Fish Identification

[Devoid]

It's hard to get a good photo due to glare I'm afraid. I bought them as Mozambique tilapia but the more I look the more confused I get.

[Larry Miller]

Devoid, I'm going to guess you bought these at Larry's Fish Farm or a similar place. They look exactly like the "Mozambique" I bought from there 2 years ago. From what I've been able to gather, they are really some sort of mix, I think with a nile. A lot of people call this a Red which was bread because people like the look of the red fish/meat. I bought some true (as close as you can get) Mozambiques this year and I plan on comparing the growth of the two types to see which is best, but the Reds have done really well for me. My Fry from about this time last year are around 12" right now and ready to harvest. 

The only other thing I will warn against if you got them from Larry's, is keep an eye out for signs of disease. Half my original fish from there lost eyes from something, and several went belly-up with something. I have never had a problem with the offspring though. 

Good luck, and I hope this helps. 

[Devoid]

Thanks, that's where I got them.
I had bought 200. I hadn't had too much loss except when I lost air to a tank. Then the ones that decided to jump out at night when I forgot to close the lid.

I bought 200 fish. They were roughly graded. I randomly split the bags between two tanks. The tank with the water return waterfall were skittish eaters and never seemed to eat much. But they've grown twice as big. I can't count how many are in there but I have a feeling they ate each other.

The second tank has always ate like a school of pirranna but are still smallish. Though I think there's a lot more than the original 100 I put in there.

I have had a horrible time with tilapia getting into the grow beds. I don't know if eggs are passing through my pet window screen cylinder filter or what. I have several rounds of crops because of this.

I have a couple that ate with with some red and then small black patches. Looks like koi coloring but I don't think it's a koi body. Beautiful fish but back to unsure about them.

I am trying to clear the water to see if I can get a better photo. I need an underwater camera to get rid of the glare.

[Larry Miller]

One thing you might want to try as a way to get rid of the eggs/fry getting into your grow beds is to put a few goldfish in the tank with your tilapia. The goldfish I have are voracious when it comes to mosquto larva, tilapia eggs or fry, and i have only had one fry survive in the last year in my tank. 

[Devoid]

Thanks. I was reading about yesterday about large mouth bass, catfish or blue gill for keeping the tilapia breeding in check

[Larry Miller]

Let me know if you get down to San Antonio any time soon and I can show you my true Mozambiques and maybe help you get some pure ones if you are interested. 

[Devoid]

Thanks, will do.

[Devoid]

@Larry Any chance you have a vast overflow of tilapia or know a good source? I need a bunch as I had my heater die during the cold spell

[Larry Miller]

I do have some tilapia, but only about 15 large and 4 fingerlings. The supposedly true tilapia I bought this year seem to be a pond grade as some never grew more than a couple inches long. I have kept all the biggest and gotten rid of the rest as it got colder this year. I do still have two of the larger Reds from Larry's fish farm and I am hoping to get one of them to breed this year, but nothing as of now. You are welcome to have the 4 fingerlings if you want them and if you make it down to San Antonio any time soon, otherwise check back with me in the spring and I may have more. 

[Devoid]

I am wanting to get the Hawaiian gold tilapia and breed for my system. They say they are pure Mozambique. My main issue being that I keep finding tilapia in my deep water grow beds, which the bottom gets dark with coco coir and such which make the tilapia impossible to see with a quick visual inspection.

I need a minimum of 200 pounds by friendly aquaponics low density calculation, and way more for normal. Four $800 I can get 100 pounds of normal, but at 40 to a pound I'll be overwhelmed shortly.