Aquaponics Digest - Fri 02/04/00
Message 1: Re: fish in nutrient and other mysteries
from g parker
Message 2: Re: Introductions
from "TGTX"
Message 3: Re: Introductions
from "Michael Merriken"
.------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
| Message 1 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: fish in nutrient and other mysteries
From: g parker
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 06:55:36 -0500 (EST)
Hey Marc and Marcy,
I'm new to this mail group. I'd be interested to browse your web site. Where
is it?
Thanks and Cheers
GP
------Original Message------
From: Marc & Marcy
To: aquaponics@townsqr.com
Sent: February 4, 2000 5:13:38 AM GMT
Subject: Re: fish in nutrient and other mysteries
Marc & Marcy wrote:
>
> Sam Levy wrote:
> >
> > marc,
> >
> > do you have a breakdown of the ion concentrations in your water?
> >
> > sam
>
> Yes.
>
> Marc
I will post a scan of the test from the CSU Vet service on
my web site under Aquaponics.
After I get it done this evening I will email you the
address for your convenience.
As time permits I will post pictures but we are so darn busy
now that the greenhouse stuff is underway.
Regards,
Marc
______________________________________________
FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com
Sign up at http://www.mail.com?sr=mc.mk.mcm.tag001
.------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
| Message 2 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: Introductions
From: "TGTX"
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 05:59:08 -0600
Adriana wrote:
> You should be able to get $5-6/# from restaurant customers IF, you are a
> serious supplier who can provide quality greens on a consistent basis
> (how to do that and still go on vacation I haven't quite figured
> out...:>))
>
> >I have sold salad greens to some customers for $8.00/lb
> I sell 8 oz bags of greens to my neighbors for $4 and they are happy to
> pay it, but to expand this to a larger group would imply greater
> delivery expenses than a nine year-old on a bicycle...
Yes. I sold over 200 lbs of custom mixed, washed salad greens a week, at
prices averaging about...$4.00 to $6.00/lb...in both bulk and serving sized
packages. 40% of my sales was bulk salad greens at $4.00/lb, mostly to
large chain grocery stores. 35%of sales were 7oz salads in plastic
clamshells averaging $5.80/lb. I also sold 8oz bags of salad greens at an
average of $5.46/lb. My basil went for $6.00/lb, but was only about 5% of my
sales. I also sold a smattering of Rainbow Chard.
In addition to the big grocery stores (Central Market, Whole Foods, Sun
Harvest, H.E.B.) I had about 4 or 5 solid restaurant accounts (chefs went
crazy over it...especially the haut cuisine chefs who knew the difference
and found that my salad kept longer than the "California" bulk stuff they
bought from a produce broker) and a couple of small health food stores...and
then there were the people we knew who, by word of mouth or other means,
would come out to buy the greens on site, or I delivered to their homes (one
was a lady's ballet/modern dance studio and aerobics classroom)...these
folks were my most enthusiastic and loyal customers who became "addicted" to
the freshest, best tasting, most nutrious and beautiful salad they had ever
eaten.
But, back to helping out D. Bennet....I just wanted to give D. a "low"
number.... $3.00/lbs to "plan" for...in other words, assume you will grow
only 0.2 lbs/ft^2 and get only $3.00/lbs and that you will only grow that
maybe 9 or 10 months out of the year...that way, when you actually get
better results, you can be happily surprised. And, suppose D. does not want
to grow fancy-schmancy left coast salad greens? What about run of the mill
tomatoes, or cukes, you name it. It might be hard to fetch higher prices
for that produce...but who knows? Again, I thought D. might just eat the
produce himself...but I wanted to hang a value on the produce for the sake
of discussion.
> Ted, it seems to me that the 2,000 sq ft of grow-bed will pretty much
> fill up that greenhouse if you allow 1/3 of the space for circulation.
> Do you plan to put the fish outside since in Texas that would not be a
> problem? Or vice-versa, are the grow-beds going outside?
>
Oh, yea, those numbers were NOT right. I went back to my floor plan and my
acreage plat map thingy that I drew up and checked them out again. Actually
the greenhouse will be around 2400 ft^2 and the total grow bed area will be
about 1500ft^2. What was I thinking? I guess I wasn't. So, you are correct
there. Both fish and plants are inside. Think 3D. I will make an
instructional/historical/epoch saga video of the design and construction of
the entire system. Complete with smatterings of poetry, sight gags, and
histrionics. This year 2000 thing will be interesting, as usual. Roll the
film!
Right now I gotta go run the State of Texas from a little cubicle in the
People's Republic of Austin, so y'all have a good weekend.
Ted
.------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
| Message 3 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: Introductions
From: "Michael Merriken"
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 23:06:03 -0500
Hello all,
My name is Michael Merriken and I live in the suburban sprawl of Atlanta,
GA. With about an acre of land and a picky homeowners association, my foray
into aquaponics has been limited. I wrote a short essay on my homebuilt
system last summer and if anyone wants I will post it again. My system is
still operational; by that I mean the tilapia are alive and so are the
plants in the small growbed. The system even survived a week of ice storms
and power outages. Unfortunately other parts of my life have been more
demanding of late so my system has been neglected during the past few
months. It is currently in a state of equilibrium that requires minimal
attention.
Just a few observations. The tilapia are more hearty and cold tolerant than
I believed. The combination of back-to-back ice storms, spotty power
outages, and a week of no sunshine resulted in the tank water temperature
dipping down well into the 50's with correspondingly intermittent water
circulation, heat, and aeration. Surprisingly, all 27 tilapia survived. My
tomato plants are growing like weeds but they look just like them without
fruit. I occasionally get flowers but they never bare fruit. Lastly, since
the temperature inside my five foot square greenhouse is warmer than the
ambient air, the pests are more of a problem now than they were in the
summer.
I appreciate the generous flow of information on this list and have learned
much. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of you and all have been
gracious hosts and mentors. In the not too distant future I hope to move to
a place with a bit more elbow room and pursue aquaponics seriously.
Hopefully then I can contribute something worthwhile to this list. In the
meantime I will continue to lurk, take notes, and continue to learn and make
my mistakes on my small scale system.
Best of luck in all your efforts,
Michael
|
