Testosterone Laced Feed so that Fry will develop into males

[Michael Quinones]

Since male tilapia grow bigger and faster ........ I understand that by feeding Testosterone Laced Feed as soon as the feed sack is absorbed within three weeks the fry will develop into males.  Where can I buy Testosterone Laced Feed.  I live in Gainesville Florida.

[Chris Downs]

Thank you George!

It is like a game, with healthy food and a great life as a goal!   I appreciate the help and the input from everyone here.  I know that we all win when we meet our goals.  This is a great community!!

I am looking forward to following your progress and how bluegill produce for you.   Let me know if I can help at all. 

Thanks!

[Jon Parr]

Much simpler, safer and cheaper than buying hormone laced feed is to simply cross a dominant male species with a non-dominant female species, resulting in all male offspring that also grow with "hybrid vigor". For instance, a blue tilapia male will breed with mossambicus females and produce all male hybrids called Florida reds. Important for me (because blues and Niles are illegal in Cali) is the cross between hornorum males and mossambicus females producing all males sometimes called penny fish. Kellen lists a few here

http://www.urbanaquaponics.com/showthread.php?53-All-male-Mostly-Ma...

Why buy special feed with potentially dangerous consequences?

[Chip Pilkington]

Hi John,

How much difference do you see in growth for all male stock? Are you maxed on feed rates and growing conditions? As previously mentioned, I am curious as to what benefits would be gained in an AP application. Aquaculture is one thing, but a typical hobby AP setup, would it even matter?

Also, how are you running your breeding program? What kind of numbers do you produce? I'm curious, but unfortunately can't experiment as the strains available to me are quite limited. And, I won't use the hormonally altered stock.

[Jon Parr]

Hi Chip. I have bred all male crosses from male hornorum and female mossambicus. The biggest benefit other than lack of breeding is the remarkably even growth of the hybrids. Yes they grow faster, yes they don't waste energy courting, and yes they are worth it if you're growing to sell fish as food. However, in my locality, the powers that be will not allow me to raise any tilapia for human consumption. I can raise tilapia for hobby use, and I can eat my hobby fish. So my business became selling fingerlings to other hobbists, and they want mixed-sex.

How many can be bred? One colony (1 male to six females)can easily yield 3-4k fingerlings per month, even more if you tumble the eggs.

Do I max my feed rates and growing conditions? No, I don't even raise tilapia for myself anymore. I sell as many tilapia fingerlings as I can, and feed the rest to my predator fish. I do personally like to eat tilapia, but I like to eat sunfish, catfish, sturgeon better, so those are what I grow to full size. Tilapia fry are just another revenue stream for me, supplying other backyard AP hobbyists, and they are easy to supply.

[Chip Pilkington]

Hi Jon,

It's encouraging that you've found a way to market, even with all of the regulatory challenges you all face. There are some things i really don't miss about home.

I breed Tilapia freely, but don't tumble. I do have conditions which allow a high growth rate - that's why I'm curious about the all male strategy. My fish, males and females grow like weeds and still find time to breed. The majority of the fry we produce goes to the in-law's ponds - we just keep enough to replenish stock. The in-laws are pretty low tech, other than paddle wheels, they raise the fish in unimproved dirt tanks relying on seasonal rain. They are pleased with the result and by Thai standards, I guess they're doing quite well, though I think the fish prices for both the tilapia and catfish are incredibly cheap.

Anyway, I would give it a go, but as I mentioned, I am really limited on available strains. There are folks who ship to Asia, but I honestly don't know why I would need to improve on current production. That was kind of my point in this thread - does it even make sense for hobbyists to go down that path, particularly as many still rely on GB's solely for filtration, and don't drive high enough DO levels.

Sounds like you've got a nice business - I believe AP needs more of that type or creativity.

[Chris Downs]

This is some great information, and creativity is exceptional for those willing to test and experiment!

I am looking forward as we build our system.  I will be sharing as our system comes together and we are producing both or greens and our fish.

Thank you for all of your input!  I will definitely continue to follow and ask questions and answer any that I can as we grow our aquaponics system.

[Jon Parr]

Thanks, Chip. Another consideration using F1 male hybrids is that the parents must be genetically pure strains, which may be hard to find in Thailand, I don't know. Here, we can get pure Niles, blues, mossies, and hornies with a credit card and ten minutes online, delivered in a day or two. Pretty lucky. The Hornorum pure line is closely guarded and monopolized, making the male very expensive ($250 each), and the females impossible to get. For that reason, I'd suggest to any interested to get blues and mossies (I use Hawaiian golds), both cheap and mixed sex, and then select your best blue male to your best few mossie females.