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Tilapia Growers

Aquaponists who are growing their plants with tilapia

Members: 276
Latest Activity: Dec 19, 2021

Lists of Places to Buy Tilapia

Mail Order in the U.S.

The Aquaponic Source - http://theaquaponicsource.com/tilapia.php

 

Colorado

The Aquaponic Source - http://theaquaponicsource.com/tilapia.php - pickup available in Boulder, CO

 

California
http://www.bluebeyondfisheries.com/
http://www.imperialcatfish.com/
http://www.fbifarms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...
This last one is also interesting in the fact that they raise Jatropa plants which are somewhat aquaponically raised. These plants make a high grade of bio diesel. In fact they claim to get 830+ gallons of biofuel per acre of land.

This last link will send you Tilapia as long as you can prove your State will allow them.
http://jimsfish.webs.com/bluetilapia.htm

It is a list of approved Fish suppliers in California by County
http://www.nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=3265
Jeff Givan
__________________________________________

I purchased my tillapia fingerlings from edgar sanchez at unlocksmith @tilapiafarmingathome.com
he sells breders and mixed sex fingerlings, nice guy his website is tilapia farming at home. He also offers a 75% discont on breeders if you are the first person to find out the rules for bring his type of tilapia into your state
I also purchased Blue Tilapia fingerlings from Rex his email is rrains@hotmail .com anouther nice guy usually has a ad on ebay.
In either case they were shipped via mail over several states I only lost one baby
I have breeders in the basment hopefully I will be having some for slae in the next couple of months pure strian blue and alsoT. hornorum X mossambica cross. This cross acording to what I have read shoud produce 98% male. This would be a a on a small scale.
Before you get any fish make sure you can have them where you live.
The U.S may be the home of the free but no when it comes to keeping tilapia.
Earl
___________________________________
Florida,
Many people catch blue tilapia in ponds and canals as far as a free source. If you would like to buy them, only place I know of without an aquaculture permit here is Morning Star Fishermen.

They can sell Blue Tilapia but they don't ship so you have to go visit, bring an ice chest or other tank and a bubbler for the drive. They were very nice and showed me how to check gender of the fish (once they are big enough.) I have never been to one of their classes or workshops though.
TCLynx

Discussion Forum

Can I eat My Tilapia

Started by Jeff S. Last reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. Mar 16, 2016. 3 Replies

I had a power outage and lost 47 lbs of Tilapia to lack of oxygen. Are they still edible? If so how do I store them while waiting to fillet them? Seems like all the big ones died.Continue

PURE STRAIN TILAPIA IN NORTHWEST WASHINGTON

Started by Phil Slaton. Last reply by Bruce Fulton Jan 27, 2015. 3 Replies

Huck’s Fishing Hole is a Tilapia fish breeder and hatchery. We are one of the very few Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife licensed/registered Aqua Farms authorized to breed, hatch,…Continue

Tilapia dying after PH spike

Started by David Langham. Last reply by David Langham Jan 12, 2015. 5 Replies

I am also a Aquaponics newbie.  I read Sylvia's book and dove in last October.  Everything was great until a couple weeks ago when I expanded my system.  I added a 3'x5' DWT to my system which is a…Continue

Tilapia dying in my tank!!

Started by Nate. Last reply by Phil Slaton Nov 22, 2014. 6 Replies

Hi, I'll give the whole rundown, and I'd love it if anyone can help me figure out what the problem with my system is..I am very new to aquaponics and I've set up a new system after reading through…Continue

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Comment by Earl Phillips on June 26, 2013 at 11:37am

I am fortunate to be able to get my Tilapia from one of the local high school shop and Hydroponic green house projects that they have going on year around at the school. Really handy and I have encouraged him to try it at school on an experimental basis and compare the two systems. 

 

Comment by Doug Franklin on May 30, 2013 at 7:23am

I have about 150 tilapia, ranging from just a little over 1" to 4". I'd heard tilapia like eating lettuce and I have several kinds, so I've started dropping 4 leaves twice a day in the tank. They're eating every bit of it, and I just gather the floating stalks when they're done. I have noticed they're not eating quite as much fish food since I started doing this. I've been feeding them fish food twice a day, making sure I feed no more than they can clean up within about 2 or 3 minutes. Does feeding them lettuce like this help them grow or am I just wasting my time doing it?

Comment by John Malone on May 23, 2013 at 2:25pm

Aggressive Tilapia and Breeding

I have several, maybe 4 or 5, very large, say 12"+, tilapia that are quite aggressive and territorial. They regularly take up residence in corners of the tank and obsessively chase away anyone that comes within 'their' zone. Most of the time the unwary intruder merely swims away to a different location and no harm is done. It's a big 500 gallon tank, after all, with about 35 fish. Every now and again two of the aggressive individuals find themselves having a tussle over the same territory. They put on quite a show until one finally gives up and moves on. As far as I can tell there's no damage done to either of the combatants.

These same fish are also very different in appearance to the rest of the fish.  Most of my fish are a dull slate gray in colour.  These big brutes are all creamy white, with very pronounced spots on their dorsal fins and a red flush to their tail fins.  They are quite spectacular, as far as tilapia go.

Now, why aren't I just culling these monsters for supper?   I am hoping for some breeding action in the tank, and look to these big mature individuals to be my most likely participants.  As soon as I have viable fry there's going to be a serious cookout at John's.  The thing is, I don't know if these fish are going to breed or not, or if the conditions are suitable, or if keeping the big aggressive fish is a good or bad idea or...

So, to all you tilapia breeders out there, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Comment by Matt Miskinnis on May 20, 2013 at 7:22pm

Ditto, big fan of fishless cycling, I cycled for over 3 months before putting fish in the system (my fish were two small to put in).  My system was cycled in a month and a half, and waiting for the fish to grow to a decent size to put in the tank, though aggravating, probably helped more that I know, as when I did add the fish, the system was a chugging machine, and would work like clockwork - add ammonia in the morning and by the next day boom all readings back to zero.  I have had 3 fish losses, which I consider not to bad, not to mention I have more tomatoes now than I can eat .

Comment by Jon Parr on May 20, 2013 at 2:12pm

I'm a big fan of the fishless cycling as well, though in truth I've never tried it. I started with fish, not knowing any better, and now simply seed new systems from my old, with no cycling time whatsoever. My advice is to make local AP friends, bring some empty buckets of fresh media, some cold beer, and a free afternoon, and help your fellow aquapon clean his system while trading some of your new media for his seasoned media. Bigger, better, faster, more...

Comment by John Malone on May 20, 2013 at 2:01pm

AP System Cycling

I'm a big fan of fishless cycling, mostly because it takes all the pressure off.   You don't have the continual worry of whether the fish are going to make it or not.

I did a fishless cycle of a 500 gallon fish tank system and it took 25 days, which seemed like an eternity at the time, but is actually pretty quick.  

I had no idea what I was doing at the time and badly over-dosed with ammonia, but with no fish in the system all I had to do was sit back and wait, and do water tests, and wait, and do more tests, and wait, and...   you get the idea.    It was day 22 before I added any more ammonia!

I had planted a few vegetables and they showed signs of severe nutrient deficiency.  The problem was that the pH was way too high so I dosed the water heavily with HCl acid (muriatic / pool acid) to bring it down to where it should be.   This is something that you can't do if there are fish in the system.  Since I had no idea, again, about pH modification, not having fish in the system made my experiments a lot easier.

It's much better to have all the water parameters where you want them before you add the fish, since messing around with the water is fraught with danger to the fish.

Comment by Bob Campbell on May 20, 2013 at 1:25pm

Cheap feeder fish feel bad too when they suffocate slowly in a system that can't process the nitrogen.  I'm clearly an advocate of cycling with ammonia or urine.  In fact I'm an advocate of fishless biopoincs, but this group is about tilapia. 

It's painful to hear the redundant moaning about fish dieing and pictures of water tests with high nitrites and newbies begging to know how long it takes for nitrification to become established.  When you are warned and go ahead anyway; well I'm just saying... 

Eight weeks is my average.  So think about the work required to do water changes for eight weeks, and how easy it would be instead to control the nitrogen with a splash of ammonia every few days while going ahead with plants that will thrive in the nitrogen rich water.

If your system is large enough and not crowded and the water is cool, you can probably get away with establishing nitrification slowly as the fish grow, but why?

Comment by john graham on May 20, 2013 at 6:06am

I have 15 years in recirc systems, I have been following the discussions.  I gather cycle means to run your system for a period of time.  I also gather that you intend for the root systems to perform the bio-filtration for the fish waste and execute the Nitrogen cycle.  If not, then you have a stand alone bio-filter in your system.  Either way, depending if you use plant medium or not there is conservatively a 3 month time lag to grow the bacteria to execute the full nitrogen cycle - from ammonia to nitrate production.  Therefore, fish should be the last element added to a new system.  You will need to feed the plants manually and feed the bacteria to grow and produce the numbers necessary to process the fish waste once fish are added.  All too often fish are added too soon and they die quickly for the Nitrogen cycle has not been established.  Cheap feeder gold fish are a good fish to use to start your bio filter process.  Hope this helps.

Comment by Larry Glaser on May 19, 2013 at 9:41pm

I ordered 25 1" tilapia before my system has cycled but added them into my house aquarium till the outside system has cycled plus here in middle Tennessee it is unusually cool both days and nights...... This is the darndest global warming, cool  and wet. I am hoping that I have at least 6 weeks before I have a tank crowding issue. This is the time I have planned for cycling  

Comment by Bob Campbell on May 19, 2013 at 3:23pm

@sherrie cockram  - How long has your system been cycled?  Please don't order fish before cycling. 

 

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