Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What's the most sustainable way of feeding tilapia? I don't eat fish myself because so much commercial fishing is so destructive to the environment, so it would hardly make sense to feed my tilapia fishfood made from ocean bycatch. I know you can grow duckweed and larvae to at least supplement their diet, but is there anything else I should consider? A commercial, vegetarian or fish-based but environmentally-friendly fishfood? Some other food source I should bear in mind?

Cheers!

I have read that many 'poor Man's fish farms overseas simply let their tilapia grow off of algae alone obviously a slow process an not ideal for aquaponics but I would attest there are many alternatives to the vibe on the forums of it being too outrageous to get off of commercial feed (though it should be said you can buy environmentally friendly pellets at least here in the states) but IMHO a combination of duckweed / BSF black soldier fly larvae / composting worms / a night light above the water to attract bugs naturally at night / chicken cages over the water.... There are alot of possibilities that make it feasible though nothing as simple as the few seconds it takes to scoop a handful of pellets

Many years back I knew of someone making their own feed, 1 part sprouted wheat, 1 part whole wheat grain, whole egg, shell and all, and a little sea salt (for extra minerals). Ground up and through a mincer to extrude pellets.

That sounds nice and simple, earthbound.

I've read on other threads about feeding them grated zucchini or the leaves from a sweet potato. I wonder if those could be substituted for part of the sprouted wheat? Zucchini are certainly easy to grow.

Interesting, thanks. I particularly like the idea of having a solar light to attract bugs. Also we get the odd cracked or weird egg from our chickens so maybe we could supplement with them too. Muffettsman, could you give me the names of any specific environmentally friendly fishfood brands you're thinking of?

How do you know if your fish have enough food, anyway? Just that they're not dead and your plants are still thriving? I'm not really bothered about fast fish growth rates but I don't want to starve the poor things either. As you can tell, I'm very new to this (still fishless cycling the first system, in fact)...

Zucchini are easy to grow? Mine all died Hoping for better luck with the aquaponics...

Mine are flowing like crazy at the moment.

Do you know with the Zucchini plants can i cut off some of the leaves once the flowers bloom? They are shading alot of other plants right now

Feel free. Open that baby up. Especially if some leaves are touching and holding dew in the morning. Lingering moisture is an invitation to mildew. Free flowing air and light is your friend.

Pick some blossoms if you have a lot of them. (The ones without the mini-fruit attached can be sacrificed, they won't make zukes, just pollen)
Those flowers are yummy. Really brighten up a salad, both visually and taste-i-ly.

Rick