Pond size

[Hydroponics Curacao]

I bought this pond today for my tilapias. 

The size is: 1.65M long, 1.30M wide and 50cm high. It can hold up to 350 Liters (about 90 gallons). Is this ok to grow about 20 tilapias in?

[Bob Campbell]

If you can still return it I would go to a feed store or Home Depot and look at ag tanks.

Here's something I wrote not too long ago.

[TCLynx]

It is on the small side for that many tilapia and you need to base your fish stocking on the amount of filtration rather than just the amount of fish tank.  I would probably only start with 12 fish in there and only if there is at least 300 liters of filtration.

[Hydroponics Curacao]

:-w

[Eric Warwick]

You could push it to 20 tilapia if you wanted. However, you'd need some good filtration. How about a large media bed with tomatoes and a raft bed with greens.

[Hydroponics Curacao]

I've put them in there. Just risking it :P 

That's what I thought! In the media bed I planted peppers and tomatoes and it then flows over to a raft bed with Basil, celery and maybe pak choi. 

[Eric Warwick]

That should be plenty of filtration, I think. TCLynx, want to chime in here?

[TCLynx]

I have no way of knowing if there is plenty of filtration since no mention of the size of the media bed is given or the raft bed for that matter.  I don't even know how many of the above mentioned plants there are but I don't like to count on plant roots for the filtration since if you were to harvest a lot of your plants at once your system could then have horrible ammonia spikes.  I like there to be enough media bed filtration to at least support bio-filter for the amount of fish.  For 20 fish you intend to grow out to plate size, I would want about 20 cubic feet of media for a really new system and inexperienced fish keeper.

So what I am saying is I think 20 cubic feet of media bed would constitute "plenty of filtration" for 20 fish.

Now the raft bed portion of the system can provide some bio-filtration but I would say it's more like 1 fish per 3 square feet of raft bed.

So if you had say a 3' by 3' media bed and a 3' by 3' raft bed (both 12 inches deep) then I would say start with 12 fish.

Now if you have slightly more tilapia than your filtration is really equipped for, you might still manage but you will need to keep a closer eye on your water quality and aeration and adjust your feeding based on what your water tests say.  Especially as the fish grow, you will need to keep up with the water tests and definitely make sure you have extra aeration for that small "pond".

[Hydroponics Curacao]

OK. 

The growbeds are in a U-shape. The 2 sides of the U are 1M long x 25CM wide x 10CM deep. The horizontal side of the U is 1M long x 50CM wide by 10CM deep. 

Those are the measurements for both media based and raft system. 

So in total, the cubic feet for the grow beds are: 7.1

And I have 2 of those media beds and 2 raft. So it becomes 14.2 for them all

[Hydroponics Curacao]

I forgot to say, in each media based grow bed, there is 6 tomatoes, 12 hot peppers and 12 green peppers. And in the raft, 12 celery and a few basils

[TCLynx]

Just keep a close eye on your water quality tests and adjust your feeding accordingly.  Luckily tilapia are tough and usually muddle through fairly well even in questionable water conditions.  Just make sure you have enough aeration for the fish pond as the fish get bigger.

[Eric Warwick]

I would increase tomatoes by 2 and remain constant with your other plants. I would add some type of trellising fruit, or pod, like a cucumber or bean. That's my opinion anyway, not really much experience with those other than bean and cucumber.

[Hydroponics Curacao]

OK. I'll test the water everyday. 

Once the system is running, there will be 2 oxygen sources; 1. where the water falls back into the pond and 2. the oxygen pump of course. 

TCLynx said:

Just keep a close eye on your water quality tests and adjust your feeding accordingly.  Luckily tilapia are tough and usually muddle through fairly well even in questionable water conditions.  Just make sure you have enough aeration for the fish pond as the fish get bigger.