Comment

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on May 23, 2012 at 3:10pm

Dave, I sell my extra Niles locally in AZ for $1/fish. I only sell fry, not fingerlings. It costs too much and it takes too much space to raise them to fingerling size. That said, when you can find fingerlings here, they go for about $1/inch.

I looked into shipping a while back, and, depending on the destination in the US, it was up to $110 when I counted packaging costs. That didn't include labor or any profit. Crazy! And a lot of work, just as TCLynx described. If you can, it's better to buy locally.

The nice thing about tilapia is that they are tolerant of adverse conditions, like crowding and owner mistakes. They are also "messy fish," so they fertilize well. Niles are a great choice for my location because of the desert heat and they aren't restricted for hobbyists. But tilapia of all types are restricted in most locations. Fortunately, other regions also have nice, often better alternatives. Look for fish that are legal in your region and that grow well in your environment naturally. Native fish will require less intervention and will be easier to raise.

Comment by TCLynx on May 23, 2012 at 7:43am

Dave, realize that the shipping and handling costs for shipping fish is probably over half of that $90.  The people selling the fingerlings are not making much money on them at that price seeing as the labor and materials involved in catching, selecting, counting, bagging with oxygen, boxing up and getting them shipped and then the feed and electricity to breed and grow them.  At that price the profit is probably minimal.  Shipping fish isn't cheap, water is heavy.

Comment by John E Windsor on May 23, 2012 at 5:35am

Good to hear your system is up and running.
I was convinced I needed talapia too, until they told me about the permits and cost. That's when I switched to channel cats for $.30 and no permits.

Comment by Dave Mannina on May 22, 2012 at 10:37pm

I have my system working OK 4 now.. Need to tweak my bell siphons.. But now my question is.... Whats the going price for  1" to 2" tilapia?  I found a price for 50 of them for like $90.00 with shipping.. Sounds like a lot to me.. I know the big thing in aquaponics is the plants. But small fish should not cost that much... RIGHT?

Comment by Tom OBrien on May 20, 2012 at 6:16pm

Valentina - Probably better to keep the fish tank in a shady spot or provide shade with your cover. You'll have to check your fish species to see if they can survive the summer temperatures where you are.

Comment by valentina karga on May 20, 2012 at 3:54pm

Hi! Summer arrived finally in Germany and I want to put my system outdoors. My fish tank is a white bathtub with white cover. Will the fish get over-heated if I put it in a sunny spot? Besides, will the water evaporate like crazy?

Comment by Dave Mannina on May 20, 2012 at 12:49pm

I am going to hook up my pump today. I will let you guys know how it goes. I have one grow bed going right now using my pond water. There is only a 200 gph pump on that and it's not enough. The pond is also lower. Lot of up hill travel. It was cycling every 30 minutes. Taking longer now thou. I might be straining the pump. Just a few test plants in the grow bed for now. The plants are OK thou. Thanks for all the input.

Comment by TCLynx on May 19, 2012 at 6:47pm

The rule of thumb is to move at least the volume of your fish tank per hour.

If you are going to be doing timed flood and drain, that means you have to move all that volume in the fraction of the hour you will have the pump turned on.

John, the 15 minute thing is actually more for those who do timed flood and drain since most inexpensive timers do 15 minute increments, so they will often do 15 minutes with the pump on and then 45 minutes with the pump off.

Now having a siphon cycle that takes 15 minutes is not a bad thing but it is not necessary.  As long as enough water is getting turned over and filtered each hour to keep the water quality good in the fish tank, that is what is important.

And by pumping at least the volume of the fish tank each hour that goal is usually achieved for normal backyard stocking densities.

So look at the pump cures for some pumps and see if they will move the volume of the fish tank at the height specified and then you will be able to choose what pumps will be adequate to the job.  Now also note the amount of power the different pumps use, A cheap pump might cost you many times more in electricity than a higher quality energy efficient pump.

Comment by John E Windsor on May 19, 2012 at 3:36pm

The accepted rule of thumb, some will argue it's validity, is to pump the total volume of the FT once every hour.

Now consider the total volume of H2O moving through the grow beds. They flood and drain, if that is your chosen method, every 15 minutes. The beds are filled with gravel, so the H2O will only have 40% of the bed to fill. In Dave's case, even if you consider 1' of H2O always in the bottom of the bed and the H2O level always at least 1" below the top of the gravel, his volume of H2O every 15 minutes is 212 gallons, minimum. You need to do that 4 times each hour. Thus 4 x 212 gal. = 848 gph. Now you have to consider head (the height the H2O needs to be pumped) to get the return to your tank. Always have more pump than you need.

I have a 275 gallon IBC FT with 4 16" deep IBC grow beds, which drain into a sump tank and then is pumped 5' (head) back up into the FT. I am using a PondMaster 960 gph pump. I have to bypass 80-100 gph back into the sump, but I need that much pump to maintain the level in the FT at a constant depth.

Bottom line: pump at least the volume of your FT every hour, but more than that is okay (probable better).

Dan, did you get some Ace Hardware ammonia yet?

Dave, how is your system set up?

Comment by Dan Ponton on May 19, 2012 at 2:35pm

From what I heard, you only need to be concerned with the amount of water in your fish tank. you need to change the water every hour or more so you should be Ok with a 700 GPH pump

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