there were Improvements to make regarding our Crayfish breeding. The baby stations were not connected to the system and I hated that our living room was looking like an Aquarium Shop.
    I know that any forum is prone to sarcasm and some people are always posting some useless spam when possible but I hope with this tread that the one or other constructive comment will be made.
    Also please feel free to comment any doubts or if you see some NO GO just let us know.
    These Test system is for teaching a Thai family modern farming and off cause a loss of 10000 baht here due to a mistake could avoid a million in the commercial farm.
    We really taking it serious and it would be nice if the readers here support us with their input either with their biologically or technically knowledge, all could help.

    more to come...

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by NamPikToot View Post
    SW the real question is, can you get in your house?
    as mentioned before. Jumping over the sofa, taking the seat as a trampoline to reach the imaginary scaffold that leads to the bedroom, yes we can.
    But part of the rebuilt was to get rid of the aquariums in the living room and retake my dining table that was used as a seed bench..

    If from interest there will me more pics and stories follow.

    Aquaponics revival-20190525_140817-jpg
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    Now where the Terrace was free from useless grow beds, there was more space for grow out tanks for our crayfish.

    by the way I mentioned at the begin 500.000 THB plus, as at this moment the money counter stopped, there is no way back, I have never seen my wife in all the years married so motivated and happy.
    Jumps out of the bed at 4:30am with the words: "My Gung", singing in her garden, climbing on her grow beds and talks the whole day nothing else as Pumpkins, Crayfish babies, Salad, Pumps and Oxygen. My Nephews 17 and 18 pop up at 7am and working their asses off, scared that they one day have to return into the rice field doing bone jarring labor, feeling like they are born for better than a simple rice farmer.. Lung here Lung Thank you for let us staying with you, Lung on facebook,,, the Farang 15 years before is not existing anymore..
    Well, I feel something that's actually went missing in these modern days in Germany: Real family life or Family union. The power of the "together"..

    back to the Crays:
    Quick, the Terrace was reoccupied as the shade with the little sunshine in the evening was tailor-made for breeding and growing crayfish:
    Aquaponics revival-img-20190715-wa0000-jpg

    Aquaponics revival-20190330_182306-jpg

    so we ended up with 4 x 800 Ltr Broodstock Tanks 1 male and 6-8 female at the bottom and 6 grow out tanks each 400 ltr on top. Plus we use the deep-water grow beds also for growing crayfish.
    We learned that the Aquairum effect also has an impact of the crayfish by meaning as bigger the space as bigger they get.
    Our best male has a weight of 415 grams now
    Aquaponics revival-img-20181016-wa0010-jpg

    and also the average and equality of size has been significantly improved. Here a small harvest of 110 gram sizes after 8 month rearing ..
    Aquaponics revival-img-20181017-wa0006-jpg

    ...and they are delicious because of the clean water the grow up. Better than real Lobster and close to a King Crab I would describe the taste.
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  22. #22
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    and I got my living room back, even there is almost not time anymore to hang out on the sofa for a power nap. The Hobby became already since long a passion with the will to win.
    A happy wife who is nonstop in action, loves her test farm and dreams the day to come when I raise the thumb and say we are ready for the real one.

    The Aquariums got scrapped and a Baby (Fry) station has been integrated in the system, self cleaning and no shock when the little ones have the size for relocation as they stay in the same water.
    Aquaponics revival-20190330_182424-jpg

    This picture actually opened my eyes how big that whole thing now really is.
    Aquaponics revival-20190330_182345-jpg

    well and some issues have to be sorted,
    for example the right use of my tools, like the younger Nephew cutting Filter material with a disc grinder Thai Style.. WTF!
    Aquaponics revival-img-20190716-wa0005-jpg
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  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by See Will View Post
    Well, I feel something that's actually went missing in these modern days in Germany: Real family life or Family union. The power of the "together"..
    Shedding the "modern" lifestyle for the rural farm and family life is disaster for some and extremely rewarding for others. Pleased to hear you and frau are happy and enjoying your life.

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    But as long all is growing like the fish: 500-600 grs plate size without muddy taste as the market Tilapia.
    Aquaponics revival-img-20190407-wa0002-jpg

    and the salads nice and equal:
    Aquaponics revival-img-20190612-wa0002-jpg

    and 3 times as fast than common farming methods in dirt, no waste of water than in rural farming or for cleaning
    Aquaponics revival-img-20190720-wa0004-jpg

    as long all this tells us we are on the right way it seems we did learn what mother nature has been trying to teach us in a farming method, which is already 1000 years old.
    Sometimes we just need to go forward to return to the nature
    Aquaponics revival-picture1-png



    Ok folks, that's the story as we began and where we are now and our backyard is at the limits. I kept a little space for the development of fish food as that is a main issue.
    The profit on fish is literally eaten up by the fishes and to combine waste management with fish food is a huge step forward.

    I am at present working again but in 10 days I will be starting that one. If there is still interest I'll be glad to add some posts then but by now I will appreciate every comment be it negative or positive even you think it might not be helpful, how you know?

    Cheers

    Will
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  25. #25
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    Will, in Thailand as anywhere you have to have a motivation to get up - do stuff - looks like you and your Lady have found it. What made me smile is your comment about your Lady's joy, i have to say that Thai women when they are happy and bolted into something are a real pleasure to be around, energy and enthusiasm - lost a lot of that in the west. Thanks for taking the trouble to post - i may ask you what set up i need for say 40 kgs of cray / year - or how much are yours

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