What is the most important thing to know about aquaponics?
That it’s not about raising fish! Although the fish in aquaponics systems attract the most attention, the fish portion of the operation is costly both in terms of consumables and labor, and does not produce a profit unless combined with the vegetable income. Based on our last two years experience with commercial systems, the fish portion brings in 8% of the total income, while the vegetable portion brings in 92%. The problem with this is that the fish part of the operation creates a large percentage of the operating costs, for fish food, electricity for aeration, and labor for feeding, breeding, and harvesting the fish; while bringing in the small income percentage noted. When you try to grow MORE fish in the temperature range we are farming in (70-76 degrees F), with the fish food costs we have ($0.90/pound), the electricity costs we have ($0.44/KWhour), and the labor costs we have ($12/hour or more), EVEN with the price we’re getting for our fish ($5/pound) the more fish we try to gr
