Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Using a 55 gallon barrel turned on it's side. Can talipia grow to full size in there or am I stuck with guppies and other ornamentals? If I went with talipia, I'd start with a few and maybe top out at 6-7 to see if I can get them to full size.

Whats your growbed size? Im no expert, but if your GB is the same size I imagine you could grow 5 lbs of fish easily. I think the ratio is around 1lb per 10 gallons of filtration.

Anyway, im interested in what more experienced people have to say as ill soon be working a 75 gallon GB and a120 gallon aquarium. Im thinking 10 tilapia fimgerlings max.

I think the filtration/lb of fish works on larger scales, but at some point you have to have a tank big enough for a 1lb fish to turn around and swim the other way. If you don't have that, no amount of filtration will save the fish. I don't know the minimum sized tank a 1lb fish will survive in (or thrive in, probably 2 different numbers). One thing is you could throw 2-3 finglerlings in there now (I'm sure that's enough room for little ones) ... they take 6 months to grow out at the least I think, so that would give you some time to get a bigger tank. After you're sure that your tank is big enough to house the fish, then the filtration comes into play. Off the top of my head it seems like it was 2lb of grown out fish for 25gal of filtration (gravel). Good luck and please post back. I'm sure plenty of people would be interested to know how Tilapia grow in a 55gal barrel.

Thanks guys. I'll give it a go! System close to ready.

You could grow out 10-12 tilapia to 1 pound each in a 55 gallon aquarium, provided you have sufficient filtration. However, smaller systems are typically far less stable, so you have to keep a watchful eye on them and be prepared to take quick corrective action in case of an emergency/issue.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I appreciate evey bit I get. So let's say I put 10 tilapia in a 55 gal barrel (on it's side), with ebb and flow cycle (loop siphon), is the ebb and flow enough oxygenation? I'd rather not run aeration if I don't need to. Seems like tilapia withstand quite a bit, but I cerntainly don't want to kill the little guys.

Another way to put it, at 55 gal and 10 tilapia, what is the most common fish related issue after not enough filtration?

I'm no expert but common sense says if you max out the fish, and don't want to add aeration, you are just begging for a failure. It's cheap for a pump, and because you have such little water, your system won't be stable. Why risk it?

Yep, halve the number you hypothetically "could" have and start with that till you get some experience.

i have a 30 g ft with an air pump. i lost 1 of 12 tiny fish and ghost shrimps. the air pump is comforting and they like to play in the bubbles so why not

Remember also that the warmer the water is the less oxygen it will carry, so guessing you are in a warm climate you will wants some type of oxygen adder. I have a 750 gallon pond in Texas with large koi fish in mine, the fish are about 18 inches now. I run a ebb and flow system with two beds and try to alternate the cycle on them for longer air cycles for the fish. I also fun a fountain in the center of the pond for additional aggitation of the water to increase the air in the water.