Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Availability of small number of Tilapia?

My young daughter and I want to try raising some Tilapia in a garage stock tank? I am having a problem finding small amounts close to Birmingham. Anyone have any leads that won't break the bank? Any help would be appreciated.

Rainman who is a forum member on here raises and sells blue tilapia. You could PM him and he could quote you a price. If you get real small ones, say 1" or so, that may save some in the cost. I believe Weissguy another forum member has some tilapia(Mozambique?) that he may be able to sell you, but I am not sure if he ships, but I do know Rainman does... Hope that helps you out.

Nateforau -

I ship small quantities of my own line of White Nile Tilapia from early Spring to late Fall. I don't ship in the Winter however. I stick to shipping smaller fish because I mainly supply to aquaponics and smaller aquaculture growers, and shipping smaller stock is a lot cheaper for them. Shipping advanced size fish can get quite expensive. Rainman ships small quantities of Blue Tilapia, and I believe he ships through the Winter if you are wanting to get them right away. He's got some high quality fish, and he's a great guy to deal with.

The killer with shipping fish is the cost of overnighting them. Shipping typically runs $40-120, even for very small quantities. A lot of times, several people in an area get together to combine an order. This can really help reduce shipping costs, if you can find other people in your area looking for the same fish as you.

Another possible alternative is to contact local pet shops. You can find Mozambique Tilapia from time to time at local shops. Pet shops often call them Mozambique Mouthbrooders. They'll probably be a little expensive, but if you're just looking for a few fish, it might be cheaper than having fish shipped to you.

Good luck!

Thanks for the mention CJB2003!

Thanks for your help guys. Weissguy, I will contact you a little closer to warm weather. Since stocking our little one acre pond with catfish last year, my daughter who is 6 is really into the fish thing. Hopefully this will keep her interested and maybe get her little brother (3) more involved with "yucky fish".

Nateforau,

Is your stock tank going to be an RAS? If so, I'd be interested in seeing what you set up to compare notes.

Here's a link to a system I built according to the book Small Scale Aquaculture by Steven Van Gorder. In the book they use it to grow out over 100 lbs. of tilapia for consumption.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=195136&fpart=1