Home vs Commercial Aquaponics

We like to assist aquaponic enthusiasts on their individual journeys. Whether that’s helping them build their dream home system, or guiding them along the rocky road to becoming a successful aquaponic entrepreneur. In this blog post, we will discuss home vs commercial aquaponics to hopefully help you decide what kind of journey you wish to undertake.

There are many reasons to start a home aquaponic system. It makes us wonder why it’s not more common in households around the country. We all work hard to feed our families and keep them healthy right? Well having a home system means that you get to put fresh, nutrient-dense food on their plates day after day, taking healthy eating to a whole new level. Plus, you get to learn some new skills!

Another benefit to having a home aquaponics system is that it’s grown locally. You can’t get more local than in your backyard. Food that has been imported loses a lot of its nutritional value by the time it reaches your plate. With food security becoming an increasing concern around the world, it might be better to become self-reliant and know where your next meal is coming from. Maybe it’s time for a lifestyle change, sustainably grow your own food and become 100% self-reliant on the quality of the food you put into your mouth.

AquaDWC Home Aquaponics System

A great entry-level DWC aquaponics system for any beginner. You can have up to 75 fish, however, if you want to grow trout, we recommend some extra aeration. With the 3 meters squared grow space you can grow up 75 lettuce heads or various herbs.

AquaMini Home Aquaponics system.

This is a complete food production garden that allows you to raise your own fish along with a wide variety of vegetables, leafy greens, cooking greens and herbs in a biologically active ecosystem from the comfort of your own home.

AquaMaxi Home Aquaponic System

Similar to the AquaMini, this system is just a bit bigger which is great for those of you who wish to sell to friends and community members.

AquaGrow TM System with Verticals

A complete compact Aquaponic grow system with 1000lt fish tank and three AquaGrow verticals that can grow up to 96 plants in total. Comes with tank, 3 x AquaGrow Towers, 0.72 square meter media bed, low power Jebao water and air pumps. The unit is compact and only has a footprint of 2m x 2m x 2m. Total power consumption is 30W. Perfect for those of you with limited space and cash.

HiGrowTM Tower

HiGrow™ is a space-efficient, organic vertical farming unit that allows for simple and low maintenance farming solutions, suitable for apartment or home living. It requires half a square meter and just 23 Watts. The HiGrow™ is perfect for shorter life-cycle plants such as lettuce, spinach, bok choy, kale, herbs and strawberries.

Commercial aquaponics is a new section of agriculture that we hope to grow through the work that we do with our clients here at Ichthys. We believe that with this method of farming we can assist in creating a more sustainable agricultural sector that optimizes the use of land while still conserving resources like power and water.

When looking at Aquaponics from a commercial point of view, you will quickly begin to see that it’s quite a profitable business. Some might even go as far as to say that it’s more profitable than soil-based farming.

 It’s an efficient method of farming that produces high-quality produce and fish. Plus, the modern consumer is becoming more aware of what goes into their food and ultimately their bodies. Therefore, we are struggling to see why one wouldn’t want to venture into commercial aquaponics.

We would be honoured to assist you on your commercial aquaponics journey. Check out our variety of courses to help you find your way. We have 2 commercial system designs however, we can also work with you to make a design that suits your wants and needs.

Our Commercial System Designs

Commercial Aquaponic Design (45m x 13m)

This is our flagship design and provides the base for one of the largest aquaponics farms in Africa. We recommend that the largest single tunnel structure should be 36m x 13m in order to get adequate airflow. By having the tanks in a separate structure you are able to really optimise your planting space. With 240m2 of DWC and 65m2 media beds, you are able to grow a wide variety of produce. The five 13,000L tanks have a 1,350kg theoretical fish stocking density per tunnel, which can yield up to 225kg of fish harvested monthly.

Commercial Aquaponic Design (39m x 13m)

This design consists of a 30m x 13m hydroponic tunnel and a 9m x 13m aquaculture structure. It has been designed to maximize your hydroponic and aquaculture yields compared to the system area.

So, whether you’re starting out or you’ve decided to go commercial, we are here to help you! We can walk with you through the entire process, it just starts with the first step. Book a consultation with us and we can start your aquaponic journey today!