Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thank goodness it's raining.

Tilapia can handle quite a bit of salt, so you could go up to 10ppt salt easily, although only in a tank separate from your plants. The tilapia you bought locally are 95% likely to be all-male if commercially grown. It's tough to breed out from all male stock, so if you thought you were buying potential breeders, I would say you should re-think that plan.

Shhhhhh....one of my female breeders has been holding a mouthful of something for over a week. When I checked her tonight, the little round eggs were getting funny-shaped, and she had on her special "Don't-Mess-With-Me Black Stripes". A sure sign that the eggs are wiggling all by themselves, and she knows she needs to release them soon!! I put a younger male in with the gals a couple weeks ago. Since the gals are bigger than he is, he is less able to damage them. I think I may need to remove the other fish from the tank this weekend to give her some space with the fry. Keep your fingers crossed! It looks like a small spawn, but I don't need that many.

While I'm not a Tilapia expert, I've been keeping aquariums for a good long time. Sounds like the fish were already pretty stressed out from shipping, and those asian fish market tanks generally have pretty poor water quality also. They came down with a bacterial infection that rots the fins and causes cottony stuff on em. Its really not that big o deal. Some salt will help but good water quality will really decide the day.

If they were my aquarium fish, I'd give em a place to hide and be miserable then do frequent water changes and feed em. You'll be suprised how quickly those fins grow back and they look normal again.

One last question... is there anything the fish could have that would make them inedible? Here's a pic of one of the worse fish. Two look okay with a couple minor spots and the other two look pretty awful.

JP, the idea was really to get some fish in the tank. There was a slight hope there might turn out to be a female in the bunch. In retrospect, wouldn't do it again. Meanwhile, it's quite exciting you may have fish a'brooding. I really look forward to that stage.

Strangetanks, thanks for the info. That's actually a pretty good description of what is happening and I feel so awful for them. Patience is the key. Perhaps we'll work on getting a aquarium setup for a temporary home for the fingerlings and allow this to run its course.... oh so many decisions.

Yes folks, I'm a grandma again!!! I saw one little fry swimming by its lonesome, so I removed the male and extra female. When things were calm, the mama-fish spit out the remaining fry, but didn't seem interested in tending or herding them, so I removed her, too. So now the breeders are all together again in the second breeding tank, and I have (guessing) 100+ fry in the first breeding tank. Perfect!! I blended some yeast, warm water, sugar, flour and cooked egg yolk into a light creamy mixture. I can disperse just a tiny bit in the water a few times a day to augment the algae and other goodies in the tank naturally. I can already see little poo-strings on the fry, so they're eating and growing already. Hoorah!! Proven breeders, and more than enough fry for the next harvest!

congratulations!

Ha ha! Congrats Janet!

Don't forget your friends up here in Philly when you need a good home for some of your lil guys.

Let me grow them out a bit first, but in a month or so I think some could use new homes. Rpondpa (Rand) gets pick of the litter, then the rest of youse guys can line up. Strange, you can be second. Free tour of my system is included in the offer.

Hey Dave, you want some, or are you still busy eating the first batch?

You're just loving this aren't you Janet.... and so you should be....

Congrats on another round of baby fish... reckon in a few years you'll have seeded most of the US .... bit like Johnnie Appleseed...

After I had so much trouble locating a hatchery that would even talk to me, the least I can do is help others get some fish.

"Folks from near and far, tell a story of a long time ago, just after the great apocalypse, when a woman known only as "JP" roamed far and wide around this country driving a horse drawn gypsy wagon with a huge tank filled with fish mounted on it, and surrounded by black tubs she called "Rubbermaids" filled with all the most wonderous of vegetables and herbs.

JP would pull up in a town and speak long and lovingly of a thing called "AP" and the wonders of a fish that could feed the hungry mouths of all.

JP would walk, silently and smiling a smile that only the wise can, through the crowds handing out a bag of what she called "fry" and "rubbermaids" to each family she found. "Just add water... and watch" was all she'd say

And families far and wide heeded the wisedom of JP and discovered the wonders of "AP"

"Now eat your Talapia and salad before the candle burns out....."

ROFL!!!

I too have sat at the feet of JP and marveled at her wisdom, trying to understand this magic called AP. I only hope that some day I can follow in her footsteps.

You're back with a vengeance JP!

I don't need any just yet - my herd is pretty thinned and there is bullying going on but the efforts continued today to advance the system. I will be moving the remaining little ones out of the sump in the next couple of weeks and will try breeding them. I will be able to reach the big ones better after tomorrow and I'll try to net and maybe eat the big white bully.