Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I don't think the ammonia had as much to do with the deaths as the lack of water did. The greatest number of the DOAs were outside of the plastic bags. The ammonia caused some stressing and jumping as they warmed up enough to wake up out of their stupor.

Hey GF, my in-laws are in Boone, and we see them from time to time. They come to us more than vice-versa, but if we head out your way again I could/would hand deliver some to you! It is a several day trip though, so they would have to be in some kind of little aquarium with bubbler and heater, but I think it would be doable.

Wow--fish porn! Here are some really clear pictures of female fish private parts where the fish are at various readinesses to spawn.

http://www.worldfishcenter.org/Pubs/GIF ... ual-04.pdf

Even better...side by side clear photo of male and female fish -- see slide 16

http://aquanic.org/images/slides/tilapi ... /frame.htm

Sounds good Dave, I'm a bit concerned about the legal issues and if I'd need an import permit. Will be applying for an aquaculture lic in the near future. If and when you make the trip PM me before hand and I'll give you some contact information. You could crash at the big house if you were so inclined.
Good info.

Janet, any babies yet?

No babies yet, but I think I know who the first parents are going to be! There's a lot of squabbling for the best spot in the two aquariums that I loaded with prospective breeders. This one male has staked out a pot as his turf and chases all but one of the fish away from it. The last fish he chases towards the pot. Often, she waits for him in the pot while he is chasing the others. Hmmmm.....fishie love!

hey janet, how about now, any fishies yet? and how are they doing.

-mikey

Mikey,
I'll think you'll find that Janet's fish have had HEAPS of babies, and so have they

DF, I had nine babies show up in the sump after about a month. Now they are as big as the fingerlings were. The rest are doing fine, but JP and I are feeding them slowly as we need more grow bed volume to reduce nitrates.

Hi DF,
The original shipment is growing nicely but slowly. As DD mentions, we are not feeding at optimal rates so as to keep the nitrates down. These fishies breed like bunnies, so I have a second batch waiting. I culled them down to 40-50 fishies for the second batch. Check my main thread in Janet's Jungle for the full story.

Just for fun, I went out to eBay and typed 'tilapia'. Imagine my suprise!!!

http://stores.ebay.com/BardPaper_Aquati ... idZ2QQtZkm

This guy has several lines available. No idea who he is, but this might be a good way to get your breeding stock!!

I sent Bardpaper some questions, and told him that if he was OK with it, I would post his response here.

I had an email response from him the other day and his fish look good. I'm thinking of starting with 50. But before I order does any one have any they would want to sell me? Let me know if you can beat his price. 50 for $84 shipped.

thanks
Bruce

The shipping is the main expense, and it's a pain in the rear to live-ship. I'd give you the fish, but I still can't beat his price and get them to you alive. (I have no idea what his fancy oxygen-bags are, so I would go with overnighting the fish and packing them with oxygen pills. Higher shipping price that way.) Check the folks at Valmeyer, though. They are out of Illinois, and their info should be at the beginning of this thread.