Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i just fished out some fry from a tank containing both gambusia and tilapia. from the look of them i don't think they're gambusia fry, which i'm familiar with. i've never seen tilapia fry in person, so i'm not sure if they're really tilapia fry. anyone have a picture of these 2 fry side by side? when they're this young, would one be able to tell the difference by look alone? any hints would be appreciated.

looking at it as close as i can with my naked eye, i think i'm seeing the spiny dorsal fin that tilapia has that gambusia does not. but i'm second guessing myself, wondering if i'm imagining it.

Pictures would help a lot SomeGuy - I don't know what tilapia fingerlings look like but I could sure recognise a Gambusia.

tilapia fry always look like eye balls with a stomach to me.

I don't have a great camera to catch the detail. But it looks a lot like these little guys here. From the top looking down, they just look like mosquito fish fry to me. I've never took the time to study a mosquito fish fry from the side.



I found this neat drawing of tilapia fry development. The dorsal fin that run the length of their back for those 6-8 day ones is what I'm talking about. I wouldn't imagine gambusia would ever have those.

If they were Gambusia wouldn't the tilapia just eat them ????

My Tilapia use to eat them when they were adolescents, but ever since they grew up, they've become less of a carnivor.