Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Might be best if we take these discussion away from various member and fish specific threads into the "Banter" area... there's plenty of previous threadsover there where these issues can be debated... maybe mods could clean the last few bits and leave this as a "Tilapia" thread...

Hi Rupe..

Thngs have got a little off target ... but not too bad so far!

This is about Tilapia .. various species (including mossambiques) and crosses ..

Do your worst to keep the thread on topic my friend!

My preffered Tilapia are seen here .....,,http://www.tilapiathai.com/Product/nilestrain.htm
darn fast growing fish ,, really nice supplier ( He's got Scott blood also ).
I always turn up with a bottle of single malt when I get the chance to collect my next batch of MALE only Tilapia.

The problem is that population and fuel usage is doubling every few years. What will last 100 years this year will not last 99 years come next year. With us selfish americans using two third of all energy and using more each year, what are the rest of you going to do ?

Ok, I am planing my winter months. I hope to be in a position to build a large system next summer. So, I am going to learn to breed Tilapia this winter indoors. Well, if I can locate a breeding group to work with.

Question I have is, will Tilapia fry eat brine shrimp? I know they can get protien starved and eat each other.

zeno,,,Yep I'd put mopney on themeating brine shrimp,,,they'll eat nearanything when young,,,justlike their cuosins PARAHNA.

....well, very distant cousins....

I feed newly released fry with an egg yolk and yeast mix for the first week. After that, they could probably take newly hatched brine shrimp.

My Recipe:

Put one packet of baker's yeast in a few spoonfuls of warm water with a pinch of sugar. Let it sit 15 minutes so it foams. Boil one egg. Eat the white. Mash the yolk into a paste with the yeast mixture. You want a light paste. If needed, add a pinch of flour to thicken it. It will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

When feeding it to fry, disperse it into the water by rubbing a dab between your fingers.

Janet I have successfully been using your formula to feed my little ones. Works great! They are growing fast to!

Yes they will eat brine shrimp. I bought my little 10 gal aquarium at a yard sale and it came with pump, net, hide and can of brine shrimp. The little guys (1/2" long at the time) gobbled it right up. That was 4 weeks ago and now they're almost 2"...

Now that I have fingerlings, I am curious about growth rates. I know there's variation based on feed, water temps and variety of tilapia. But I would be curious to know what kinds of rates others are getting in their AP systems. We received 1.5" (38mm) Nile tilapia fingerlings and the water temperature is averaging in the low 70's F (21-23C).

In a separate posting, Chappo mentioned switching feed when they are about 4" (100mm). Any ideas on how long that could take. How long before we can eat them?

I got fingerlings with Janet in February and ate the first one in December. Could have grown faster if I had wanted them to/paid more attention to that. I think Chappo was saying that they gain a lot when they are little and taper off after that so this would be the more critical period to give them good water quality and good appropriate nutrition.

Spot-on DD,,,get good quality fingerlings,,feed 50% protein ( remember Tilapia like their pellets VERY small),feed at 10% body-weight per day spread over 3 feeds,,,
21-23C is a little cooler than they like,so make sure they are eating all the feed.
You should get them up around 4 inches in 6 weeks:) From there you can cut back to cheaper 30% protein feed and split it over two feeds a day.4-5 months later,, with correct conditions your fish will be between 1 anda half and 1 and three quarter pounds:)

Sweet! Thanks.

As with most things,,information varies on best methods,,but here is a good link,,well worth the 5minute read.
http://aqua.ucdavis.edu/dbweb/outreach/aqua/282FS.PDF

Cheers

I only have 32% catfish feed. 6 grams to 43 grams in 36 days.