Tilapia, or any fish aquaculture?

[Guest USMC 2013]

Is anyone raising tilipia, or any other type of fish for eating? Even if just a concerted effort in a pond? If so, I'd love to hear about it, see what you're doing. Also would be interested in trading for some fish for rabbits and/or fresh produce from my garden.

I am thinking about setting up a 200g system for growing out tilapia but would like to see someone else's set-up first, ask some questions, etc... Semper Fi,

Joe

[Timestepper]

Would love to have something like that, but I'm not up to the pick and shovel work necessary to create a big enough pond - we live on the side of a heavily timbered, very rocky ridge and since I'm too cheap to rent a small backhoe or bobcat, it would be murderous physical labor and I'm just too damned old & lazy to commit to it.

[Caster]

I was reading about a guy who did this in an above ground swimming pool. He pushed dirt all around and made a heck of a fish pond. If you could ever get it set up well enough for them to spawn in there, that'd be a great food source.

[mikegideon]

Tilapia need water temps of 70 degrees and above. Don't think they're a pond fish in this part of the world, unless you want to heat the pond..

Edited May 25, 2012 by mikegideon

[Caster]

Tilapia need water temps of 70 degrees and above. Don't think they're a pond fish in this part of the world, unless you want to heat the pond..

For Tn you need a hearty fish. Brim might work. They are almost to the point of pestilence when they get established. They will take over and near destroy a small pond.

They don't get very big and it'd take sever for a good meal though.

[Guest USMC 2013]

Tilapia need water temps of 70 degrees and above. Don't think they're a pond fish in this part of the world, unless you want to heat the pond..

They grow so fast, from a 3" fingerling to a 1.5-2lb adult in one season, that you don't need to worry about a winter die off. Simply harvest them before the water temps hit a critical point. That's for outdoor set-ups.

I am thinking about using two 100g rubbermaid feeder troughs in my garage. Using aquarium heaters I can go year around. Still researching at this point.

Joe

[Guest USMC 2013]

I was reading about a guy who did this in an above ground swimming pool. He pushed dirt all around and made a heck of a fish pond. If you could ever get it set up well enough for them to spawn in there, that'd be a great food source.

They spawn quite readily, from what I've read. I want to see and talk to someone doing this though and not trust all my knowledge just on what I've read. Basically they are a cichlid and I know lots of aquarium people breed those so it can't be too hard. But spawning would be the key to making it sustainable and helpful in a SHTF scenario where going to Kroger isn't an option.

Joe

[DaveS]

For Tn you need a hearty fish. Brim might work. They are almost to the point of pestilence when they get established. They will take over and near destroy a small pond.

They don't get very big and it'd take sever for a good meal though.

We had a pond once and had it stocked with green hybrid bream. They grew quite large like Shellcrackers do. Fun to catch and was excellant table fair.

Dave

[robin48]

They spawn quite readily, from what I've read. I want to see and talk to someone doing this though and not trust all my knowledge just on what I've read. Basically they are a cichlid and I know lots of aquarium people breed those so it can't be too hard. But spawning would be the key to making it sustainable and helpful in a SHTF scenario where going to Kroger isn't an option.

Joe

I'm also looking into this. My sister-in-law has an above ground heated pool. We may go that route or a barrel system for a seasonal harvest.

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[DaveS]

Research "Blue Talapia". They are quite cold tolerant from what I hear.

[JAB]

I saw an episode of 'Dirty Jobs' where folks were raising fish (I think it was striped bass) as a commercial endeavor. They basically had big, concrete tanks where they raised the fish. What does that have to do with tilapia? Well, they also raised tilapia. They would put them in the tanks that the bass had already used. They said they didn't even really have to feed the tilapia - or at least not much - because the tilapia ate/lived on the bass crap that was in the tanks. Another bonus was that they didn't have to do much to clean the tanks, either.

I have also heard of folks in Tennessee engaging in fresh water prawn (shrimp) farming. I think what I heard about was especially geared toward people who were looking for an alternative way to use land where tobacco had previously been grown. Of course, that requires large ponds for a commercial endeavor but I wonder if it would be possible to do so on a small scale for personal use. I haven't looked into it, though, so I don't know if the prawn stock are able to winter over or if they have to harvest them all at the end of a season and start anew with the next season. I guess I just think of this because I like eating shrimp a lot more than I like eating most fish.

Edited June 28, 2012 by JAB

[bigwakes]

I talked to a guy in Dickson raising tilapia in a 55 gallon drum in his back yard. He offered to let me come by, but I never made it over there. He said he grows 10 fish per barrel.