Tilapia Fish

[Brittany]

I'm relatively new at aquaponic farming, and am using tilapia.  How do I determine the weight of my tilapia?  I bought one thousand fingerlings and twenty breeders.

Can the fingerlings be in the same tank as the breeders, or will they eat the eggs and fry once the breeders breed?

[Pam DeLong]

I only weigh my fish when harvesting...I use a small fisherman's pocket scale. After a while, you'll be able to give a rough guesstimate based on size/appearance. My 13-inch fish are about 1.5 lbs before cleaning.

What is your set up for your breeders? I only have one male and one female that are only allowed in the same tank when I need a new batch. When the female is carrying her eggs, I carefully remove the male. Gestation is 2 weeks. After the fry hatch, I wait about 4 days and remove the female. By then the fry are doing more exploring and are becoming more independent. They retreat to the female's mouth at night or when frightened, so I will net her during the day when her mouth is empty. If there are any in there, she usually spits them out, so the net should be holey enough to let the fry escape.

Yes, the fry are easily eaten if left in with adults, and even fingerlings, if big enough, will eat smaller fry/fingerlings (half-inch size).

[Brittany]

Thank you very much for your help.

Pam DeLong said:

I only weigh my fish when harvesting...I use a small fisherman's pocket scale. After a while, you'll be able to give a rough guesstimate based on size/appearance. My 13-inch fish are about 1.5 lbs before cleaning.

What is your set up for your breeders? I only have one male and one female that are only allowed in the same tank when I need a new batch. When the female is carrying her eggs, I carefully remove the male. Gestation is 2 weeks. After the fry hatch, I wait about 4 days and remove the female. By then the fry are doing more exploring and are becoming more independent. They retreat to the female's mouth at night or when frightened, so I will net her during the day when her mouth is empty. If there are any in there, she usually spits them out, so the net should be holey enough to let the fry escape.

Yes, the fry are easily eaten if left in with adults, and even fingerlings, if big enough, will eat smaller fry/fingerlings (half-inch size).

[George]

I feed twice per day and if the tilapia quickly consume all the food, I feed them a little more the next time.  If they don't, I feed less.