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[Melissa O'Callaghan-Weber]

Hello I'm new to tilapia farming. I just bought a 10 acre farm in punta gorda with 16 large ponds. I need to find a good test kit and fingerlings to start stocking. Anyone know where to get a good test kit and how to figure out how many fish would be able to go in each pond. Thanks for helping a newbie!

[Jim Kamen]

Call Tilapia Spot in the Orlando area.  He has lots of fish and seems to know what he is talking about.

Text 407-545-1859 or tilapiaspot.com

[John E Windsor]

Test kits can be bought at pet stores or where they sell tropical fish. I use Amazon to get stuff like that. You can get them fairly quick and save money that way. (http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater-Master-Test-Kit/dp/B000255NCI/...)

Check Craiglist in your area for fish, or Google it. There are plenty of fish available once you start looking.

Welcome to the forum.

[Melissa O'Callaghan-Weber]

Great thanks!

[Harry Grimm]

try these guys to www.intoflorida fish.net

free delivery and acclimate Shawn nice guy he was $60.00 per hundred

 

[Melissa O'Callaghan-Weber]

This is perfect, thanks!

[David B]

Hi Melisa,

I wonder if you bought one of the farms I was looking at?

www.tilapiaseed.com of Bradenton, just a few miles north of you, is one of the most prolific tilapia breeders in the country. With a license in hand its a few hundred$s for like 2,000 naturally bred all male fry. They don't sell small quantities, I tried, or to anyone without the state license. I think it came to like 15 or 30 cents each.

Be cautioned however that Punta Gorda is on the edge of needing insulated tanks in the winter for tropical tilapia to survive. An extended cold snap here in Bradenton/Sarasota, the year before last, killed off a friend's Tilapia in their open pond. Their Bass survived. And the tilapia in my insulated tanks survived. 55 degrees water temp is nearing the low point for tilapia survival. And much below 75 they'll barely eat and wont grow much.

I'm a boatbuilder, so naturally I came up with a boatbuilder's solution to be able to use all the open ponds & lakes all over Florida. I drew up plans to build floating insulated thin-wall fiberglass grow-out pools. W/2" Styrofoam underneath, on sides, and means of wintertime plastic sheeting installation above.

Hope that helps.

 

[Elizabeth Cedeno]

Hello, it sounds great, can you share a picture of your insulation idea! Thanks..

David B said:

Hi Melisa,

I wonder if you bought one of the farms I was looking at?

www.tilapiaseed.com of Bradenton, just a few miles north of you, is one of the most prolific tilapia breeders in the country. With a license in hand its a few hundred$s for like 2,000 naturally bred all male fry. They don't sell small quantities, I tried, or to anyone without the state license. I think it came to like 15 or 30 cents each.

Be cautioned however that Punta Gorda is on the edge of needing insulated tanks in the winter for tropical tilapia to survive. An extended cold snap here in Bradenton/Sarasota, the year before last, killed off a friend's Tilapia in their open pond. Their Bass survived. And the tilapia in my insulated tanks survived. 55 degrees water temp is nearing the low point for tilapia survival. And much below 75 they'll barely eat and wont grow much.

I'm a boatbuilder, so naturally I came up with a boatbuilder's solution to be able to use all the open ponds & lakes all over Florida. I drew up plans to build floating insulated thin-wall fiberglass grow-out pools. W/2" Styrofoam underneath, on sides, and means of wintertime plastic sheeting installation above.

Hope that helps.

 

[David B]

Here's a shot of one of my insulated kiddie pool tanks. I posted a similar shot last month in a different forum, while trying to explain another issue my system had solved. Each of my pools also sits on 2" thick Styrofoam insulation. And the floating 2" thick Styrofoam planter "islands" seen floating on top, also go a long way to keep the temps DOWN in the summers, and UP in the winter.

I've designed a simple thin wall fiberglass version for larger scale commercial farm use that I can manufacture out of fiberglass, using simple boat building techniques. Harvest will be much easier too, another HUGE problem with open pond systems. Those darn Tilapia are soooo fast its like they move @ the speed of light! I've given up trying to net my bigger ones without a way to trap 'em first.

 And the floating system I've come up with simply floats like a boat on lake and pond surfaces, using simple buoyancy calculations (recall... i'm a boat builder/designer) on the 2" thick Styrofoam below, in the side walls, and floatation collars around the top edge.  

Haven't had call or request to build these yet... I've only conceptualized and designed them based off 30years boat building experience (I've got a doctorate in composites & boat design), and nearly three years building and successfully running my own backyard organic hydroponics/aquaponics systems.

I'd certainly be happy to work with someone to build a demo unit @ cost, so I'd have a marketable commercial composites product to manufacture for others, when done & demonstrable.

Cheers,

David

PS my systems are in Bradenton, on the Braden River, if anyone was in the area and wanted to come by to check them out.

[David B]

...here's a handful of more recent photos of my systems you probably wouldn't have seen unless you also subscribe to the Caribbean Islands group. Photos include my organic compost 'tea' generator (haven't purchased chemicals for all this growth in more than two years! And shots of my pure organic hydroponic vegetable pools (not tied into the aquaponics/fish waste systems... fed only by the 'compost tea')
 
David B said:

Here's a shot of one of my insulated kiddie pool tanks. I posted a similar shot last month in a different forum, while trying to explain another issue my system had solved. Each of my pools also sits on 2" thick Styrofoam insulation. And the floating 2" thick Styrofoam planter "islands" seen floating on top, also go a long way to keep the temps DOWN in the summers, and UP in the winter.

I've designed a simple thin wall fiberglass version for larger scale commercial farm use that I can manufacture out of fiberglass, using simple boat building techniques. Harvest will be much easier too, another HUGE problem with open pond systems. Those darn Tilapia are soooo fast its like they move @ the speed of light! I've given up trying to net my bigger ones without a way to trap 'em first.

 And the floating system I've come up with simply floats like a boat on lake and pond surfaces, using simple buoyancy calculations (recall... i'm a boat builder/designer) on the 2" thick Styrofoam below, in the side walls, and floatation collars around the top edge.  

Haven't had call or request to build these yet... I've only conceptualized and designed them based off 30years boat building experience (I've got a doctorate in composites & boat design), and nearly three years building and successfully running my own backyard organic hydroponics/aquaponics systems.

I'd certainly be happy to work with someone to build a demo unit @ cost, so I'd have a marketable commercial composites product to manufacture for others, when done & demonstrable.

Cheers,

David

PS my systems are in Bradenton, on the Braden River, if anyone was in the area and wanted to come by to check them out.

[Melissa O'Callaghan-Weber]

I am interested in seeing your set up.

[Steve Bradbury]

Just checking myself on wellness of the Florida group.....maybe we should do a check in and see who's still here?

Have a great day

Steve

[Jim Kamen]

I got a look at David's farm over in Bradenton. Impressive and he has a wealth of knowledge too.

My question today is what freshly hatched Tilapia fry look like.  I found some long lines of eggs and put them in a separate tank, and today I find some kind of fry in my main pond.  I don't think I have had any frogs in the pond but am trying to figure out just what I have.

They are very small and sort of have a black dot.  And the eggs I separated are now hatching too.

Any help is appreciated.

Jim