Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Q: What do tilapia do during down times?

Q: What do tilapia do in a 75 gallon heated tank during the three day breaks between feedings?

A: Murder and cannibalize their brothers and sisters.

Is this from personal observation or are you just a tilapia trash talker? HAHA

How many do you think were made into forage?

I've been watching it happen for several weeks. They beat the daylights out of the smallest one available. They bank away at him until he's scaleless. Then they devour him.

I started with over 70.

Now I'm down in the 40's.

Is this tank for getting your tilapia through the winter or production?

Wow...I honestly had no idea they were carnivorous. I can see them beating up the smallest ones and killing them, but eating them as well???

Interesting.

I honestly think tilapia will eat anything... Duck weed, algae, FHM, themselves!

I've found them in every state of death and near-death. Tonight I found just a backbone.

You sure you don't have piranha? HAHA

I believe I warned you early on about that Bruce. They need to be fed fairly often. A lot of this activity is due to them now being sexually mature too. Do you need a re-fill?

At the younger age Tilapia eat ANYTHING. Once they get over about 10 inches they eat plants (or pellets) almost exclusively. Unfortunately the smallest ones are usually female.

I hope I didn't seem upset or anything. I've actually found them to be incredibly entertaining fish. They're beautiful, too.

I still would have believed that I have plenty, however I didn't think about the male/female thing.

I wouldn't have anywhere to put the new ones anyway for about five or six weeks.

Every fish species I know of (there are a bunch I don't know about) will do exactly what you described Bruce when enclosed like that. If they are all the same size it is less of a problem. Tilapia are very territorial especially when enclosed or around spawning. I have even seen BG gang up on a LMB and literally pick him to death.

You didn't seem upset. The males grow about twice as fast as the female. BUT, maybe the males are eliminating the weak males.?.? I'm lousy at sexing them (until they spawn--then even I can tell which is which) lol.

Did you happen to notice that EVERYTHING gets digested? Scales, bones, heads? The extremely strong stomach acid is what allows them to digest FA and recover almost all the nutrients from what they eat. You may want to add a cup of NON-IODIZED salt to the water for their electolytes too.

I am always fascinated by these fish. When I feed mine they will suspend out of the water to have me pour food directly into their open mouths. They let me pick them up---almost like affectionate pets.

Bruce doesn't need any salt in his water. It's already at optimum hauling strength right out of the water! What is it at Bruce 0.5 percent?

This has been a fascinating thread gentlemen!

Yes, Cecil. I'm right at .5%

These tilapia are absolutely, unquestionably the most agressive fish I've ever seen. They swarm when I feed them, and whatever they eat disappears forever. That's why it took me a while to realize they were disappearing because there was never any evidence left behind. It must not take long either, because I've only found any remains twice. All the rest had been stomach-acid-fried into oblivion.

Maybe the most fascinating thing is their to lay down under a net or jump over it. They've become accustomed to my net and know what's up when I use it. The tank is barely wider than the tank I'm netting in. (Bill Cody gave me the net as a present) And I'm still hard pressed to ever seine more than two or three at a time. I've seen them go airborne, like little rockets at least ten times their body length in the air.

I just found out a friend of mine has 3 of these in an aquarium.They are about 10-12 inches long.The other day I went over and we dropped a 3" GSF in there with them and before he could get his bearings from being dropped in,1 of the pirana shot across the tank and the head fell to the right and tail went to the left.That pirane went through him like a buzz saw.It was actually pretty cool to watch.

That's funny stuff. I haven't been counting my tilapia but I've been entirely sure that's been happening in my stock tanks. I put some in an aquarium with a rogue goldfish. That seemed fine until one Monday I returned to the office and it was gone... and the tilapia weren't big enough to just swallow it whole like a bass, so clearly there was some ripping apart going on.

I'd agree with Bruce that the one of the fascinating traits is there ability to escape from a net. Laying down sideways on the bottom, up against a wall - or the, as Bruce called it, "rocket" tilapia taking off. They have a few inches of room and can take off and fly 4-5 feet in the air.. sometimes horizontally flying across the garage and skidding on the concrete.. a couple times jumping from one stock tank to the other.. (which was fine because that's where it was going!) and other times more vertically once hitting me in flight.. It's amazing, and fun playing catch with your fish.

I have two 55 gallon tanks that are 3 feet apart setting at a right angle so I can walk between them. Before I covered the ends closest to each other, I would have fish jump from one tank to the other. Also had a few commit suicide when I first got them----maybe they were avoiding being mobbed?? The wife onl stands at the entrance to the fish room agitating the T. She fears an onslought attack if she were to actually get near them!!


I trained them well!!!!

Edit: The only way I can net the smaller ones (<4") is to drain the water till they cannot swim. The larger brood stock will let me pick them up (except the large male--he knows he's getting cut off for a while).

No doubt these fish come from a part of the world where conditions are harsh with droughts and poor water quality, so they must have evolved to be tough. It's no secret they can handle high ammonia levels, high water temps and low D.O.

I was watching a program on Neanderthals and Cro Magnums and scientists have evidence of Neanderthals practicing cannabilism (cuts on human bones similar to those made on wild game) possibly due to the harsh ice age conditions and scarcity of food. Kind of the same thing I guess.

What kind of tilapia do you have. I have Mos. overwintered in a tank for three winters and never saw a dead one. This year I was short so I put in all different sizes. I know I see some small ones but I don't count them so I'm not sure what's going on. Could they be eating every bone before I look back into the tank? I'll be putting them in the ponds pretty soon. I'll post if I see anything odd.

The cannabilistic, suicidal, vicious, rocket tilapia being referred to in the posts are pure strain Blues, and Reds that are crosses between blue and nile tilapia).

I checked carefully tonight, which is no easy task, and I do have at least 15 smaller ones which I hope are females.

The biggest ones are very robust 4.625 inchers.

Are they close to being able to spawn at this size?

Not 4.624 or 4.626 inches? HAHA

The ones I still have from that spawn are starting to mature. The males have matured and the females are darkening. So.....yes.

Rainman:
Did Bruce get his fish from the same spawn I did?