Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

As the subject says. If I plan to feed BSF larvae to my tilapia, will I need to feed them anything else to assure they are health fish?

Cheers

Bump

Does anyone have information on this? It is a really good question!

I have been raising BSFL since March 2017 for this purpose alone. I don’t believe that they are nutritionally complete for feeding to talapia alone. It’s a food idea to feed them flaxseed from time to time. The flaxseed adds omega 3 which the fish need. I would still supplement with what ever your currency using.


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Just be careful that the fish don't get sick or anything.

-K98

Well fish in the wild do eat insects, algae, etc. I don't think any ONE thing is a complete balanced diet, but if you raised BSF larvae, crickets and Duckweed, maybe even some worms? I've considered both a BSF and a Cricket farm such that the only exit leads to the fish. I also feed worms from my GBs to the fish occasionally. I used to do Duckweed but I needed the DWC space for veggies.

yes, the more variety the better, but remember Tilapia aren't carnivores. And +1 to Maui, you need to provide some omega 3 somewhere.

Yep, you can't live well on just one food source, neither can fish.

They seem to be omnivores as mine will eat most anything dropped into the tank: worms, caterpillars, vegetation, fish food...

Umm, yes you can. And yes they do.

-K98

K98, so what single food source do you think would be most suitable for ensuring the survival of tilapia, bearing in mind that they are omnivores?

Even if it were possible, a varied diet is clearly important in maintaining fish health.

I'm glad you asked!
There are a few fish food brands that I used to use like skrettings, but now I find I can just use dog food. The ingredients seem mostly the same and the fish eat it and do well!
Just don't tell my dalmation they steal his food!!!

-K98

That's not a single food source, that's a formulated feed composed of many different food sources. When earthbound says "you can't live well on just one food source, neither can fish", he means one single food source, eg bsf larvae, as no single organism or vegetable will contain all of the nutrients needed for fish survival.

Having said that, this is referring to the types of fish of interest to AP, ie freshwater, especially omnivorous. I am sure there are some carnivorous marine fish which live pretty much exclusively off one specific prey species, but that's not relevant to AP.

Do your fish taste good? The difference in flavour of wild vs farmed fish is significant, even when fed high-quality formulated aqua-feed, so I imagine it would be even greater with dog-food, which I imagine has no fish-meal, fish oil or omega 3.

Its worth remembering that the nutritional quality of fish depends on what it eats. And considering the rapid destruction of the oceans fish resources, the culturing of live feed is surely the future of sustainable aquaculture.

Yes my fish taste great.
Do you prefer wild fish or farmed fish?

-K98

Umm, what single food source can you live on well? You really just seem to want to troll K98...