Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Aquarium advice

I am looking for some advice, I'm a newbie. I have 27 tilapia ranging from 2.5-8 oz in tanks. I need to increase the size of my system but I'm not sure how large I need to make it. I'm also looking for filtration recommendations, because my system can't keep up with these fish. My goal is to have a self sustaining source of good protein.

I'm also looking for advice on how to get these fish to eat pellets. They are decent eaters but very few of them will readily eat pellets. Thank-you in advance.

hey scotty.. look up aquaponics..
100 gallons of growbed (2 55 gallon barrels cut in half) will provide enough filtration to get the tilapia to about a pound each before you start running into water quality issues..
or search for RAS systems..Cecil has done some pretty neat stuff with filtration, there's a book called "Small Scale Aquaculture" that was recommended to me

ScottyPhilly,

Sounds like you need to upgrade to an RAS which is just a larger version of an aquarium. I would strongly recommend the book Keith mentioned. I think the best price I've seen is in Aquatic Ecosystems catalog (AES Apopka, FL) which advertises here and is on the Internet.

It covers not only a homemade recirculating system but all a lot of good information on tilapia. You can raise up to 200 pounds of Tilapia with the filter you can build yourself. Homemade upflow sand filter and bioreactor filters are also an option and cheaper to build with less of a footprint.

Try www.aquaponicscommunity.com

My last order with AES came with a flyer that said they'll meet anybody's price if it's less than what they have listed. It said that price shouldn't be a reason why they'd lose a sale to a competetor.

Scott, I have to question what kind of pellets you are feeding....My tilapia are tornados in the tank when I go into the feed storage area. They have most likely never eaten anything BUT commercial fish feed...no training needed.

Thanks for the advice. I've ordered the book which seems to be out of stock everywhere.

I've tried a few types of pellets ranging from Purina to Hikari. I'd love recommendations.

The book is hard to find and some people are asking astronomical prices for even used ones. Steve VanGorder hasn't decided whether to print another edition or go digital with it. My guess is he will go digital as the price of all publishing is getting really high, and more and more people seem to be agreeable with downloading off the Internet.

As far as feed let them go hungry for a few days and I'll bet they will take to the pellets regardless of the brand.

Re: eat or go hungry.

I use that same theory with the dogs. I never have a problem with them being picky about their food. The one that I have now eats when she's hungry, and leaves it if she's not. I feed dry food to her, so it's no big deal.

When the last 2 dogs were alive, he was content to graze like the current one, but if his Sister was with him, she'd want to eat his food if he walked away from it. He learned to eat it all and not walk away if she was around.

I think the fish are the same way, if there is a more palatable food available, they'll eat that first and get filled up. I think that's why the BG in the pond don't hit the pellets much. Too much natural forage.

My tilapia had slowed down and I thought something was up with them and worried a bit.

I noticed later on that they were eating the algea off the sides of the tank and any other sort of plant matter they could find.

When I had my Water Hyacinth in the tank I noticed them popping the leaves hard to eat them.

Now they have been popping the feed pretty hard, and I hope they stick to it as I am sure they will taste better if the eat the aquamax as compared to plants and algea.

Steve must have recently sold out (just checked his website) He had the best price of 22.95 and that included shipping. I've seen these advertised as very rare and collectable, so I am guessing that the two copies I have left are worth a small fortune The one that came with a hand written and signed thank you note by Steve, should really bring in the bucks

I guess I need to send my copy back to Steven for an autograph!

I wish I could find a reasonable price on The Recirculating Aquaculture book by Timmons and Ebeling here:

http://www.amazon.com/Recirculating-Aqua...7242&sr=1-1

Actually the $169.00 is quite low for what I've seen it for. I can't even find it via inter-library University loan!

I think I have that book, but was probably an earlier release. Came with a CD with all the formulas for Excel. I hate spread sheet stuff.

I'll get the rest of my Aquaculture books this weekend and store them in a new closet

The most dissapointing book I laid out a chunk of change for is: "Encyclopedia of Aquaculture". Cost about 4.5 bones from B&N. Interesting to say the least, but not worth that much money!

I use it to flatten out hundred dollar bills

Oh my God you must be Daddy War bucks!

See these regarding tilapia production. They don't need high protien pellets. They grow and reproduce so fast that you may have ongoing limitations with a small system.

https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/event/CategoryDetails/whichcategory/11/

No worries Eric. I'll stick with native fish.