What really gives me a kick is seeing plans come to fruition. For every crazy idea that I come up with (and the Child Bride passes) probably only 1 in 10 see the light of day. I have decided to enter the FNB/Enablis Launchpad 2008 business competition in the Agri Business category and have been frantically putting together a business plan with photos of my various Aquaponic sites and came across an early plan of my first commercial site. Here is how I visualised it.
I popped out to the site this week to see how things were going. Wow, what growth in plants and fish. Even the chickens seemed happy. Here is what it looks like now.
The only difference that I can see from the original plan is that we use two pumps instead of 4 and we have added chickens to the formula. Everything else is exactly the same, a cantre sump, 4 ponds, 24 growbeds. At the new Gouna site we have started filling the massive 46000L ponds with water. Here are some action shots.
It is taking us a full day to fill one of these monsters.
We found a use for the 500mm pipe ends.
Maybe Aquaponics is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Dream on.
Synaptoman
S Y N A P T O M A N 
As indicated telephonically, I am very interested in setting up an aquaponics (small-medium) enterprise on our farm approx 50 km from East London (incorporating tilapia & possibly chickens). Do you have any manual/book (with clear descriptions, designs, ….) or, if you have teams establishing full systems, how can we most easily discover possible setup costs, etc. ?
I am also quite interested in this. I would like to set up a system to run as a hobby. I would need someone to help me calculate costs and possibly help with installation as well.
Hi Christopher,
I’d be glad to help. I’ll send you a private email.
Cheers
Synaptoman
Hello, I live in the USA in Arizona. I would like to know more about setting up an aquaponics system as a home based money maker. I know I need to have a food handlers card and pay $100.00 a year for a permit. What I would like to know more about is getting the funding I need to get this started. I have about 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre that I can use and I love to grow things. What should I do next?
Hi Richard,
If you intend running this as a small business, I would suggest the following startegy;
1) Research, collecting information re: marketing, technical workings, financial feasibility and permitting.
2) A Business Plan, summarising all of the above with an emphasis on a marketing plan and the financial side.
3) Approaching funders of small business startups in your area.
Oh, and buy my book.
Good luck.
Synaptoman