Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I just found a local CL add for $1 fingerlings at 1-2".

http://fortcollins.craigslist.org/grd/4269878291.html

I called and checked and the breeder said they were Blue tilapia.

Is there a chart somewhere of the differences between tilapia breeds? I swear I had seen one previously.

It's likely that I'll go with these fish anyways because of a good price, and no shipping cost.

I hesitated to respond because i dont know of a chart and i figure you can google as well as i can.

The main tilapia species are nile, blue and Mozambique. most "red" "gold" "white" tilapia are just selectively bred or crosses between these species.

There is also hornorum which is desirable to some because when it crosses with mossie it makes a fast growing almost entirely male hybrid

blue are probably the most cold tolerant and fastest growing. if they were legal in texas they would be my tilapia of choice, with nile #2


obviously make sure they are legal in your state.

brian

Thanks for all the info.



Where did you find this info?

I just want to find out the attributes of the main breeds, and the most common hybrids.

Though blue sounds like a nice fit so I'll have to use less electricity heating the water.

when i say most cold tolerant we are talking about like 2 degrees F.. not really a significant difference and not going to save you any heating costs


brian

It could be the difference of running an extra 200 watt heater in my tank, for a monthly savings of 1352 Amp Hours.

In an internal room with an average temp of 66-68f, in a 500 gallon system, what size heater would you suggest?

if the temp is 66-68f then you don't need to heat at all to keep blue's alive.. i've had them in my basement make it to under 50.. (that's when i added heat to the basement) i lost a few niles (no blues) but the majority made it and i kept the water temp close to 54f

It is because nile can survive in water that have 46-108 F temperature.