[Sc-aquaponics] FW: Aquaponics News - December, 2013

Mon Dec 9 14:23:23 EST 2013

I enjoyed the article on staggered stocking.  So much to learn..
Laura

Laura Tiu, PhD Aquaculture Extension Specialist
740-289-2071 x.121 Office | 800-297-2072 x. 121 Office
tiu.2 at osu.edu

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Happy Holidays!

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Nelson and Pade Grower Program Launched

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US Patent Office Approves Nelson and Pade's patent on ZDEP

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Nelson and Pade, Inc. Teams up with Poly-Tex

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UWSP Aquaponics Course: Registration Open

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Aquaponics Master Class 2014 Schedule Announced

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Grower Tip

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Questions?

Happy Holidays!

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All of us at Nelson and Pade Aquaponics wish you the very warmest greetings for the holiday season.  We hope you enjoy this special time of year with your family and friends.
If your email inbox is anything like ours, you are receiving an abundance of "special holiday offers" that actually have nothing to do with the holidays.  We find this very annoying and chose to refrain from bombarding you with crass solicitations.  Best wishes from the Nelson and Pade Team.

Nelson and Pade Grower Program Launched

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The Nelson and Pade Grower Program helps aquaponic growers get off to a great start, provides access to valuable information and updates and creates recognition and networking opportunities between all growers in the program.  Benefits include technical support, analysis of lab results, personal visit to grower by Nelson and Pade staff, grower profile on aquaponics.com, and much more!
Learn about the Nelson and Pade Grower Program<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-e/>
Meet our Featured Growers<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-s/>

US Patent Office Approves Nelson and Pade's patent on ZDEP
It is official! Nelson and Pade, Inc. has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for their innovative ZDEP method of aquaponic food production.  ZDEP(tm) (near Zero Discharge, Extra Production) greatly enhances the production and profitability of aquaponics by reducing waste and increasing production of both fish and vegetables.
Learn more about Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems(r) with ZDEP<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-g/>

Nelson and Pade, Inc. Teams up with Poly-Tex

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Nelson and Pade, Inc. has collaborated with PolyTex, Inc., a well-respected greenhouse manufacturer, to develop the NP-series greenhouses. The NP-series are manufactured by PolyTex, Inc. and are specifically designed to house Nelson and Pade Inc.'s Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems(r) to provide the environmental conditions as well as the bio-security features required for optimum performance, energy efficiency and food safety. The NP-series Controlled Environment greenhouses will increase production in any climate.  They are offered for cold, mild and tropical climate applications and are available for commercial, farm market and hobby sized Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems(r).
Learn more about the NP-series Greenhouses<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-w/>

UWSP Aquaponics Course: Registration Open
UW-Stevens Point's Continuing Education program, Department of Biology and Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility have partnered with Nelson and Pade Inc. to offer a full semester course, Introduction to Aquaponics. It is available as either a two credit or three credit course.  All lectures and discussions take place online. The three credit option includes a 3-day lab session at Nelson and Pade, Inc's demonstration greenhouse<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-yd/> in Montello, WI. Registration opens Dec 4 and spaces are limited, so be sure to sign up early.
UWSP Course information<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-yh/>

Aquaponics Master Class 2014 Schedule Announced

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Nelson and Pade, Inc. is busy planning for 2014 and has announced the 2014 Master Class Schedule. To date, we have had attendees from 45 countries and 49 US states (c'mon Delaware, make it 50!).  Join us in 2014 for the most comprehensive class on aquaponics available...taught from real-world experience and hands-on application of aquaponics for over 20 years.
Aquaponics Master Class information and 2014 schedule<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-yk/>
More learning opportunities<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-yu/>

Grower Tip

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Staggered Stocking
of Fish Tanks
by Rebecca Nelson
I recently read a reference about our systems on an aquaponics gardening forum and the author of the post inaccurately implied that we were misrepresenting how much fish we can raise in our multi-tank systems. This post demonstrated a total lack of understanding of staggered stocking and multi-tank systems. Given that the person writing the post runs the forum, and can delete posts that are in conflict with hers, I don't have a means of replying directly to that group.  But, it made me realize that the concept of staggered stocking is a great topic for this Grower Tip column.
The reason all (except for our smallest hobby system) of our Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems(r) use multiple fish tanks is so that a grower can use staggered stocking to increase fish production and, therefore, increase the nutrient load to grown more plants.  In staggered stocking, you have multiple fish tanks and stock them sequentially.  The fish are stocked at a given size, typically 50 grams and then grow to maturity in that same tank, along with those same fish that are growing at the same rate.
Let me give you an example. We will assume you are raising tilapia in our Family Plus system, which has 4 100-gallon fish tanks, along with the proper filter tanks for converting fish waste to nutrients and raft tanks for plant growth.  First, let's look at the growth rate of tilapia.  With proper feed rates, quality feed and good water quality, it takes 24-26 weeks to raise a tilapia from 50 grams to about 600 grams (1.5 lbs.), which is the size most growers harvest at.
When starting your system, you initially stock one tank with about 38 - 50 gram fingerlings.  Then, 6 weeks later, you stock the second tank with the same number of 50 gram fingerlings.  And, every 6 weeks, you repeat this in the remaining tanks.  After 24-26 weeks from the date you stocked your first tank, and every 6 weeks after that, you will have a tank full of fish ready to harvest.  When you harvest a tank, then you restock it with 38 - 50 gram fingerlings.
This means that in each fish tank in the system, you will raise 2 full crops of fish, one every 24-26 weeks.  So, if you harvest 38 1.5 lb fish (57.5 lbs) from each tank twice a year, you will annually harvest 460 lbs. from the Family Plus system.  The real beauty of this staggered stocking is that you never have more than one tank ready for harvest and, with sequentially smaller fish in each tank, you are never over the system capacity and have a steady supply of nutrients for the plants.
The density of the fish in the tank ready for harvest is 1/2 lb of fish per gallon of water.  But, if you look at the total water volume of our systems, you are actually raising fish at a density of one twelfth lb of fish per gallon of water.  This is a much safer ratio than any other method of stocking that I know of.
And, there are other benefits which include better nutrition and less stress for the fish. With staggered stocking you can get the right feed to the fish at each stage of growth.  With a mixed size population in one fish tank, it is impossible to make sure the fish are eating the right sized pellet and getting the right nutrition for the stage of growth they are at.
When you have a tank of fish ready for harvest, you can net those fish out of that tank.  If you have a mixed size population in one tank, you stress all of the fish when you are trying to net just the big ones.
So, all in all, when you compare using 4 - 100 gallon fish tanks  to using 1 - 400 gallon fish tank, you can easily see the value of the four tank system.  When you apply this to our larger systems that use 6 fish tanks, your output is every 4 weeks.  And, if you install two of these modules, your harvest of fish is every 2 weeks.  With three modules, the harvest is every 1 week, and so on.  From both a production and marketing point of view, this method is far superior to a single fish tank aquaponic system.
All of our Clear Flow Aquaponic Systems(r) use the same multi-tank design and have the same volume ratios, water flow dynamics and components. We do that so someone who starts with one of our hobby system is using and learning a design that is scalable to commercial production.
You can see the concept of staggered stocking demonstrated in our commerical greenhouse<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-jl/>, on tours <http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-jr/> or in our training programs<http://newsletters.giantseedcreative.com/t/r-l-nkjqil-tjhjykdjtd-jy/>.

Questions?
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