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How to hatch Tilapia (Oreochromis) eggs

Tis the season to breed tilapia. So I thought you might find this paper helpful. However, just to answer some pre-questions:

1. Yes it works.

2. Yes it really is that inexpensive. Naturally the cost has gone up some since 2002 when this paper was written but it can still be done for under $15 (not including the air pump)

3. Yes it is completely scaleable.

4. Yes it will work on a variety of other egg types as well.

Here is the link to the paper. Enjoy: http://bit.ly/ZESh8I

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Troyer on March 18, 2013 at 9:22pm

thanks Doc

Permalink Reply by John Malone on March 19, 2013 at 9:38am

Hello George,

Thanks for the copy of the paper. It looks so simple that I might just have to build one.

I did some more research on the Internet and found another design of egg tumbler that is remarkably similar to what you describe.

http://synaptoman.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/aquaponics-101-airlift-t...

Seeing as I don't have an aquarium, the idea of floating a bucket in the fish tank is appealing to me.

Permalink Reply by Jim Troyer on March 19, 2013 at 10:37am

@ John

10 gallon aquariums are readily available at Goodwill for $10 bucks, half off every other Saturday.

Some aquariums even have pumps and filters included, the two I bought this last weekend did not however.

They seem to have an endless supply...

Jim

Permalink Reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 10:46am

A 5 gallon plastic bucket (home depot etc) works just fine as well.

Permalink Reply by John Malone on March 19, 2013 at 11:13am

Thanks Jim for the heads up on the aquarium.

The problem, however, isn't having an aquarium, it's convincing the Good Wife that my all consuming hobby should be allowed to escape the confines of the back yard and encroach on the house. She's a patient lady, but there are limits...

I really like the idea of a 5 gallon bucket floating in the fish tank with an air-pump agitator, designed along the lines of George Brooks' concept. I can use the air pump that is already in the tank, I don't need to worry about filtration, water quality, setting up a new tank, backup, etc, etc... Yeah - liking the idea a lot: a bucket, some PVC plumbing, and air-line and I'm good to go. It's almost too easy.

My fish tank is 500 gallons and is 6' x 4' so I've got room to play. I should be able to put in grow-out sections for different sizes of fish, if I put my mind to it.

As a complete beginner to fish breeding, I wouldn't know a pregnant fish if it stuck up it's nose and told me, so I might miss the first batch or two. I don't even know if they will breed in my tank, but when the water warms up some more I'm sure I'll find out.

I've got about 40 fish in approximately 500 gallons, which can look pretty busy at times, but sometimes, when they all hide in the back corner, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there's no fish in the tank at all. Given that there's no real substrate on the bottom of the tank, I don't know whether the conditions are suitable for breeding. I'd like it to happen, because it'd be fun.

Permalink Reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 1:06pm

Greetings all. Here is a comment that came in today on another list where I had posted the paper. It provides an additional and kind of cool idea of a way to collect fry.

Reply by Jon Parr

Dr. Brooks, thanks for the link, and I suppose I have you to credit for this tumbler that I have used since I first learned the soda bottle/air lift method last fall. I learned from Glen Martinez, who learned from a tilapia hatchery in the Philippines. As far as Glen knew, the man from the Philippines invented it, but I guess not...

Your tumbler works insanely good, and so simple. I have another clever and even simpler method that I picked up from Morning Star Fisheries in Florida. They use sort of an SLO type drain, where the pick-up point is a horizontal slotted PVC tube laying on the breeding tank floor. The mothers brood the eggs in natural fashion, and when the eggs hatched and are released, the babies try to hide in the small slits in the PVC pipe, where they are swept away by the current in the pipe, and delivered to a secondary tank that has a screened overflow, They are moved from that catch tank every few days to prevent overlapping generations preying on the younger fry.

Permalink Reply by John Malone on March 19, 2013 at 1:40pm

Now that's clever! An auto-fry separator. There's some smart people out there.

One could even combine the concepts and have an air-lift pump, as described by George, but with the slotted base, and have it deliver the new fry to a bucket/division in the same tank. i.e. it separates the fry from the rest of the population, but within the same tank.

I wonder if the air-lift would be too violent on the fry or would they survive the trip OK, albeit a bit dazed and confused.

Permalink Reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 3:00pm

They may be dazed and confused but they are pretty tough. Your idea John is well worth working on. One note, the airlift is VERY powerful. When done properly, you only need to keep the eggs barely moving to do the job. Turn the air on full and you will blast the eggs out of the tumbler jar. Practice does indeed make perfect.

It also takes some practice to learn to take the eggs from the female. Some strains and species (Goldens for example) don't seem to spit their eggs easily. While some strains of Nile will spit them if you look at the cross-eyed.

Permalink Reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 3:04pm

It had been a few years since I built one of these, so I thought I would give it a try. Took 14 minutes building from scratch and memory. Cost for all parts shown in photos, less than $9. Parts missing in photos, the air pump and air control valve.

Permalink Reply by John Malone on March 19, 2013 at 3:15pm

14 minutes. You can do better than that!

Kidding! Pretty slick, George. Pretty slick!

Permalink Reply by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 19, 2013 at 5:02pm

I forgot to mention a major point that led to the development this simple tumbler, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Thanks to a couple of fantastic teachers, Joyce Baldwin and Ed Mendoza, we took a bunch of kids from the Gila River Indian Community all the way to win at the International Science Fair, host a session on education at the World Aquaculture meeting in 2005 and earn scholarships to Northern Arizona University. It is amazing what a child can learn from watching tilapia eggs develop. Here is an early article on our work back then.