A place to exchange information on breeding tilapia. How to set up tilapia breeding colonies. How to sex fish for breeding colonies. What foods are best for breeding pairs and fingerlings.
Hi Randall - If you mean certified as in do we have a disease free certificate, then yes. Our hatchery stock is inspected according to OIE/AFS standards by a fully credentialed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Ours happens to be the regional USDA-APHIS fisheries Veterinarian for our area). We provide some insight as to why this process is so important to tilapia growers (including small scale backyard growers) in the right hand margin here: http://tilapiasource.com/about
Ask just about any other so-called "tilapia hatchery" if they have a disease free certification, and your answers will vary from "what's that" to an emphatic "nope". Basement tilapia vendors (which there are a ton of these days) rarely even know that these inspections exist, and the few that do aren't willing to spend the large amount of money and time involved with having them done... particularly every year. A legit and reputable tilapia hatchery who is concerned with the quality of their stock, compliance with state and federal laws and overall disease prevention will know exactly what you are talking about, and provide you a copy of theirs without hesitation... and probably with a bit of pride. We provide ours on our website for the world to see.
Dave - Thanks again for your vote of support. It means a lot, and is very appreciated. :)
Just wondering if anyone has looked into using Indian almond leaf in their tanks. As I haven't found any thing about using them with Tilapia but from what I have read they could be very use to us in the tropics where they are found.
I don't think the Indian and "normal" almond are that closely related, yes both are nuts but that is about it. Could be wrong and may be worth looking into.
I will also add that I'm looking into guyaba (guava) leaves to wash and seal cement tanks.(it may be a local wives tail but it has good oils and is an natural antibacterial).??
At 8 inches should it be fairly easy to determine the sex of blue tilapia? Today I separated and placed 3 fish in an aquarium - I thought they were females; however, in just a few hours after I placed them in the aquarium with tubes and plants for breeding habitat they have turned a pretty bright blue green hue with almost a purple pinkish tint on their tales and fins.
Hey there. I may have 5 female tilapias with eggs in their mouths. They are in a tank with 2 males and some pvc pipe for hiding. What's the best way to get them out? Should I make an egg tumbler for the eggs? If so, how do yoi make a simple egg tumbler?
Hey Hydroponics Curacao that is a good problem 5 at one time with eggs. I had trouble getting the females out without them spitting out the eggs. I found a bucket that would fit into the aquarium they are in, and when she goes in the bucket I ease it out with her in it and ease it down into one for hatching. Then after 7 days I flush them from her and remove her and let them go on their own without having to mess with a tumbler. But I think I remember info somewhere on here about a tumbler.
How long does it take for tilapia to hatch? I watched my tilapia breed almost 6 days ago. Two days ago I transferred two females with eggs in their mouth to another tank because the male kept harassing them. I transferred them when they both got in a plastic coffee can that was supposed to be a nest for the male and it floated to the top with them in it. The move should not have been stressful to the females because I just picked up the coffee can and set it into my other tank and they swam out. I did not see them spit out any eggs.
Also the temp was around 74 because my small heater quit working- I do not know if that will effect the time it takes to hatch or not, but I bought a heater today and put it in the tank. I thought I should see fry swimming by today, but I do not see anything...
None of them had babies. I found the male dead, so I got them all out of there. I don't know what went wrong this time. First time all the females had eggs...
A great pic (used with permission) from Jay Burgher his his take (and a good one I might add) on the tilapia egg incubator/tumbler detailed in the paper below. If you have also given it a try, please send pictures ;-)
I just returned from a 4 day trip and found one of my females that was bred dead. One of my females had fry and for some reason she killed the other one I am speculating the other female swallowed her eggs and when the fry hatched she started eating them and the momma female tried to protect them- in the process she killed the other female. Anyway I only have 30 fry or so if I counted right. I guess this is part of the learning process. :-/
I have a question. After my first tilapia bred I obtained some more mature tilapia to breed, because I thought the male I had was too aggressive- he slammed the females against the tank and I removed both of them because of his aggression after they bred. One of my females was killed by another female and then I only had one female left so I obtained three females and another male tilapia that is more docile. My other male is in a pond with other male tilapia. I was told that it is better to raise the tilapia together and they are less likely to kill each other What can I do to make fish want to breed. At first the ammonia was a little high while the biofilter was catching up because the fish were anywhere from two inches two four inches longer than my first breeders plus I had put two extra fish in there, so I was doing water changes and disturbing them at first so I understand that might have stressed them. Now my ammonia is 0, Ph is over 8 because of the water changes, and nitrites 0, nitrates 10. I think the females are interested -they swim next to him a lot, but he will not dig a pit... p.s. water temp is 82. thanks
Shelia - When tilapia are crowded they tend to become more docile. For a while I had 50 11" tilapia in a 100 gallon tank. They continued to produce a lot of fry which I salvaged from the radial filter. There were so many fry that I had to give them away or place them back in the tank as feeder fish. I think many people go far too much trouble to breed tilapia. The trick is to let them get sucked out of the main tank.
Thanks Bob, but I only have 3 tilapia in the breeder tank now and they are 9-11" and they still are not producing my plan was to have several extra fingerlings and dehydrate them and use some of them for chicken feed, but my fish are not cooperating also I have a friend that wants some tilapia by Feb or March.
yeah I picked out three fish that appeared to me to be two females and one male. I placed them alone to breed. The male almost killed one of the females, so after a couple months I took her out.
From then on it was pretty peaceful but 8 months later there were still no fry. All along the male kept cleaning a breeding spot, but there were no fry. While I was waiting for these fish to mate I scooped up several hundred more from the over crowded community tank
My point is you don't have to try to breed tilapia. Just save the fry you want to keep from being eaten. I had so many fry that I would just leave them to be eaten, but some still survived. Now I have catfish in the tank to control the population because I no longer wish to raise tilapia. The catfish don't let anything get by them.
None of my fish bred until I separated them and put them in a separate tank. I am beginning to think it is the male's fault because he has not cleaned out a spot yet and the other male that was too aggressive cleaned out a nest with in two days and had bred both females with-in two or three days after that.... I only have about 30 fry because I was gone when they hatched I assume the other female must have swallowed her eggs and then started eating fry and the momma tilapia killed her in the process. If anything bad is going to happen it always happens if I take a trip for a day or two. :-P
Whole heartedly, I agree with Bob. How many fish will you eat in a year. Now if you want a bunch of fish, order them from a professional breeder. I only use Kellen Weissenbach on here.
I am not sure why someone would want to purchase from a breeder if they want a lot of Tilapia instead of a few it looks like the reverse would be true order from a breeder if you want just a few, but if you want a lot, cost wise it would work better to grow them yourself. I definitely would not want to purchase fingerlings and bake them just to make chicken feed....
Anyway I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to encourage this male to dig a pit. He is much more docile which I like and several inches bigger but he does not show interest in breeding... If he does not show interest soon I will just get the more aggressive male, because he at least knows what to do- if I can find him - he is with the other Tilapia or put a different male in the tank.-
I respect your thinking. An important cost of buying fish, one or 100, is in the shipping. I am moving 600 miles away from my urban aquaponic learning center In February 2014. You can bet that I will purchase all new fish from Kellen and Sarah, for my all new off-the-grid Aquaponic Learning Center.
@Shelia - Do you have a radial or spin filter off of the fish tank? I can't help but find a lot of fry in mine. This is what I would suggest. Or you could make a shallow area about 1" deep for the fry to go. You will still have to save them to a separate tank.
I just tried to find the name of the mountains. I will pick-up a Geodesic Survey (topo map) tomorrow. I should know the name. I have topos of the area, but they are in my RV behind me.
I do not have a radio flow filter. I have an in ground koi pond 300 gallon for my sump that pumps into my fish tank and then directly into my grow beds so they would be pumped into the gravel if any had been hatched.
I did not put any PVC or hiding places in my tanks past summer. Also I keep the water between 68-74 with the help of solar heat and wood heat and a heat exchanger. It would be very difficult to keep the water in the upper 70's and 80's through the winter and I do not want to burn that much wood... So I have a large aquarium in my house for the breeders. The first time I placed the first batch in the tank they bred with in a week...
$14.00 a lb for 1-4 inch fingerlings is very reasonable. I bought some of mine for almost $2.00 a piece and it is cost prohibitive for what I plan to do which is raise them for food for us and cook or dehydrate them for chicken feed.
I have 15 tilapias and just separated 3 to a new aquarium with the purpose of reproduction.
I placed here what i thought could be a male and 2 females, however, I have been analyzing their behavior and i am a bit confused, so i took few videos in order to place the question in few groups.
If anybody can help me i will appreciate.
Details of system:
Measurements:
Width: 1 foot
Height: 16 inches
Length: 30 inches
Volume: 94 Liters = 25 US gallons
Temp: 27 Celsius = 80 Fahrenheit
You will see 3 tilapias:
1. Largest one
2. Sort of like singular colour, with fins black/metallic
and Pectoral fins redish.
3. It has more black lines along the body. Smaller of the 3.
#2 seems pretty aggressive and chasing the other two.. They have actually jumped out of the aquarium.
there is mouth fight, especially between #1 and #2,
#3 seems to be chased more than any, though #2 chased #1 even though is bigger.
I am starting to think that 1 and 2 could be males, so i am looking for some insights from all of you.
I was harvesting Tilapia yesterday and found three fish with eggs in the mouths. The eggs were light grey in color. I am assuming that since the eggs were in the mouth they were fertilized. I rinsed the eggs from the mouth and put them in a incubator I made from a jar, five gallon bucket and air pump. My questions are am I correct in assuming the eggs were fertilized? And how long should it take for the eggs to hatch? Any pointers from experienced breeds would be greatly appreciated.
When my blue tilapia were getting to the breeding stage, I searched the internet for determining male and female. I found a lot of the same pictures with conflicting descriptions of which was which. But using the look and compare method, I set aside 3 fish in a 40 gallon tank. Both apparent males began creating nesting sites. One, though, was more 'assertive' than the other, and won the female. The second male was bullied until I took him out. The remaining pair did indeed mate and I have a plethora of babies right now...from 2 'birthings'. Looking closely at the male and female, it became obvious there is a difference in the dorsal fin. The male dorsal tapered to a point well over the tail fin. The female dorsal was considerably rounded. I've drawn a sketch to show this:
I'm in Tucson, AZ. My first group of Tilapia were Whites. After doing some reading, I decided to go with Blues. They tolerate a lower water temp and seem to grow, males especially, at a faster rate - pretty good harvest size in a year or just under.
My Black Moz has had a bulging chin, & won't eat. Been that way for about 6 days now. We seperate her from the rest and are waiting. Last 2 females that were in this condition spit out their eggs when we tried to catch them.
How long till they hatch.? Water temp is at 83.3F PH is about 7.2
Craig, I've only done some reading on them. Apparently they were bred for their coloration; they are a hybrid that do okay in water temps 55-98 and have a slightly higher growth rate. Blues are still claimed to be the most cold tolerant. My blues are in a 750g tank outside; the temps have briefly gotten down to 45 and have made it through ok...their appetite is almost non-existent though. Here's a couple of links that may be helpful:
Craig, I found a PDF on the UofA website written by the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University, Alabama: Selecting_Tilapia.pdf
Hi guys, I'm new to breeding tilapia. I can't even really sex them. Guys are between 6 and 9 inches long. I can't tell if it's a mating dance or a territory thing. The giant pale one has a flower pot on the other end of the 40 gal aquarium he has claimed. He comes out to terrorize the other 2 fishies. Please ignore the sound in this video. Does this seem like breeding behavior? I would film closer but they are extremely camera shy. Like just turning my head freaks them out.
Crazy fishies: http://youtu.be/oJHjTkrgmBM
Thanks Phil. They are Blue Tilapia, and I've done that.. Annnnddd they all look the same to me there (20/15 vision and I can't tell a boy from a girl). Even used some blue food coloring and they still all look the same to me. So I've been trying to sort them by behavior which Is what I've heard to be more reliable.
I have a question.
I bought 4 breeders (which haven't come yet) 2 female and 2 male. Would it be wiser to have 2 femals and 1 male and keep the second separated. Or would it be alright to put one male and one female together?
Actually, you need more females. With a one male, one female arrangement, the male will wear her out and kill her. Two females and one male is better. But four or five females and one males is best. Never put more than one male in a tank with females. The males will fight and one or both will die.
I am surprised that the breeder did not share this information with you during the sales process.
Sean I watched the video and it appears to be pre mating activity. the male has claimed a location and is chasing off others to protect it. the two fish are probably both males battling each other.
you will see the male chase off other fish except the female he is choosing to mate and he will swim to her and nudge her then swim back to his cave or area in hopes she will follow to lay her eggs.
Dave & Yvonne Story
now you see why I like Kellen and Sara
Never met them
Never talked to them
Did email a lot
Aug 7, 2013
Kellen Weissenbach
Hi Randall - If you mean certified as in do we have a disease free certificate, then yes. Our hatchery stock is inspected according to OIE/AFS standards by a fully credentialed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Ours happens to be the regional USDA-APHIS fisheries Veterinarian for our area). We provide some insight as to why this process is so important to tilapia growers (including small scale backyard growers) in the right hand margin here: http://tilapiasource.com/about
Ask just about any other so-called "tilapia hatchery" if they have a disease free certification, and your answers will vary from "what's that" to an emphatic "nope". Basement tilapia vendors (which there are a ton of these days) rarely even know that these inspections exist, and the few that do aren't willing to spend the large amount of money and time involved with having them done... particularly every year. A legit and reputable tilapia hatchery who is concerned with the quality of their stock, compliance with state and federal laws and overall disease prevention will know exactly what you are talking about, and provide you a copy of theirs without hesitation... and probably with a bit of pride. We provide ours on our website for the world to see.
Dave - Thanks again for your vote of support. It means a lot, and is very appreciated. :)
Aug 8, 2013
Stuart Polkinghorne
Just wondering if anyone has looked into using Indian almond leaf in their tanks. As I haven't found any thing about using them with Tilapia but from what I have read they could be very use to us in the tropics where they are found.
http://www.indianalmondleaves.com/aquariums.php
Oct 6, 2013
Stuart Polkinghorne
I don't think the Indian and "normal" almond are that closely related, yes both are nuts but that is about it. Could be wrong and may be worth looking into.
I will also add that I'm looking into guyaba (guava) leaves to wash and seal cement tanks.(it may be a local wives tail but it has good oils and is an natural antibacterial).??
Oct 6, 2013
Stuart Polkinghorne
Randall I have see this too(smaller fish). I have put some into a small aquarium to see what sex they are when they are big enough..
Oct 6, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
At 8 inches should it be fairly easy to determine the sex of blue tilapia? Today I separated and placed 3 fish in an aquarium - I thought they were females; however, in just a few hours after I placed them in the aquarium with tubes and plants for breeding habitat they have turned a pretty bright blue green hue with almost a purple pinkish tint on their tales and fins.
Dec 3, 2013
Hydroponics Curacao
Dec 8, 2013
Jim Enterline
Hey Hydroponics Curacao that is a good problem 5 at one time with eggs. I had trouble getting the females out without them spitting out the eggs. I found a bucket that would fit into the aquarium they are in, and when she goes in the bucket I ease it out with her in it and ease it down into one for hatching. Then after 7 days I flush them from her and remove her and let them go on their own without having to mess with a tumbler. But I think I remember info somewhere on here about a tumbler.
Dec 11, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
How long does it take for tilapia to hatch? I watched my tilapia breed almost 6 days ago. Two days ago I transferred two females with eggs in their mouth to another tank because the male kept harassing them. I transferred them when they both got in a plastic coffee can that was supposed to be a nest for the male and it floated to the top with them in it. The move should not have been stressful to the females because I just picked up the coffee can and set it into my other tank and they swam out. I did not see them spit out any eggs.
Also the temp was around 74 because my small heater quit working- I do not know if that will effect the time it takes to hatch or not, but I bought a heater today and put it in the tank. I thought I should see fry swimming by today, but I do not see anything...
Dec 13, 2013
Hydroponics Curacao
Dec 14, 2013
Jim Enterline
Wow Hydroponics Curacao sorry, you sure never know what will happen messing with these scenarios.
Selia I think I remember that the cooler the water the longer the hatch time.
Dec 14, 2013
Hydroponics Curacao
Dec 15, 2013
Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr.
A great pic (used with permission) from Jay Burgher his his take (and a good one I might add) on the tilapia egg incubator/tumbler detailed in the paper below. If you have also given it a try, please send pictures ;-)
Here is the link to the paper: http://bit.ly/ZESh8I
P.S. For detailed photos see the discussion above "a way to hatch tilapia eggs"
Dec 16, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
I just returned from a 4 day trip and found one of my females that was bred dead. One of my females had fry and for some reason she killed the other one I am speculating the other female swallowed her eggs and when the fry hatched she started eating them and the momma female tried to protect them- in the process she killed the other female. Anyway I only have 30 fry or so if I counted right. I guess this is part of the learning process. :-/
Dec 21, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
I have a question. After my first tilapia bred I obtained some more mature tilapia to breed, because I thought the male I had was too aggressive- he slammed the females against the tank and I removed both of them because of his aggression after they bred. One of my females was killed by another female and then I only had one female left so I obtained three females and another male tilapia that is more docile. My other male is in a pond with other male tilapia. I was told that it is better to raise the tilapia together and they are less likely to kill each other What can I do to make fish want to breed. At first the ammonia was a little high while the biofilter was catching up because the fish were anywhere from two inches two four inches longer than my first breeders plus I had put two extra fish in there, so I was doing water changes and disturbing them at first so I understand that might have stressed them. Now my ammonia is 0, Ph is over 8 because of the water changes, and nitrites 0, nitrates 10. I think the females are interested -they swim next to him a lot, but he will not dig a pit... p.s. water temp is 82. thanks
Dec 27, 2013
Bob Campbell
Shelia - When tilapia are crowded they tend to become more docile. For a while I had 50 11" tilapia in a 100 gallon tank. They continued to produce a lot of fry which I salvaged from the radial filter. There were so many fry that I had to give them away or place them back in the tank as feeder fish. I think many people go far too much trouble to breed tilapia. The trick is to let them get sucked out of the main tank.
Dec 28, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
Thanks Bob, but I only have 3 tilapia in the breeder tank now and they are 9-11" and they still are not producing my plan was to have several extra fingerlings and dehydrate them and use some of them for chicken feed, but my fish are not cooperating also I have a friend that wants some tilapia by Feb or March.
Dec 28, 2013
Bob Campbell
yeah I picked out three fish that appeared to me to be two females and one male. I placed them alone to breed. The male almost killed one of the females, so after a couple months I took her out.
From then on it was pretty peaceful but 8 months later there were still no fry. All along the male kept cleaning a breeding spot, but there were no fry. While I was waiting for these fish to mate I scooped up several hundred more from the over crowded community tank
My point is you don't have to try to breed tilapia. Just save the fry you want to keep from being eaten. I had so many fry that I would just leave them to be eaten, but some still survived. Now I have catfish in the tank to control the population because I no longer wish to raise tilapia. The catfish don't let anything get by them.
Dec 29, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
None of my fish bred until I separated them and put them in a separate tank. I am beginning to think it is the male's fault because he has not cleaned out a spot yet and the other male that was too aggressive cleaned out a nest with in two days and had bred both females with-in two or three days after that.... I only have about 30 fry because I was gone when they hatched I assume the other female must have swallowed her eggs and then started eating fry and the momma tilapia killed her in the process. If anything bad is going to happen it always happens if I take a trip for a day or two. :-P
Dec 29, 2013
Dave & Yvonne Story
Whole heartedly, I agree with Bob. How many fish will you eat in a year. Now if you want a bunch of fish, order them from a professional breeder. I only use Kellen Weissenbach on here.
Dec 29, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
Hi Dave,
I am not sure why someone would want to purchase from a breeder if they want a lot of Tilapia instead of a few it looks like the reverse would be true order from a breeder if you want just a few, but if you want a lot, cost wise it would work better to grow them yourself. I definitely would not want to purchase fingerlings and bake them just to make chicken feed....
Anyway I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to encourage this male to dig a pit. He is much more docile which I like and several inches bigger but he does not show interest in breeding... If he does not show interest soon I will just get the more aggressive male, because he at least knows what to do- if I can find him - he is with the other Tilapia or put a different male in the tank.-
Dec 29, 2013
Dave & Yvonne Story
Dec 29, 2013
Bob Campbell
@Shelia - Do you have a radial or spin filter off of the fish tank? I can't help but find a lot of fry in mine. This is what I would suggest. Or you could make a shallow area about 1" deep for the fry to go. You will still have to save them to a separate tank.
Dec 29, 2013
Dave & Yvonne Story
Randall,
Those are mountains. on the right is a pass that leads down into a valley and on to the Rio Grande. You need to stop on out.
Dec 29, 2013
Dave & Yvonne Story
Randall,
I just tried to find the name of the mountains. I will pick-up a Geodesic Survey (topo map) tomorrow. I should know the name. I have topos of the area, but they are in my RV behind me.
Dec 29, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
No, Bob,
I do not have a radio flow filter. I have an in ground koi pond 300 gallon for my sump that pumps into my fish tank and then directly into my grow beds so they would be pumped into the gravel if any had been hatched.
I did not put any PVC or hiding places in my tanks past summer. Also I keep the water between 68-74 with the help of solar heat and wood heat and a heat exchanger. It would be very difficult to keep the water in the upper 70's and 80's through the winter and I do not want to burn that much wood... So I have a large aquarium in my house for the breeders. The first time I placed the first batch in the tank they bred with in a week...
Dec 29, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
Hi Randall,
$14.00 a lb for 1-4 inch fingerlings is very reasonable. I bought some of mine for almost $2.00 a piece and it is cost prohibitive for what I plan to do which is raise them for food for us and cook or dehydrate them for chicken feed.
Dec 29, 2013
Shelia Hoyt
Okay everyone. my male is just very lazy he did not dig a hole/ pit but instead let them in his pvc and one of my females now has eggs in her mouth.
Dec 29, 2013
Pablo
Identifing tilapia for reproduction
Hi Everyone,
I have 15 tilapias and just separated 3 to a new aquarium with the purpose of reproduction.
I placed here what i thought could be a male and 2 females, however, I have been analyzing their behavior and i am a bit confused, so i took few videos in order to place the question in few groups.
If anybody can help me i will appreciate.
Details of system:
Measurements:
Width: 1 foot
Height: 16 inches
Length: 30 inches
Volume: 94 Liters = 25 US gallons
Temp: 27 Celsius = 80 Fahrenheit
You will see 3 tilapias:
1. Largest one
2. Sort of like singular colour, with fins black/metallic
and Pectoral fins redish.
3. It has more black lines along the body. Smaller of the 3.
#2 seems pretty aggressive and chasing the other two.. They have actually jumped out of the aquarium.
there is mouth fight, especially between #1 and #2,
#3 seems to be chased more than any, though #2 chased #1 even though is bigger.
I am starting to think that 1 and 2 could be males, so i am looking for some insights from all of you.
Thanks in advance.
Link Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=306CUSlxNkQ&feature=youtu.be
Apr 7, 2014
Pablo
Thanks Randall... what do you mean by red food coloring?
Apr 8, 2014
Pablo
ah ok.. thanks Randall... i thought there was something specific.
Apr 9, 2014
Tetsuzan Benny Ron
Does anyone here noticed if there is an effect of the day length on the size of tilapia's gonads?
Apr 9, 2014
Wendell Ford
May 15, 2014
Pam DeLong
When my blue tilapia were getting to the breeding stage, I searched the internet for determining male and female. I found a lot of the same pictures with conflicting descriptions of which was which. But using the look and compare method, I set aside 3 fish in a 40 gallon tank. Both apparent males began creating nesting sites. One, though, was more 'assertive' than the other, and won the female. The second male was bullied until I took him out. The remaining pair did indeed mate and I have a plethora of babies right now...from 2 'birthings'. Looking closely at the male and female, it became obvious there is a difference in the dorsal fin. The male dorsal tapered to a point well over the tail fin. The female dorsal was considerably rounded. I've drawn a sketch to show this:
Aug 6, 2014
Craig Shevlin
Is there a preferred Tilapia species to have in your system?
Does one grow faster than another?
Feb 23, 2015
Pam DeLong
Craig,
I'm in Tucson, AZ. My first group of Tilapia were Whites. After doing some reading, I decided to go with Blues. They tolerate a lower water temp and seem to grow, males especially, at a faster rate - pretty good harvest size in a year or just under.
Feb 23, 2015
MikeH
How long till they hatch.? Water temp is at 83.3F PH is about 7.2
Feb 23, 2015
Craig Shevlin
Thanks Pam.
Have you heard of Red Tilapia?
Feb 23, 2015
Pam DeLong
Craig, I've only done some reading on them. Apparently they were bred for their coloration; they are a hybrid that do okay in water temps 55-98 and have a slightly higher growth rate. Blues are still claimed to be the most cold tolerant. My blues are in a 750g tank outside; the temps have briefly gotten down to 45 and have made it through ok...their appetite is almost non-existent though. Here's a couple of links that may be helpful:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tilapia/red.php
http://www.tilapiadepot.com/Red_Nile_Tilapia_Fry_Fingerlings_and_Br...
Feb 24, 2015
Pam DeLong
Craig, I found a PDF on the UofA website written by the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University, Alabama: Selecting_Tilapia.pdf
Feb 24, 2015
Craig Shevlin
Thanks Pam, I appreciate your help.
Craig
Feb 24, 2015
Suzanne Hayes
I have hatchlings! I've lost how many batches I've had but this is the third one where I am in a position to save and seperate some for grow out
Feb 24, 2015
Sean
Crazy fishies: http://youtu.be/oJHjTkrgmBM
Mar 1, 2015
Phil Slaton
Catch 'em. Turn them over. One hole at the anus is a male, two holes is a female. Can't have to two or more males in the same tank.
Mar 1, 2015
Sean
Mar 1, 2015
Phil Slaton
If from the same brood, I would vote the bigger ones as males.
I hope that you get it sorted out.
Mar 2, 2015
Sean
Mar 2, 2015
Paul j Young
I bought 4 breeders (which haven't come yet) 2 female and 2 male. Would it be wiser to have 2 femals and 1 male and keep the second separated. Or would it be alright to put one male and one female together?
Mar 2, 2015
Phil Slaton
Actually, you need more females. With a one male, one female arrangement, the male will wear her out and kill her. Two females and one male is better. But four or five females and one males is best. Never put more than one male in a tank with females. The males will fight and one or both will die.
I am surprised that the breeder did not share this information with you during the sales process.
Mar 2, 2015
Kevin R.
Sean I watched the video and it appears to be pre mating activity. the male has claimed a location and is chasing off others to protect it. the two fish are probably both males battling each other.
you will see the male chase off other fish except the female he is choosing to mate and he will swim to her and nudge her then swim back to his cave or area in hopes she will follow to lay her eggs.
Mar 2, 2015