Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Came home today to find my 2 largest tilapia locked into a battle connecting their mouths and hitting each other with their tails. while circling each other. mating behavior or just a show of dominance? I have blue tilapia about 4 months old those two are about 5 inches. how big do they have to be to mate?

Fighting, and mating behavior. trying to establish dominance and take over a portion of the tank and or nesting pot. They can start breeding around that size. Good luck.

what if there isn't enough room? haha

can you be more specific, how big is the tank and how many fish?


if it's only the two fish the losing fish could be fatal. The more fish the better because once one of the fish "wins" the territory the further aggression is spread out over all of the other fish not just one.

Yeah, make sure they have somewhere to hide if you're trying to breed, or add more fish if you're not.

55 gallon with 20 tilapia

they'll be fine. one fish will own half the tank and the other 19 will school in the other half.

What do i need to do with the fry will they eat crushed up pellets? Never thought they might mate theres alot of them and thier small but i see where he started a nest and theres a smaller female always near him i spereated the tank 1/3 around the nest using vertical spawning grass

Fry are not going to be a problem for you in your setup as they will not live long enough to grow.

Can i move them to small 20 gallon i have?

maybe,

read my tilapia breeding post for some of your options
you can:
1) hope to be present when she spits the fry out for the first time and scoop them with a dip net (which is possisble given that the first time she will do this will likely be while you are feeding the fish)
2) move the brooding female to another tank (i have had no luck doing this)
3) take the eggs and incubate them offline.

But i must ask. given your location and the need to grow your tilapia indoors. what are you plans if you are able to gather a few hundred tilapia fry? where are you going to grow them out? in your 55 gallon tank?

Well I partially inspired my agricultural teacher to start his own aquaponics system he might want some also its just a learning experience.