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Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 21, 2012 at 3:17pm

cool

how about escaping out of the tank.

I have 5 crays in my 300 gal tank with about 25 adult male tilapias. I have 1.5 and 2" PVC for my crays to hide in. I have not seen them since I put them in there, about 2 mos ago.

I can see the 2 crays in my 140 gal aquarium.. I hope the crays will not bother the tilapia mother if she ever lays eggs. What do you think?

Comment by Jon Parr on February 21, 2012 at 1:50pm

Dave, Stickfin ships to Cali, so I'd assume they most anywhere. I got 18 small breeders, and two became "berried" within a week of receiving them.
I personally think it is least disruptive to net the mother and bring her to isolation, using two nets, one in each hand, and move very slowly, the slower the better. Once out if the water, move her very quickly to prepared tank, and leave her alone, don't even look at here, just close the door and go grab a cocktail. Most if the time, especially if you're at day 7, she won't spit a single egg. After a mother has made this trip a few times, she never spits eggs (in my experience).

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 21, 2012 at 1:26pm

If my red crays do not multiply, I will go to red claw and if the people in Florida will ship to me.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 21, 2012 at 1:18pm

aaron,

Sometimes, we need to do the second best way.

Cool 

and kudos on the eggs

Comment by Jon Parr on February 21, 2012 at 1:03pm

About shrimp, sure it's possible, have at it. Malaysian prawns are often grown under rafts. I raise redclaws in the same tanks as tilapia with no trouble, just give them some shelter.

Comment by Jon Parr on February 21, 2012 at 12:59pm

Your welcome, Dave, likewise.
Aaron, eggs hatch about a week after being layed, and fry are not allowed back into mama's mouth for about another week or two, if she is isolated in her own tank. If she's by herself, fry are allowed out more often and grow quicker, shortening that window.
Bob, adult tilapia will eat anything that's easy, including fry. If they are well fed, and there are plenty if hides, then many of the fry will survive if kept with the adults. Also, fry tend to collect near the surface once free of the brooding mother, and can be skimmed with a net without handling mothers at all. You can also make a floating basket from a PVC frame and say 1/2" plastic mesh and fake plants or hula skirts draped below it. The young fry will seek shelter at the surface above the fake grass, and you can skim the fry periodically with a net.

I transport mine with a kitchen waste bag lining a 5 gallon bucket, filled half full of water, and the the bag drawstring cinched to avoid spillage. If more than an hour, add an airstone and air pump, easily powered with a 12 v inverter. I have kept hundreds of fry and adults alive this way for up to a week while traveling.

Comment by Tom Hickey on February 21, 2012 at 12:56pm

 

This may not sound like a good option for you, but I put the female with eggs in a 10 gallon tank. Only because I didn't know any better. However after she did not keep the babies in her mouth any longer (about 2 weeks) I moved her to the main tank. Fry are doing very well, growing every day. I have an 80 gallon tank with 6 tilapia 6-8" and a 60 gallon tank with 10 3-6". Both have grow beds above them. Hope to keep a nice cycle going and fill my freezer with fresh fish. The 10 gallon tank is working for now but think I may go to a 20 gallon.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 21, 2012 at 12:53pm

I'd amend Jon's comment about the love connection. It's more of a temporary lust connection! LOL!

Aaron, she'll hold the eggs for a couple weeks before releasing them. Then she'll play mamma for a few days, gathering and releasing the fry to protect them. Soon enough they'll become independent, but she'll continue to protect them for close to a week. After that, she tolerates them and, I suspect, will snack on them occasionally. I recommend separating her from the fry a week after she starts releasing them; about when her protective behaviors settle down.

Bob, 12" is deep enough for just about any garden food. We have had great success with peppers, salad, spinach, strawberries, bok choy.... Choose what you like to eat & go for it!

Regarding moving fish, we've moved them in both directions and it's been equally awkward. It's definitely less stress on the female (and on us) to move the other fish, but you have to have a tank large enough to handle them, so it depends on how many you have and where they are in the first place.

The risk in moving the female is that quite often she'll spit out the eggs when being moved, so you have to have a container to move her in just in case she does. So far we've been fortunate that our mothers have picked most of their eggs up again after calming down, but there's a bit of attrition, and if she's stressed enough, she'll abandon the eggs.

That said, we have "nursery" tanks we put our brooding females in that give them peace and privacy. When we pull the mothers out, the tank becomes the fry tank, aka, "elementary school."  When they're about 1", we move them outdoors to the "middle school" until they're fingerlings. The ones we keep go into the "high school" (fingerling tank) until they're large enough to join the more aggressive adult world.

We're still trying to figure out the best way to handle it; I think we'll be making some kind of net container that we can use to move the mothers out of our breeding tank with as little stress as possible, that will capture lost eggs, and that is easy to access for the mother so she can collect dropped eggs.

Comment by Bob Vento on February 21, 2012 at 12:19pm

From what I am reading ... I am assuming that the adults in the tank will eat the young fry. So you are suggesting moving the adults away from the female with eggs. Is there a way to provide an area within the same tank for this so as not to move any fish out of the tank? Just asking?

Also to answer back to some comments and suggestions... I am in Miami so winterizing I don't think is an issue. I also found a place within an hours drive where I can get adults and fingerling. What is the best way to transport them?

Comment by aaron gallagher on February 21, 2012 at 11:56am

I agree, unfortunately she had eggs in my 300 gal tank with 20 other adult tilapia. I only had one other 50 gal tank hooked up to the system. I couldn't put 19 half pounders in there, (not without hooking up the stereo!).

Any idea how long she will hold onto the little ones?

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