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Breeding Pair of Blue Tilapia for sale (Tucson)

My breeding Blue Tilapia have given me an abundance of babies. So much so, that I now keep them in separate tanks...which I am very much needing the space of to winter a portion of the babies over the winter months. (They grow so fast!) I currently have all the last batch of babies in a 55 gallon tank; maybe 300(!) small fingerlings. I've had the parent fish since July '13, but since I've kept them in inside tanks, they've not grown as much as the rest of the batch I purchased with them that had been moved into a grow tank (have been harvesting 1-2lb fish).

It's only one male and one female, but this pair have given me at least 4 batches of babies, and each batch produce more than the last, so I have enough to last, in various sizes, for quite a while!

I've seen ads selling pairs for anywhere from $65-$85 and have not seen any lately, so unsure of the 'going rate'. Would appreciate any pricing help anyone can offer.

Buyer offers are welcome (Tucson area only, please, not interested in trying to ship them).

Some of the fingerlings I need to space out:

Fingerlings_10-18-14.mp4

Thank you!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Troyer on October 22, 2014 at 5:16pm

Hi Pam

The long and short of it is you can get what the market will bare. I would think that the $100 range is fair for a breeding set the 4+1 formula of females to males is always in that range for young breeders.

Yours are older so you maybe able to get that from the matched set which is a real nice setup.

I'm curious why you don't sell the fingerlings

all the best,

Jim

Permalink Reply by Pam DeLong on October 22, 2014 at 8:53pm

Hi Jim,

Nice to hear from you!

I do have the fingerlings for sale...I have an ad in the Tilapia Growers section of the site here and I have had about three sales from it, but that's about it. (I thought I put an ad in the Buy/Sell section too, but cant' find it, so maybe I didn't.) And I made one sale from an ad on Craigslist. I plan on putting together a flyer to try posting at the local hydroponics store on the east side...they dabble a little in AP and I'm hoping to gain some buyers there. I'm not a permitted or licensed seller, so it's unlikely any store itself would buy from me to resell.

When I was first looking for fingerlings in July '13, they were pretty difficult to track down. I finally found a store on the NW side and got 24. Now that I have an abundant supply of fry/fingerlings, it seems they can be bought all over town, and for much less than what I originally bought mine at.

I've not been able to really get a grasp on the crop growing part because the fish have become such a main focus, and I've taken the grow bed media out to provide more tank area for the growing small fish (I call them 'teenagers'). I desperately want to put in a swirl filter to help with the poo removal, but I spend so much time cleaning the fiber filters...daily...can hardly think straight to work out a plan for the swirl filter! It's become very time/labor consuming...household chores have even had to take a back-seat

Now, with much cooler months coming up, I also need to re-vamp the solar water heater I made last year to keep the water temp from getting too cold. Maybe this week end...

So, now I've vented a little frustration...hope I didn't bore anyone...but that's my story...lol!

Regards,

Pam

Permalink Reply by Pam DeLong on October 22, 2014 at 9:12pm

The other posting is in Fish Topics. Will now put it in the Buy/Sell section...

Permalink Reply by Jeff S on November 3, 2014 at 8:48pm

I know where you're coming from Pam. I have/had a similar problem. I originally had 5 Tilapia given to me from a hydroponics store ( thankfully because there's no where to buy them in the Detroit area). Fortunately they turned out to be a 4 to 1 set. Keeping them alive was my main focus. The only reason I grew plants initially was to treat the fish water. Finally I realized what a brooding Tilapia looked like and separated her into a 20 gallon tote. Short story long my first 2 litters produced over 800 fry/fingerlings. I bought 3 45 gallon aquariums and even used my sump tank to hold fish. I don't pull out the brooders anymore. They still have fry but very few of them survive. The problem as you stated is the waste. A swirl filter will help but you need to hook up another GB to treat/filter the water. Once it cycles you won't have all that maintenance to do. Another thing I've had to do is pick out growers and separate them from the larger population and lower the food amount to the rest so they don't over pollute the water. Hope all this rambling helps.

Permalink Reply by Pam DeLong on November 4, 2014 at 10:16am

Thanks for your comments, Jeff.

Last Saturday I harvested the last of my larger fish, and on Sunday I moved all of the young 'uns from the former GBs into the big tank to grow out. The plan is to return the tubs to being actual GBs as originally intended. In the Spring, I'll likely move the ones in the 55 gal to the big tank.

I'm in the process of re-situating the beds into a more useful format (hopefully) and will get the cool-weather plants put in. This winter is expected to be the longest and coldest we've ever had, so...we'll see...

Permalink Reply by Phil Slaton on November 23, 2014 at 3:56pm

Separate the male from the female. A 20 gallon tank should do.

Permalink Reply by Pam DeLong on December 11, 2014 at 3:18pm

As stated in my initial posting... I now keep them in separate tanks. The female is in 26 gallons, while the male is is 40.

Phil Slaton said:

Separate the male from the female. A 20 gallon tank should do.

Permalink Reply by Jeff S on December 11, 2014 at 6:53pm

I tried sexing my fish when they were small, about 2", and never could make "heads or tails" of what I was looking at so I have a tank full of whatever. Maybe I'll give it another try now that they're bigger.

Permalink Reply by Phil Slaton on December 11, 2014 at 9:21pm

Sorry I missed that. They likely are too big fr shipping. I 2-days they would run out of oxygen. Someone near is going to have to buy and pick them up fresh bagged and ready for a short aerated trip or just in an ice chest of aerated tank water. Whoever buys them is going to have to find 4 or 5 more females. 1 to 5 or 1 to 6 is a good breeder colony ratio.

Best, phil

Pam DeLong said:

As stated in my initial posting... I now keep them in separate tanks. The female is in 26 gallons, while the male is is 40.

Phil Slaton said:

Separate the male from the female. A 20 gallon tank should do.