Should we start aquaponics by a commercial or even a large-scale system?
This is what we're going to see together in this video.
[Music]
So many people have large goals you know
and that's good to have big goals, big aim and to see yourself in
a future where you will be able to grow a large quantity of food at home, even
maybe to produce some food for the community, for your friend, for your
family, for your neighbors, but maybe as well, to produce a little commercial
system you know, a local commercial system where you are the -- so you are
the local aquaponics farm, and people come to you, to your farm to get some
vegetables. That could be interesting. That's a very interesting project. Many
people nowadays are thinking of retiring with this type of production. So that's
why many people are interested in aquaponics nowadays. Again, I think it's
very interesting. I am part of those people who want to go for larger scale
aquaponics, but very often, I received some emails from those people who say
okay, I got 20 acres. I got this surface of land. I would like to start aquaponics.
How do I start? I have the aim to produce this quantity of lettuce, vegetables, fish,
whatever. Please help me to put the things together. Again, I think we need to
have big aim, big goal, but we need to go there step by step. And for me, there is a
big, big problem when I see people wanting to start from zero knowledge in
aquaponics, to producing a commercial, running a commercial farm. Obviously, in
aquaponics, we are running with nature principles, but you need to understand
them. You need to know how nature works. And if you want to go for commercial
scale, obviously, the setup is going to be large, and it's going to induce some
costs, all right? You're going to have some cost to put the system in place,
cost to run the setup. And so all those things when you put them together, you
need to make sure you are doing the right thing, the right thing for where
you live, but also for yourself, right? You need to make sure you have the
knowledge to do things properly. You need to make sure you have the knowledge to design
things properly. So when I receive an email from someone who says I have zero
knowledge in aquaponics and I want to grow tons of food per week where do
I start? For me, the start is to start with a
small backyard aquaponics system such as the ones I have behind me, or you can
build your own very easily. But to start with maybe one cubic meter of water,
1,000 liters of water or even a bit less. But you know, don't start with
large-scale system. The idea is that if you start with large-scale systems,
you're going to probably make some mistake in the design of the setup, right?
And you may think that things are going to work in one way, but
maybe they are not going to work as you would like them to work. So in
aquaponics, I have to be very honest. We don't use any pesticide. I mean generally
speaking. Then you can do a few things to make the system a bit more easy to
manage. But in a backyard aquaponics system such as the one I have behind me
we use zero chemicals, zero pesticides. We don't treat the crop, and therefore, if
there is a pest coming, it's going to affect the crop, but we work with nature.
So we always got some predators to regulate the pests that can come
around. Imagine in a big commercial system if you have only lettuce, you have
the pests that are coming, spreading all around, and you lose all your crops. So
you need to think about those things, to keep them in mind. It's easier to start on a
small scale and to have what we call a pilot project, a small system that you're
going to run in the same way as the big idea that you have. But first, you start
small and you see if it works well. And if it works well, then you can go for a larger
scale. But you never start a large-scale project in something that you don't know.
You have to start small. You have to prove that it's working. You have to
prove that you are able to manage it. So you need to build skills. You need to
build knowledge to be able to make sure that you will manage your system
properly when it's going to be a bigger scale. So before building a big
greenhouse with large aquaponics system, big filtration it's you know, it has
some cost to do that. So before doing this, start small. In your own backyard,
you can start with an IBC system. You know, I have some videos to show you how to to do
that. You can start with a little aquaponics system such as I have here, and
what I really recommend you, if you have big goals, is to start small and to get
the free aquaponics training to start with -- at a small scale and to later on
go for bigger scale. So it's a very simple step-by-step. You still have your
big goal. You know where you go, but first you want to validate that the technique
is adapted to you first. You know you're going to be able to work with it
and you yourself you're going to be -- you're going to build your knowledge to
go to the next step, which is a bit bigger, and then you're going to go to
the large-scale setup that you wish. I hope I'm not going to receive those
emails again of, I want to build this huge your setup. Can you help me? When you
don't have any knowledge, you can't do that, right? I really highly don't
recommend it. I don't recommend anyone to go for a large commercial system before
being able to manage a little aquaponics system at home because on the little
system, you're going to have the same types of issues
as on the big one. So you must first start with this for at least a year, two years.
One year is a good thing. If you can manage your system for one year, it's
going to build some serious skills in yourself, right? You're
going to understand how it works, understand the mechanism, understand the
little problems that you can face, and you're going to be stronger and you're
going to have some really good knowledge. And then we can work together on your
larger scale project. But don't come to me with big, big ideas if you haven't
done anything with aquaponics yet. So I hope this responds to your
questions. Again, have access to the free aquaponics training because it's
free. Again, it's in the description of the video just below, and it's step by
step to help you to build you own aquaponics system to manage it properly
and therefore, to start small and after a while, you can go for a bigger
step and to go for larger scale. But first, start small. I hope you enjoyed
this video. If it's the case, give it a like. If you are interested in aquaponics,
if you still have this goal of going for big commercial aquaponics system later
on, subscribe to the channel because I always give some useful information. I
hope to help you to grow your food in a sustainable way in your own backyard. And
I'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye. Don't forget to get your free gift from
this screen. You can also leave me a comment below the video. Subscribe to the
channel and see my last video. I really hope to see you soon, and I wish you a
fantastic success with aquaponics. Have a good crop!