A view over the main tank of nearly 5,000 tilapia fingerlings at Wildflower Farm.
On Monday, October 3rd, the Catskills CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) group visited Wildflower Farm in Delhi, NY. Approximately 25 participants were led by John Janiszewski though the farm’s aquaculture system that connects plants with nutrient-rich tilapia tank water within a straw-bale barn and connected greenhouse.
The tour began with a discussion of the building’s construction which sits atop the farm’s original barn foundation. Designed for maximum insulation, the structure has proven effective in keeping the warm-water tilapia in comfortable temperatures throughout the cold New York winters. The “fish room” itself contains five cut segments of an old metal silo that have been repurposed as tanks and fitted with the necessary filtering and maintenance systems.
The main tank currently holds nearly 5,000 tilapia fingerlings that arrived on the farm in July and will begin hitting market weight of 1.5 to 2.5 pounds in early 2012. A second smaller tank holds the remaining market-size stock of approximately 150 fish, all of which are currently sold out.
The farm faced a great challenge this year when attempting to reorder fingerling stock. Nearby hatcheries Wildflower Farm previously ordered from had gone out of business. The difficulty in locating stock led to a delay that caused a complete “sell-out” of the existing supply. With this challenge in mind, the farm also acquired 150 breeders and will begin experimenting with them in the months to come.
Each tank is connected to a solids trap that removes large waste particles from the system. The water is then again filtered through a mesh filter system and the remaining liquid is routed into the greenhouse where the water passes through yet another filter system, this one containing rocks embedded with bacteria that remove any remaining waste elements before the water is routed back into the fish tanks. As John said, “At that point, the water is drinkable and you might not even know the difference.” Looking at how clear the water is in the fish tanks, it isn’t such a stretch.
Discussion led to other aspects of the farm from a new tick-deterring organic fertilizer they’ve developed to their small herd of cattle and how they are tended to at Wildflower Farm. Plans for future experiments range from trying to raise a few salmon, maybe a bass or two, and just for fun, maybe even some shrimp. Only two of the five large tanks are in use so John has room to continue his experimentation.
For more information about Wildflower Farm, visit www.wfftilapia.com. Catskills CRAFT visits are scheduled at a different farm each month through November. Visit www.catskillscraft.org for a full schedule.
The tour began with a discussion of the building’s construction which sits atop the farm’s original barn foundation. Designed for maximum insulation, the structure has proven effective in keeping the warm-water tilapia in comfortable temperatures throughout the cold New York winters. The “fish room” itself contains five cut segments of an old metal silo that have been repurposed as tanks and fitted with the necessary filtering and maintenance systems.
The main tank currently holds nearly 5,000 tilapia fingerlings that arrived on the farm in July and will begin hitting market weight of 1.5 to 2.5 pounds in early 2012. A second smaller tank holds the remaining market-size stock of approximately 150 fish, all of which are currently sold out.
The farm faced a great challenge this year when attempting to reorder fingerling stock. Nearby hatcheries Wildflower Farm previously ordered from had gone out of business. The difficulty in locating stock led to a delay that caused a complete “sell-out” of the existing supply. With this challenge in mind, the farm also acquired 150 breeders and will begin experimenting with them in the months to come.
Each tank is connected to a solids trap that removes large waste particles from the system. The water is then again filtered through a mesh filter system and the remaining liquid is routed into the greenhouse where the water passes through yet another filter system, this one containing rocks embedded with bacteria that remove any remaining waste elements before the water is routed back into the fish tanks. As John said, “At that point, the water is drinkable and you might not even know the difference.” Looking at how clear the water is in the fish tanks, it isn’t such a stretch.
Discussion led to other aspects of the farm from a new tick-deterring organic fertilizer they’ve developed to their small herd of cattle and how they are tended to at Wildflower Farm. Plans for future experiments range from trying to raise a few salmon, maybe a bass or two, and just for fun, maybe even some shrimp. Only two of the five large tanks are in use so John has room to continue his experimentation.
For more information about Wildflower Farm, visit www.wfftilapia.com. Catskills CRAFT visits are scheduled at a different farm each month through November. Visit www.catskillscraft.org for a full schedule.
Filtering includes this system in which tank water runs through channels to the opposite end of the greenhouse, drops into large tubes below the channels, and is then routed back through bacteria-embedded rock filters before re-entering the fish tanks.
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