Aquafarm from scratch: experience of real owners, expenses and net profit

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Aquafarming is a hobby that brings a lot of fun and does not require too much effort and time. Essentially, this is a symbiosis of an aquarium and a vegetable garden, where you can grow various greens for salads, mint or grass for pets.

The operating principle of an aqua farm is based on the symbiosis of aquaponics and hydroponics. This method of cultivating plants has been known since the times of the Aztecs and is still actively used in Asia when growing rice in fields.

Is the game worth the candle?

Fish is the most valuable dietary food product. Everyone knows about its benefits, but it still has not taken an equal position on the tables of Russians along with meat, cereals, vegetables, and milk. This is explained by the peculiarities of traditional cuisine, eating habits and relative high cost. In addition, amateur fishing is not prohibited in the country.

Meanwhile, people still buy fish. Perhaps not as often as aqua farm owners would like. Large farms with well-established connections achieve good profitability. But, as they say, all the stars must align:

• a good location for the farm from a logistics point of view;
• initially correctly selected equipment;
• availability of competent specialists;
• a carefully drawn up business plan;
• wide distribution network.

The last point is perhaps the most important. Often, small business owners grow good quality marketable fish, but are unable to sell it.

Replacing water in an aqua farm

Despite an attempt to create a closed cycle, it will not be possible to completely avoid caring for aquarium inhabitants. You will need:

1. Siphon the soil using a flexible hose with a bulb at the other end. This will help remove fish excrement that is not processed by the plants.
2. Add fresh water, as plants consume it intensively and the level drops.

This is interesting. Some 30-liter Xiaomi aqua farm models have a special mechanism for quickly draining water. When you press the button, the valve, protected by a mesh, opens. Through it, up to ¾ of all water is drained into a substitute container without any consequences for the inhabitants.

Business nuances

First of all, you should think three times whether it makes sense to start an aquatic business now. Although the market is not oversaturated, there are already many large and successful players on it. They have the opportunity to offer sellers the best conditions and even dump prices.

Access to the most profitable places of sale in big cities may be closed. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the regions. But the smaller the settlement, the lower the number of paying customers it has. Fish prices cannot be called cheap. That is, it is strongly recommended to open an aqua farm only after working out the issue of selling products.

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Beginning businessmen should prepare for a long payback period for the project. You shouldn't expect super profits either. It takes 2-3 years to grow commercial carp or trout. Many people get around this obstacle by purchasing not fry from fish farms, but grown-up young animals for further fattening. However, it is much more expensive, and accordingly, the profit will be even less.

What fish are suitable for an aqua farm?

Today, many companies offer ready-made aqua farm kits to customers. These usually include:

• Actually an aquarium for breeding fish.
• Cover tray for placing plants.
• Artificial soil for growing plants.
• Auxiliary equipment: filters with a bioculture that processes fish waste, a compressor-aerator, etc.

Some manufacturers even offer their customers kits of plant seeds for sowing a mini-garden on the roof of an aquarium. But fish are not included in the set of ready-made aqua farms, which is quite understandable. It is simply impossible to ensure their existence during the transportation and storage of these devices. Therefore, buyers will have to populate the purchased aquarium beds themselves. What fish are best for an aqua farm?

As experts in breeding aquarium fish advise, first of all, you should pay attention to the dimensions of the water tank of the aqua farm. In order for the fish to feel free in it, you should not overpopulate the aquarium. Also, you should not place too large fish in a limited space. Based on the standard volume of an aqua farm of 11-15 liters, it is best to populate it with small, unpretentious fish. Perfect for these purposes:

• Cockerel. If you decide to get a couple of these fish, then you need to make sure that they are not two males. Cockerels belong to the so-called fighting fish, characterized by increased aggressiveness towards individuals of their own sex. Therefore, it is better to get a female and a male, or just one fish.
• Guppy. These fish are distinguished by their unpretentiousness. They do not require maintenance, and will not become a burden for the owner who is at work all day. Guppies can be kept in a 15-liter aquarium up to 4-6 guppies without any harm to them.

Cockerel fish Guppy fish

If you want to get some exotic fish, distinguished by its beauty and size, then it is better to consult with a specialist before purchasing: can it survive in an aqua farm of this size.

Taste matters

When growing aquaculture, it is necessary to understand that the client in a store or market does not choose the largest individuals. It is important for the buyer that the fish are of medium size, as selected, look healthy and ultimately have good taste.

Some entrepreneurs feed the same carp with special feed mixtures. The fish grows quickly and becomes very plump, looking great on the store counter. But at the same time it is tasteless and has an unpleasant odor. You can sell one batch of goods, but no one will buy the next one.

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To grow a gourmet product, the fish must be created with suitable conditions, given a lot of attention and provided with a high-quality, preferably varied diet.

It happens that I have raised excellent carp, tasty, fatty, but due to improper transportation to the counter, the live fish experiences unnecessary stress. Her meat becomes bad and she takes on an unhealthy appearance. In this case, the buyer has the right to return the defective product. Therefore, there are no trifles in the aquabusiness. Every stage of production is important: from the purchase and launch of fry to the delivery of finished products to the retail outlet.

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Who lives in an eco-aquarium?

The fish is not included in the Aquafarm set - you will have to purchase it separately at the pet store. When choosing, you need to take into account the volume of the tank: although it is substantial, it is still designed for one resident.

The best choice is a betta fish or a Siamese betta. Cockerels have bright colors, look chic and do not get bored when alone.

It is best to plant green plants like basil, cilantro, watercress, alfalfa, mint, arugula and parsley in the tray. If a cat lives in the room with the Aquafarm, then it is worth planting oat or wheatgrass seeds in at least one pot to please the animal with fresh and juicy grass. The developers have taken care of gardeners: the set includes seeds of wheat, green buckwheat, flax and lentils.

Financial plan

I will give approximate amounts that you should rely on when creating a home aqua farm without hired workers:

• A kilogram of fry – 300-500 rubles. Of these, approximately 10% will die, and only one in three will gain marketable weight. Therefore, you need to buy in reserve.
• A ton of fish feed - from 10,000 rubles.
• Swimming pool, capacity for aquaculture in the absence of a pond - from 4,000 rubles.
• Equipment – ​​from 50,000 rubles.

In general, for the starting stage you need to count on at least 100,000 rubles of investment. It is advisable to have a financial reserve of 10-15% for unforeseen expenses. For example, prevention and treatment of diseases.

The average market price of a kilogram of fish varies within 200 rubles. If technology is followed, a cubic meter of water can produce a ton of meat. If you buy fry for 15,000 rubles and subsequently sell all the goods, the annual profit will be 200,000 rubles. Naturally, the revenue will only come in a few years, because the young need to grow up.

Why not provide for other income items that can become the main ones. For example, organizing paid fishing and equipping recreation areas near the water if there is a pond or renting an open reservoir. Construction of a processing plant for the production of smoked, dried and canned fish. But in this case, the initial investment amounts to millions of rubles.

In general, profitability in the sector is 30-40% with a lag of 2-3 years. It is most profitable to organize an aqua farm on the basis of your own pond.

What is included in the fish diet and how does this affect the aquafarm system?

Fish can be fed with seaweed, herring flour and vitamins - this will have a beneficial effect on their growth and plant development.

For better operation of the aqua farm, it is necessary to use the substance D-Klor - a natural product that does not contain a dechlorinator. The water is purified, which is good for the health of fish and plants. With its help, you can quickly prepare water drawn directly from the tap. Its effect is immediate and the fish can be transplanted almost immediately.

Before adding fish to a new aquarium, you can disinfect them using Fish Prep. The composition will clean the fish; the natural oils included in the composition will help remove germs and microorganisms.

Natural filtration will occur using Zym Bac, a special solution that will normalize the ammonia and nitrite levels in the aquarium. Contains beneficial bacteria that promote the natural filtration process.

Tidy Tank is designed to help remove sediment and other troubles. This product is also completely natural. You are guaranteed a clean aquarium.

Risk factors

Seasonal risks are caused by the change of seasons, which in Russia are subject to large temperature fluctuations. Naturally, the further north the pond or outdoor pool is located, the stronger the negative impact. The productivity of an aqua farm drops when winter comes.

Technological risks are associated with the purchase of low-quality equipment or the purchase of sick and weakened fry. Here, “penny” savings can cost the entire season a disruption.

Economic risks relate to the market situation, which is impossible to predict. This year everything is going great, but next year there may be another financial crisis. The poorer the population, the less products are sold. It is also impossible to exclude factors of competition, including unfair competition, bureaucratic arbitrariness, excessive attention of regulatory authorities, changes in legislation, and force majeure.

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Necessary equipment

DIY aquaponics will require you to decide on the location of the system, prepare equipment (mainly containers), and select inhabitants, since not all types of fish are suitable for aquaponic systems.

You will need two containers. One is for growing crops, the second is for fish. Containers should be quite voluminous, large and airtight. It is better to choose a plastic container for 1000 liters. The bottom of the fish container is covered with small pebbles and soil. Fish need to be provided with proper lighting and correct temperature conditions. For the reproduction and circulation of bacteria in the aquatic environment, the installation of pipes will be required. In the container for plants, which should be placed above the first one, you need to make two holes for moisture to enter and for drainage.

Thus, to make aquaponics with your own hands you will need:

• two containers;
• pallet;
• filter for water purification;
• settling tank;
• hydroponic system for plants.

Aquaponics can consist of one section, or several subsystems. The step-by-step diagram for assembling an aqua farm with your own hands is very simple. The main thing is to build the right pipeline, which will require a pump that will maintain pressure and a ball valve to shut off the pipe leading to the aquarium. Next you will need fittings with external and internal threads. The holes in the plant container must fit the male thread fitting. A filter with a mesh must fit into the fitting with internal threads.

The siphon will require a hole at least 3 cm from the bottom edge of the pipe. This will allow you to slowly draw water into the container and, if necessary, quickly drain it. To retain large pieces of debris, it is recommended to make a filter from a pipe with a diameter of 100 mm. Holes should be made in it so that water gets inside, while stones and roots remain outside.

A bypass pipe with a ball valve will help control the water flow for the upper tier of the system with plants. A faucet with a pump will help return water to the aquarium.

What species are profitable to breed?

First of all, those types of fish that are unpretentious in keeping and quickly gain weight. Taste is also important. Keeping carp of different breeds seems ideal. It is resistant to temperature changes, is not demanding on feed, water purity and oxygen content. It gains a marketable weight of 1.5-2 kg in 2 years. Familiar with the population.

Trout ranks second in popularity. This is a more valuable and expensive fish, but it is much more demanding in terms of keeping conditions. Over 2 years, individuals reach an average weight of 0.5 kg.

Also worthy of attention are species such as carp, sturgeon, silver carp, crucian carp, and African catfish. More exotic species include barramundi, buffalo, trout perch, eel, tilapia, peled, whitefish and others. In open ponds you can additionally catch roach, pike, pike perch, catfish, and tench.

What is a hydroponic system?

Literally translated, this word means “work of water” - “hydor” - “water” and “ponos” - labor, work, occupation. That is, plants are grown without using soil.

The plant, in fact, needs several factors that are important for its normal and fruitful development, growth and flowering:

1. Leaves need light as a factor to ensure the process of photosynthesis. Most often, the best option is natural sunlight - this way the spectral characteristics of the backlight are not disturbed.
2. The roots of the plant must be sufficiently provided with oxygen dissolved in water.
3. Nutrients that ensure stable development and health of the plant.
4. It is also necessary to carefully monitor the pH level - that is, maintain the acidity of the environment in which the plant is located at the proper level.

A plant that grows in such an environment will be able to grow as large and succulent as its species and variety will allow.

A hydroponic system, assembled in accordance with certain rules, will very soon replace the usual flowers in ceramic pots, which can break and stain the floor and windowsill. Very often, housewives are faced with the need to wipe window sills and window glass every time after watering and spraying plants. In addition, an unusual system can become a real decoration of the apartment, a unique design solution. This idea is similar to selling eco-pencils and eco-man souvenirs!

Everyone knows how healthy fresh, juicy greens are for the body during the cold season. You already know about the nuances of growing dill and onions in greenhouses, but using a hydroponics system you can try growing basil and other exotic herbs, which can also be sold for good money.

Market promotion

It's not enough to raise fish. It still needs to be implemented. And this is where many novice businessmen stumble. Demand is subject to seasonality. The peak of sales occurs in the fall, when the fish have gained maximum fat. Due to high competition, prices fall at this time, not pleasing producers.

The buyer is most willing to purchase fresh, and therefore live fish. Not every store has aquariums for pre-sale maintenance. Perhaps you should consider making arrangements with certain retail outlets to supply the holding containers yourself. But this is if you work with them in the long term.

Many aqua farmers themselves sell their products in markets, delivering fish in tanks. This is a good option. But the most profitable thing is to open your own fish shop and develop a regular customer base due to the good quality of the products.

Aquaponics in miniature

An “aquafarm” is a small aquarium with a plant tray instead of a lid. The tank is made of transparent acrylic, its volume is 11 liters.

The white polypropylene tray contains five seats, a slot for a water pump and a special hatch for feeding the fish. The water pump operates silently, without distracting you from your work.

The set includes two bags of stones. One contains gravel for the bottom of the aquarium, and the second contains porous pumice, a substrate for plants. The substrate is poured into special small mesh pots that are inserted into the lid. Holes in pots allow roots to grow freely without crowding the plants.

Its modest size allows “Aquafarm” to nestle on a windowsill, kitchen table or even workplace. However, the outlet must be nearby so that the pump can be connected.

Reviews

The story of entrepreneur Sergei Molchanov testifies to the fact that aquabusiness is not as simple and profitable as it seems from the outside. According to the fish farm owner, he has been farming fish for 15 years, but every year the business is becoming harder and harder for small farms, and costs are rising. Difficulties arise not with growing products, but with sales. Large players are squeezing weaker competitors out of the market. Sergei decided to sell his business. And his most important advice is not to start a business until you find reliable sales channels.

Another interesting experience of Evgeny Cherepanov. The man decided to breed not carp or trout, but aquarium fish. According to him, he lost 93,000 rubles out of the blue. Deciding to save a little money, the entrepreneur purchased used equipment. As a result of the failure of the thermostat, all the purchased fish died, which led to losses. But Evgeniy does not intend to quit the business. Taking into account the mistakes he made, he achieved a stable profit of 30,000 rubles per month.

In general, opening an aqua farm can be considered for building a profitable business. But a lot depends on what region you live in, what the competition and demand among the population are.

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History of origin

Prototypes of aquafarms can be found already in ancient times. Mexican Indians created artificial chinampa islands in the middle of shallow lakes, and grew vegetables and fruits on them. Even during periods of drought, plant roots were supplied with sufficient moisture from the lake. At the same time, the lake was used for fishing and as a source of organic matter: the silt served as fertilizer for cultivated plants. In China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, rice has been grown in artificial small ponds - checks - since ancient times. At the same time, these rice ponds are used for breeding fish, crayfish and freshwater crabs.

Two Americans, graduates of the University of Berkeley, California, decided to introduce the experience of Mexican and Asian rural residents into the lives of modern city dwellers. These young scientists specialized in research in the field of ecology and biology, and decided to create a compact system for growing environmentally friendly products for the home table. The main conditions for their development were:

• Absolutely environmentally friendly system.
• Small dimensions allowing the structure to be freely placed in any apartment.
• Complete self-sufficiency of the system, so that owners have to put as little effort into caring for plants.
• External aesthetics, since the home farm must fit well into the interior of the room.

As a result, the aqua farm was born as an artificial system that most fully meets the requirements. It can be placed in almost any room - home, office, educational institution. Aquafarms simultaneously act as a source of healthy fresh herbs and as an aesthetic decoration for the interior.

Prices for AquaFarms start from 13,483 rubles

DIY aquaponics using a microcontroller

Hi all. Somehow, on the Internet, I came across an interesting American project. The essence of the project is that it is possible to grow various agricultural crops using not soil, but, so to speak, a symbiosis of fish and plants. It turns out to be a closed cycle. You feed and grow fish; their waste products, dissolved in water, provide a nutrient medium for plants. And these plants, receiving nutrients for growth from water, purify it. The whole process is repeated in a circle. This method is called “aquaponics”. Inspired by this project, I decided to create something similar, but using a microcontroller. Essentially, I wanted to automate the entire process - automation, by and large, was what attracted me. Having decided that I would grow strawberries, I began to design the installation itself.

Let's briefly look at some design points

I made the glasses for installing the strawberries using sewer plastic tees 50 x 50. I also needed one plug and two L-shaped corners of the same diameter.

Finding the right lighting for strawberries turned out to be a difficult task. I wanted to use LEDs, but after googling on the Internet, I found out that any LEDs will not work. They must be with a certain spectrum and wavelength. For normal plant growth, the light spectrum must be mixed and consist of red and blue LEDs. In principle, that’s what they’re called – LEDs for plants. For example, these Then the question arose: how many LEDs are needed? Not finding clear information on this issue, I settled on purchasing one-watt LEDs - five red and five blue. Due to a limited budget, I purchased LEDs without a heatsink. But, given that they work for a long time, you need to take care of their cooling. Therefore, I made the radiators myself from an aluminum sheet, to which I screwed copper strips.

Since I already had an aquarium with a filter, I decided to slightly modernize the automation for the aquarium and assemble an automatic fish feeder from available materials. The width of the gap of the partition, which was located in a body soldered from foil-textolite (55 x 55 x 10), controlled the dose of food. To control the amount of food in the feeder, a transparent lid was required. The material for it was a case made from a cassette deck that was lying around, but thin plexiglass can also be used.

To supply a dosed portion into the aquarium, a stepper motor from an old cider was adapted. To control the movement of the stepper motor, I installed a limit switch with a “ski”. Since in this project the entire process will be controlled by a microcontroller, I assigned the function of controlling this device to it. The feeding time was fixed, food was supplied to the fish twice a day, in the morning at 8.00 and in the evening at 18.00. The feeder turned out to be spacious, there is enough food for a month without refilling the food. This is perhaps the only thing that did not have to be changed during the operation of aquaponics.

For aquaponics, the periodic flooding method was chosen. It involves using a pump to supply water to the installation. I didn’t want to buy a special pump, so I took an aquarium filter. It was perfect for this purpose, it didn’t even require any modifications - I put a flexible hose on the filter, and that’s it. Not only did the aquarium filter itself purify the water from large debris, it also perfectly supplied water to a small height. To control the level of supplied water, I used two copper electrodes made of copper wire (during the work, this turned out to be not the best option, because they oxidized). Naturally, the entire process was controlled by a microcontroller.

A more visual demonstration of the operation of aquaponics and the electronic control unit on a microcontroller can be seen in this video.

A little off topic

: Let's look at some of the problems that arose during the operation of aquaponics.

Experiments with LED lighting

From the very beginning, I made the lighting switch on hard, that is, the lighting turned on and off at a specified time.
Continuing experiments with the duration of the lighting, I noticed that the berries ripen faster if the lighting is implemented as in nature: it should turn on and off continuously and smoothly, simulating sunrise and sunset. You also need to take into account the ripening periods of the berries. During the formation of berries, the duration of illumination should be about 10 hours. When the berry gains color, it’s 12 hours. But I'm still working on these parameters. After two months of growing the strawberries, problems arose. I noticed that its leaves were turning white rather than green. After digging through a lot of information, I found out that a possible reason is a lack of nutrients in the water necessary for the formation of proper growth. I didn't want to add any chemicals. Therefore, I made a simple decision - to increase the number of fish, since more fish will produce more waste products.

After a month, no positive result was observed; the leaves still remained pale green. But the strawberries began to bear fruit abundantly.

I started experimenting with lighting, and some time after I removed the two red LEDs, the strawberry leaves turned green. Currently the ratio of LEDs is five blue and three red.

Parasite invasion

Parasites have settled on the leaves, and in huge numbers. How they got there is unclear. As it turned out, the name of this pest is spider mite. Something had to be done because the strawberries were withering away. I bought the appropriate poison to combat this pest; according to the instructions, it was necessary to spray each bush. But in my case this was not an option. The poison has a detrimental effect on both parasites and fish. I found a simple solution: I diluted the preparation in a plastic basin and dipped each bush, turning its leaves down, into water, without lowering the strawberry root system into it. The result was not long in coming; the parasites literally began to fall. Victory!

Fruiting

The berries were constantly set, although they had to be pollinated manually with a brush.
But this was not a problem, since there are few bushes. There was never a barren flower, the berries were always set. During the ripening period, the aroma of strawberries spread throughout the entire office, so that you even had to “show off” hungry employees so as not to eat the entire harvest. But the taste of the berries was not impressive - grass is grass. But here again, many factors need to be taken into account, ranging from the quality of nutrients to the varieties of strawberries. The microcontroller program and the circuit itself are constantly changing. What seemed from the very beginning a relatively simple project grew into a serious device using a microcontroller. Now in the process of manufacturing - a new installation, much larger in size, there are also more bells and whistles there. Everything is in wires, sensors and various dispensers.

PC If this topic in the vastness of Habr receives feedback, then I will continue to write articles on this topic

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History of creation

The idea to form such a mini-ecosystem belongs to two Californian guys, or rather, graduates of a research university known as the University of California at Berkeley. Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez wanted to create an excellent microfarm that would be completely harmless to humans and nature. The photo below demonstrates such a system.

To implement their own ideas, they assembled a huge team. Researchers in the fields of hydroponics, biology, aquaculture, engineering and design worked on the aquafarm. As a result, they came up with a system that is well suited for residential areas, office spaces, and child care facilities. The miracle product gold 1 fish has become popular in the Russian Federation. This gold 1 fish is distinguished by what is considered an unusual and creative piece.