2010 Aquaponics Trainings in Hawaii

Commercial Aquaponics Group Training
Designed for people who want to make money feeding other people (but as we say “Don’t quit your day job just yet!”) These commercial aquaponics systems grow a lot of food in a small space with high-energy efficiency, but our aquaponics training will not magically turn you into a businessperson. Please make sure you get training on running a business from local sources.

This group Aquaponics Training from April 19-22, 2010, includes four full days of classroom instruction with additional hands-on instruction at our farm each day. You will learn everything you need to know to build and operate aquaponics systems of any size. You will have all your questions answered, and the trainers make sure you understand every detail completely.

You’ll learn what we learned at the excellent University of the Virgin Islands 2007 Aquaponics Short Course, which cost over $4,000 with travel, lodging, rental car, and food. This was for ONE participant). You’ll also learn everything we have learned this past two years building and operating five aquaponics systems, a tilapia hatchery and nursery, a Health Department Certified vegetable processing facility, and most recently, taro in raft hydroponics that enables anyone to grow wetland taro click here for more about our taro system.

We will show you how we got our aquaponics farm USDA Organic Certified AND Food Safety Certified(no small feats! We are certified through Oregon Tilth, and they have said that “as long as people build their systems exactly as Friendly Aquaponics has done, then their certification process will be a slam dunk.”). Five additional Friendly students have gotten their systems certified since the October 2008 training they took.

We built our systems for less than one half what systems built to the UVI specifications would have cost in Hawaii. This saved us about $100,000 in our three systems. We’ll show you how to value engineer your system to save you $30,000 or more over what it would cost to build the “standard” UVI system.

Because of the way we value-engineered our systems for electrical economy, they use from one-tenth to one-half of the electricity the UVI systems use. This saves us $6,800 per year (more, as we grow in size). Forever. We’ll show you how to do this.

We will show you how to build your own hatchery for under $12 in materials, not including the cost of whatever tank you use. We spent over $40,000 on our own hatchery before discovering how to build this simple, elegant hatchery system!

The Group Commercial Aquaponics Training material includes: a step-by-step “Construction Manual” that makes it easy for anyone to build a system; a set of detailed CAD plans including site plans and piping schematics; an “Aquaponics Course Manual” covering all aspects of aquaponics, including day-to-day operation of the system, and an operations manual with checklist covering the day-to-day operations of a commercial aquaponics system. There are complete plans and materials lists included for three different sizes of aquaponics systems: a 32-raft system (1,024 square feet), an 8-raft system 256 square feet), and a 2-raft system (64 square feet), so you can easily build a small, inexpensive system to gain experience and confidence with aquaponics, then graduate to the larger systems.

Click here for training testimonials.

Click here for complete training outline.

For an additional fee, you can have plans custom drawn for your site (including engineered plans for electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering for your local building department, if your project is a large one) with a detailed, customized materials list specific to your project. We are happy to make site visits.

This year we have added an optional fifth day to the training!
Friday the 23rd will feature a workshop on methane-producing biodigesters given by David House (author of “The BioGas Handbook”). This workshop will cover building, operating, and using the methane from a biodigester (for purposes of heating, powering generators and engines, and more) with working biodigesters demonstrating biogas principles, and a methane-powered electric generator producing our aquaponics farm’s electricity during the hands-on session in the afternoon. The Friday methane workshop is an additional $175 for aquaponics workshop participants, but can also be attended separately at a cost of $250 for the day and class materials including “The BioGas Handbook” (even if you do NOT attend the commercial aquaponics training).

Your Personal Trainers for the Commercial Aquaponics Training:
Susanne Friend, the owner of the company (with degrees in biology and chemistry) is your personal trainer for questions and issues regarding organic certification, plant and fish diseases, sales and marketing, value-added processing, fish hatchery and nursery design and operation, water and aeration questions, and water quality questions.

Tim Mann (technical staff) has been doing architectural and civil engineering design and drafting since 1990, and was an authorized AutoCAD dealer for 7 years during that period. Tim handles comprehensive system design and site-specific aquaponics questions as well as technical issues having to do with tank, piping, aeration, pumping, and electrical design. Tim also supplies civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering services through the consultants he works with, at very reasonable package prices for those projects needing code-compliant plans and certifications for their local building departments.

Sign Up Now: Space may be limited
Sign up for this course now and we can promise you a space will be available. Our October 2008 course filled the largest room available at our local facility to capacity (78 persons). The Friday methane workshop is $175 for aquaponics workshop participants, but can also be attended as a single-day workshop by anyone else at a cost of $250.

Taking either the group Commercial or the Personal Intensive training is the first step in becoming a Friendly Aquaponics Affiliate (click here for more details on our Affiliate Program)

Enroll now for 2010 Aquaponics Training to reserve your space!

Personal Aquaponics Intensives

Personal Aquaponics Intensives include two full days of hands-on instruction at our farm by Susanne and Tim, where you will learn everything you need to know to build and operate aquaponics systems of any size. The Personal Intensive uses the same course materials as the group Commercial Trainings, but has a completely different format.

This training focuses on you and your particular situation and goals in aquaponics. We discuss and offer solutions and approaches for your climate, your site, and your level of business experience. You will have all your questions answered, and we make sure you understand every detail completely. And although there is no actual support contract included with the Intensives, we tend to support our Intensive clients (via phone calls and email answers to questions) through construction and into operation at no charge because we are committed to their success. This training will occur at your own pace.

“The Friendly Aquaponics’ Personal Intensive training was worth every dollar and then some. The personalized course gave me the opportunity for even the smallest of my questions to get answered. I would highly recommend this course to everyone who wants extremely effective training in aquaponics technology.”
-Keith Blake, Rainy Day Farms LLC, Kauai

Dates and Times: At your convenience. Look at your calendar, then pick dates that work for you, and call us to make sure they’re available. Please call for payment details.

Location: The Complete Aquaponics Intensive takes place on our farm in Honoka’a, with hours of hands-on learning. (If you are coming from off-island, we may be able to pick you up at the airport, and take you back, depending on the farm schedule).

Cost: $2,500 for the Complete Aquaponics Intensive training, $900 per additional participant in the same project. This includes the same course materials we use in our group trainings. For comparison, our group trainings in Hawaii, which are four days in length, include the same material but take place with 40-80 other participants, and cost $1,500. Many hours in the group trainings are spent answering the questions of other participants, which may or may not apply to you, your project, and your level of understanding.

Aquaponics Consulting Services

If we’ve done our job with whichever of our offerings you purchase (the group training, the personal intensive, or the Do-It-Myself package), you shouldn’t need to pay for any consulting from anyone. That said, we are always available to help you be successful with aquaponics. One place consulting services could be particularly valuable is in a large start-up operation where sophisticated systems planning and site design needs to be done to ensure success while dealing with multiple variables. You can always email us; although usually swamped, we do our best to answer all questions from our clients.

click here to contact us.