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Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 4, 2011 at 12:10pm

Sheri,

When you talk I listen. I thought the pth needed to be higher for tilapia. I keep my temp in the 83 degree range. I will bring my ph down with citric acid, that is what they use at UofA to control ph in with their tilapia.

I thought the girl in my bedroom had a mouth full of something (eggs or frys). I took pictures for documentation, but later she was back to playing with her tank-mate.

I am going to hunt for the Dave Hart article, now.

 

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 4, 2011 at 8:48am

Just sharing some things to consider...

Our first breeding gave us about 30 fry. Successive breedings have given hundreds of fry. As the fish get larger, you'll get more & more. In addition to having a system for breeding and caring for the fish, you also need to consider what you're going to do with thousands of little fish that you won't be eating. We've sold a bunch, we're keeping some, and we'll be feeding our chickens the excess.

At first we were going to add 15/month to our stock so we'd have a constant supply of large fish that matched our consumption, but then we realized that the sizes vary tremendously in one brood. The dominant fish gets more food & grows faster. So now we have one tank with 45 large fish in it, and another with 55 little fish. When we finish harvesting the 45, the 55 should be ready for harvest. Then we'll reverse the process. This affects nitrate management, but we bring in nitrates from other sources, and it should work well around the fish growth.

Ultimately, if you're breeding for your own use, I don't think it matters if they're male or female. What matters is the dominance of the fish. A dominant female will grow larger & faster than a passive male. I've heard males get bigger than females but we eat them before they get to maximum size anyway. Just wondering what you gents think about it? It would be kind of interesting to test out the article Dave Hart posted, but it's pretty particular & temperatures would be hard to control to that precision.

A final thought that needs to be stressed for the newbies, PH and temperature are essential to happy breeding. Tilapia, at least the Nile, are very tolerant on both of these, but for breeding they're picky. They like low PH and high temps. We aim to keep our PH around 6.5 and our temps between 80 & 85.  The higher temperatures add to the romantic environment and the eggs incubate faster. 

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 3, 2011 at 10:18am

Sheri, everytime you add comment, I am learning.

thank you to everyone.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 3, 2011 at 10:17am

SW, I have a pair in my bedroom to watch at night while I rest and watch TV.

I seperated him because he was the runt and others picked on him too much. She seemed close to his colors, so I paired them.. enjoyed the games ever since.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on December 3, 2011 at 7:44am

Its always fun to see the process! Congratulations on your new children! :) How big are your females, Jay?

4 times/day? We feed twice, but that's because of our schedule & for our sanity level. My life is already controlled enough by tomatoes, turkeys, and tanks! I've considered a third feeding and they'd probably grow a little faster, but we're not really in a hurry.

The fastest growing fry we had were ones that we weren't able to catch to move to the fry tank. They stayed with Mamma and nibbled off the pellets she didn't eat. When they were done nibbling, she'd eat the rest. Funny, huh?

You'll find once you have a good environment, tilapia won't stop breeding. We separate Papa out to give the females a rest and to prevent having too much fry.

Comment by SW on December 3, 2011 at 6:28am

Yes!  How exciting!  BTW - only a person with the "fish breeding gene" gets excited over pregnant fish :-)

Comment by SW on December 3, 2011 at 5:18am

Dave, eggs need to tumble.  That is what the mom does for the 8 days or so that she is holding them.  Fry will be sustained from their egg yolk sac the first few days.  As-far-as eating through their gills, that is true in a green water system.  The nutrients are collected on their gills into a small ball which they take in. Feeding fry & fingerlings 4x a day is fine if they are hungry.  What you don't want is un-eaten food collecting in your system or you'll get an ammonia spike.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 3, 2011 at 4:54am

SW thank you

I over feed. from my readings, tilapia can eat thru their gills. so I suspect, my frys coming out of the egg will have good food. I have 4 tanks now and all are fed atleast 4 times a day. think that is good enough?

Comment by SW on December 3, 2011 at 4:26am

@Jay - by the color description (To me the eggs look maroonish brown) sounds like they are moving along toward that black color :-)  Did she pick back up the eggs she spit?
@Dave Story - Thank you!  You'll do just fine since you have an interest in breeding and respect for your fish. It certainly isn't rocket science and there really isn't a whole lot that we as humans have to do with it  Put them in an environment where they are comfortable and the will take care of the rest. What you can directly influence is survivability and fry growth.  I read a study that proved feeding the fry rotifiers the first 3 days (after egg yolk absorption) greatly increases their growth rates well beyond the fry stage.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on December 2, 2011 at 4:29am

Dave

thank you for the tank information. from the reading here, I need more thanks for my girls.

A while back (not on here), I read, "Take care of the fish and they will take care of everything else." As a tree hugger, I respect my fish and try to do what is best for them.. maybe I go over board.

Breeding is interesting to watch and read about.

 

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