Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

I have already bought most of the equipment to build up my aquaponic system with Tilapia fish.

My question is about the fish tank size. My fish tank is 58 Gallon, and I'm not sure if this is fine or not, and how many Tilapia fish it will be able to hold? I was thinking of having five pairs of Tilapia fish (10 pcs). Is this a reasonable number?

I also have a small fish tank, where I'm planning to host the fish fingerlings in? It's around Gallons. How many can I include here?

I will be looking forward to hearing from you,

First post here will get you started on the fish stocking question - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646

You might also want to checkout the IBC of Aquaponics, it's a good read - http://ibcofaquaponics.com/

Another reference that's a bit more up to date is the FAO publication on small scale aquaponic food production (I think this is the right location - it's a good sized PDF) - http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4021e.pdf

The fish need room to swim and you need to have enough bacteria in the biofilter to process their waste. The plants mainly process the nitrates but the bacteria process the ammonia and nitrites to make it safe for the fish.