Tilapia?

[andyn1976]

Anyone raise tilapia on a small scale? Pros & cons. Success stories?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

thats what that AZ guy on doomsday raises in his swimming pool
I dont know anything about it but he seemed to be an open book, maybe try him

http://gardenpool.org/

[thedreamers]

Look up aquaponics. Its a great way to go or use the same set up and just grow the fish.

[BioG8r]

I have grown out three crops of talapia in an aquaponics system that consists a 500 gallon tank, pumping the bottom water to 2- 6x12 Grow beds filled with a media called Groton. I will not buy the groton again way too expensive, gravel or pebbles work fine.

Talapia are great for warm areas or heated greenhouse or heated water. They will not grow quickly to full size if temps are lower than about 75 degrees. We have grown out 50 fish each time with ease. Many more could be grown at one time in a system like this.

Here a a couple of pretty good resources for info.

http://srac.msstate.edu/

http://www.aquaponicsusa.com/Aquaponics_USA_index.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/extension/Classroom/Aquaponics.htm

[blackhawk]

want to try it myself.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

I never even thought about farming fish out here in the desert.

[sniper69]

I have grown out three crops of talapia in an aquaponics system that consists a 500 gallon tank, pumping the bottom water to 2- 6x12 Grow beds filled with a media called Groton. I will not buy the groton again way too expensive, gravel or pebbles work fine.

Talapia are great for warm areas or heated greenhouse or heated water. They will not grow quickly to full size if temps are lower than about 75 degrees. We have grown out 50 fish each time with ease. Many more could be grown at one time in a system like this.

Here a a couple of pretty good resources for info.

http://srac.msstate.edu/

http://www.aquaponicsusa.com/Aquaponics_USA_index.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/extensi...Aquaponics.htm

Which type of Tilapia did you grow, the blue variety? Is there a good place to purchase from. Curious as this is something I've considered, but is still in the planning stages.

[BioG8r]

@ Sniper, I have used the Blues, I get them from Kentucky State University, They have a fish giveaway each year to educational institutions, I buy quite a few from the school for my own system. I did re-read my original post and I said "water temperature of 75." I should have said ambient temp of 75, and a water temp of 70.
They really don't like temps below 70. We keep the greenhouse they are grown in at 75.

I would suggest you give it a try. Talapia deal with the overcrowding very well and are very happy with standard catfish food.

I started my first system with Red Eared Sunfish. They don't do as well with crowding and like some live foods but will survive on catsish foods. Their claim to fame is they deal with a wide temperature range. you can produce enough of them in a small space to feed yourself. Make sure they are all of about equal size they tend to be aggressive and cannibalistic.

As for where to buy, try finding local sources, shipping is a Deal Killer, and sometimes a Fish Killer. There are some folks selling on ebay and on craigslist. I see that there is an opportunity to do some breeding and sales,,,, I might get into it in the future.

@ SeldomSeenSlim It is a great way to keep water available for your plants and doesn't require chemical fertilizers. The water is a great way to help moderate temperatures both up and down. When you need to do water changes the house, outdoor or raised bed plants will love you.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

I did some reading on it. Not like I don't have enough irons in the fire, but this really interests me.

One question. What is the breeding cycle on tilapia? Would it be feasible to have a more controlled indoor setup for breeding and then an outdoor setup for growing when the weather permits or is that heading down the wrong path?

[BioG8r]

SSS, I feel the same with irons in the fire!!
For sustainability reasons, many breed talapia away from the grow out area. breeding cycle is less important than the setup, put adult fish together in a quality habitat and you'll have new offspring!!
We have bred in a 55 gallon tank and grown out in 55 gallon drums on their side. Not the ideal growout but worked for about 6 adults with good filtration.
We use biological filtration, the aquaponics setup is the best way to filter and reuse waste. I have been straight up amazed at how easy raising fish is when you're using the waste as a fertilizer! Literally as easy as just add water! We did a partial water change in our school system twice for algae control, the water was too green for viewing, needed a little less light on the tank and a little bigger filter-hydroponics bed.
Setup is the time eater - But, if setup right, doesn't need a great deal of attention after that, though you will find yourself spending time watching and checking it out! I love harvesting a few at a time, I let the step grandson bait up and catch them with a "Mickey Pole"! Good times! We have grown herbs, peas, cukes, tomatoes and peppers in the filter beds.
Cherry tomatoes were the most prolific, we had too many for our family from just three plants. They produce longer and more in the hydro bed.
Herbs were amazing!
Peas grew up a chicken wire tent we constructed for support, they were awesome and produced better than average.
Cukes grew up the same wire as the peas, we grew pickling cukes instead of the huge heavies, they seemed to be happier in the garden but still did well. I don't think we did very good at pollination for the cukes.
Peppers produced about the same as in ground.
REMEMBER, if you grow in a greenhouse, you are the pollinator, bees and other pollinators are not welcome in the greenhouse.