Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I thought there was an underground tilapia breeding operation in AZ, BK?

I think that's California and Alaska, Dave.

I know tilapias are legal here in some parts of southern California. And there are big fish farms here to.

No I don't mean underground as in black market. There used to be a company of a father and a couple sons who bred tilapia in an underground facility, I thought it was in Arizona (or maybe New Mexico). I can't find them on Google, this was a few years ago...

I thought you were referring to our members here who might or might not have tilapia where they shouldn't.

lol that is what i was thinking also

I just got a reply from bardpaper:
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I have been in it for 6 Years , and Have had no Disease , at all, our only lost was from being Dumb, The fry we have had on cross was all are almost all Male That was 5 years ago, WE could not eat our Fish so I wanted the pure lines I wanted all the Lines and have them Now They was very hard to get, As you Know no one will sell them to you at all, Don Bulger
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So he sounds like a really dedicated aquarium hobbyist, but some of the pics also look like he has them in ponds. I suppose he's being inundated by fry about now. Perhaps we can help him out

I think the freight would kill me Janet

If this guy seems cool and every thing, I am willing to give him a shot, when I get my bigger system up and running.

A general question for Tilapia grower and eater, Don Bulger has difference kinds of tilapia what kind would you recomend?

1) Tilapia Rocky Mountain White Fry
2) Tilapia Hornorum
3) Tilapia mossambica
4) Tilapia nilotica
5) fill in the blank

Well, his eBay ratings are good. That's all the more I can tell you. I'd like to ask anyone who orders from him (or any source, for that matter) to post your experiences so we know who has good fish.

I've been thinking long and hard about ordering from him. If he had been listing tilapia in January when I was scouring the 'net looking for fish, I assure you I would have gotten one of his sets of 6 honorum and 6 mossambique to try to get mostly-male fry. I ended up with Rocky Mountain Tilapia because that's what Miami Aquaculture recommended, and they were one of the few willing to deal with such small potatoes as I am. As it is, I am very happy with how the RMs are working out, and my concerns about having mixed-gender in my tank have proven to be unfounded.

BK, given what I know today, I would go with the Rocky Mountains. They are considered to be the fastest-growing hybrid, they are easy to spot if they are lying on the bottom of a gray/black tank (dead), and they make a nice fish in the pan.

I like the way the Rocky Mountains look. Should I be concerned about them poking holes in my 20mil Pond Liner? He says he won't ship the big ones "They are to Big to ship as They Put Holes in the Plastic Bags".

Hi BK,
Fish would be shipped in bags that are 1-2 mil thick, and the hazard would be their dorsal fins, not their teeth. (From my very limited experience, fry ship well, larger fish don't handle the stress as well, anyway.) I expect your 20mil pond liner would be fine.

btw, my Rocky Mountains do have some variability in color. A male showing off to the Sheilas will be the pearly white color as in the eBay pic. He'll even have touches of blue on the cheeks or red/orange tips on the dorsal if you're lucky. A truly beautiful fish. When they are more relaxed, they will go more silvery, some with splotches of darker gray. A threatened fish or female holding eggs gets dark gray/black around the throat. Some fish are naturally lighter/whiter, and some are darker/more silver. I picked my largest, whitest fish for breeders, and I still have variability in the fry. His line may be more stable--it would be interesting to see.

Fried fish are a golden tan.

and that's the important colour, right