Aquaponics keepers in central California?

[Brendan]

Hey guys, my name is Brendan Humphrey. I am beginning a small desktop aquaponics system for my high school engineering yearlong project. Unfortunately, due to school budget cuts, we are forced to build these projects on donations. If anybody in the central coast California area would be willing to donate ~10 tilapia fry or fingerlings, I would be more than grateful. Let me know :) my email is [e-mail]

[Brendan]

Oh, and it will be a 15-20 gallon system, but I will keep the tilapia small.

[Jon Paul]

I don't think that Tilapia would not be appropriate for your situation.  maybe some small Goldfish would work better for your setup.

what does everyone else think?

[Casey Haas]

Fish don't follow that old myth about only growing to the size of the tank they are in. They continue growing to whatever size they are genetically programmed for unless they die from other causes like poor water quality or disease first. 

I think that even one tilapia would grow to be too big for a 15-20 gallon tank. Actually even one goldfish might be pressed for space and could overwhelm your biofilter if overfed (the bioload of a goldfish is very high since they are grazing fish and their digestive systems are very inefficient ).

If it were me, I would stick with one goldfish (or maybe a beta fish) to start with and see how things go. You can always add more goldfish later if you think the system needs it, but if you accidentally start out with too many fish at the beginning you will only cause yourself heartache and endless system troubles.

[Casey Haas]

Oh, and stay away from feeder goldfish! They are almost guaranteed to carry disease.

[Brendan]

See, that's what I was thinking, but I talked to this guy the other day and he told me differently. He said that if you feed a fish just enough food for it to be happy and healthy, it won't grow. He said that he has had about a dozen tilapia in a 20 gallon aquarium for a few years now. They have all stayed at 2" because he feeds them "just enough to be happy and healthy." I'm 16 years old and I have been in the fish hobby for years now(fresh and saltwater) and I've heard many roumors. He seemed to know what he was talking about, and he had a website and is in the process of writing a book. I've never dealt with tilapia before and I'm just not sure all of the stuff that takes experience to know

[Brendan]

And he goes by Oliver I believe.

[Jon Paul]

Very Interesting Brendan!  I have not heard of anyone keeping tilapia so small.  It sounds like you have been doing your research on this subject.  If you fish do get to big you can always upgrade the size of your tank.  I hope to hear more about how your project goes.  I have been trying to convince the hydroponic store down the street from me to start up a small aquaponics system like the one your going to set up, but i don't know what the requirements are on such a small system.  When the Hydroponics store asked me what type of fish they could have in a 20 gallon tank i had no idea what to say.  

[Brendan]

Yeah, the info I heard from him was very interesting, which intrigues me. So I'm still on the hunt for tilapia. I was originally going to use a 100 gallon grape crate as the tank (that i was given), but I need to bring the project in at the end of the year, so that won't be able to happen. I'm thinkin a 20 gallon tall would be a good size. Somewhat small footprint, but a decent amount of swimming area. Thanks for all the info so far guys!!! I'll keep you updated as the build progresses.