Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

-some background research about the history of tilapia in aquaculture (Look for the basic history and the benefits of farming tilapia over other fish)

-How do you breed tilapia? (creating instructions)

-when are they sextually mature?

-How do you tell the difference in sex?

-what conditions do they require for breeding?

-how do you care for the young?

-any other information about tilapia

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-How do you breed tilapia? (creating instructions)

Give the make a large pot with the opening in a defensible location facing a tank wall. Cover clear tank sides at that location and leave 6 inches to a foot between pot and tank side for breeding dance.

-when are they sextually mature?

3 to 4 inches

-How do you tell the difference in sex?

Females have extra side to side slit or arc between anus and the other opening (pee hole?) Need to use die to help highlight the openings. Malse sometimes have larger mouths. Even after looking you can get it wrong, so once you know you have a male test the other fish with him. Also, a male will stay around the pot and defend his area and may changer colors and stick out all his fins to attract a mate.

-what conditions do they require for breeding?

You may need to keep the water temp above 80 degrees and hang a light over the tanks to maintain long days. They don't breed well when the day length shortens. You may
want to place hollow concrete blocks in the bottom of the tank or a bucket
for the fish to spawn in. Smaller placed for females to escape male harrasment so she does not die and place 3 to 4 females per male so he does not over badger a single female. You can also cut off the upper lip of the male to be sure he does less damage to the females. Controlling the number of fry is difficult.
Tilapia generally don't eat the fry unless they are in the fingerling stage
1 to 4 inches. So You will need to separate the fry asap and place them in another tank or happa net. Water quality needs to be good. Place plants and nets in the water to give the fry a place to escape to so fewer of them are eaten.

-how do you care for the young?
Clean water, don't let them get eaten and, feed a pinch of food each day. Make food from brewers yeast and one egg yolk: Mix with water to get a smooth paste and rub just a small pinch between your fingers in the tank water to disperse it for the fry. The extra protein is good for fry, and they quickly graduate to powdered flake.

-any other information about tilapia
Single male and female, often the male kills the female.
Use search function, there is much better info out there. Also, download and read the Hatchery Manual pdf.

Excellent posting. Thank you DDM.

thank you everyone

You should breed tilapia in colonies of 1 male to at least 6 females. If a male still kills females, remove his top lip. They won't be able to damage the females after that.

I feed my fry with powdered high protien flake food and dried yeast flakes.

Keep fry no more than one week apart together. If older are kept with younger, the little ones will be eaten.

Feed MANY times a day.

If your water is warm enough and you have both male and female tilapia in the tank, the problem is usually keeping them from breeding rather than getting them to breed. I think I had some random unintended breeding going on in my big tank when the water got up into the mid to high 80's over the summer. I have my tilapia in a "cage" within the tank to stop them from breeding but I can left a couple 3" PVC fittings in the cage and apparently some breeding happened. None of that since I removed the fittings. I've not had much luck at controlled breeding in an aquarium. It should also be noted that a female getting ready to release fry can become very aggressive and I've had both a male and the other female in a tank killed by the aggressive female.

It is possible to buy high protein starter food especially for fry if you don't wish to mix up your own feed.

I've heard that keeping the fry and optimum temperatures and feeding high protein feed while they are still small (up to 4 inches) can greatly improve their growth rate.

Do keep in mind that tilapia are kinda a tropical fish and needs warm temperatures to achieve the fast growth rates they are known for. It is also important to protect the local environment from tilapia getting loose. Here in Florida Tilapia are surviving in the wild even though we are not quite in the tropics and they could cause all sorts of trouble with the native wildlife and environment. Be certain to check local regulations regarding tilapia.

I'll confirm just about everything that TCLynx is saying, especially about protecting the environment. Tilapia are considered an invasive species in many southern stated of the USA. In florida wild populations can be found thoughout most of the state where water temperatures don't drop below 40F.

I sell fry that have been bead for 30 years for improved yeild. They compare to the wild types like a wild carrot compares to one you get from the grocery store. Given enough high protein food the growth is explosive. I give my fry 40% protein and they reach 1" in about 3 weeks. I feed them at least 4 times a day. After that I drop to 2X a day with 30% protein feed.

80F is the best for mossambicas and Niles. Blues can handle cooler temperatures. Tilapia are cichlids, just like many of the popular aquarium tropical fish. They are quite tough and handle high stocking densities. You can pack up to around 2 pounds of fish per per gallon of tank as long as you have good air and filtration.

Hello,

-How do you breed tilapia? (creating instructions): Its really simple. I use 55 gallon aquariums with an Emperor 400 filtration unit, VHO lighting (for green water), cichlid buffer (about 5 teaspoons per month...but this depends on the hardness of your water), PVC pipes (for refuges), 2 400 Watt heater (temp 84 degrees), and a 12in diameter flower pot. Just add a harem...I use 1 male for every 3 females, and once alcimated you will see a female with her mouth full of eggs. I feed my harem 5 grams of food 2 times a day. And have all 3 females with egss in thier mouth every 21 days its like clock work...


-when are they sextually mature? The earlist I saw a female with eggs was when she was 42g, and my male was 38g.

-How do you tell the difference in sex? Females have 2 opening in thier urogenital region.

-what conditions do they require for breeding? I run a pH of 8.2, temp 84 degrees, 12 hours light and 12 hours dark, O ppm nitrate, 0 ppm nitrite,total hardness (GH) 275 ppm, chlorine 0 ppm, total alkalinity (KH) 180ppm.

-how do you care for the young? Once the female releases the fry I scoop her out and let the fry grow out in the tank which they were born, and raise them on crushed 1mm Ziegler crumble...powdered form.
Hope this helps!
Don
tilapihybridpair.com