Originally posted by Rad:
Check some of the aquaculture sites as to how many you can stock, it will be alot, they mature for sale/eating at about 5 months, so factor that in. When you talk with ML ask about pacu, with your water temps it is another choice.
Thanks for the responses..
I have a couple of ponds and several relatives ponds I want to keep stocked with mozambique tilapia for FA control, water quality, forage and maybe a few to eat or what ever..
I checked out several aquaculture sites and you can pack a lot of Tilapia into a small area if you know what your doing.. Many more than I expected..
Recirculating systems have the best capacity but Free flow are very high as well and 7200 gallons a day will raise a lot of healthy Tilapia.. I would have to warm the water some 10-12 degrees to really grow them during the cooler months but it is perfect for over-wintering...
I found several sites for a free flow or recirculating into a hydroponic garden system that sounds really good for me (Aquaponics System). Pretty easy to automate through gravity, small pumps, pvc and timers..
Plants live off the fish waste and thrive while cleaning the water.. Very small eco-footprint.
I was going to build a tank and a greenhouse in the future anyway and this sounds like a good combination considering I already raise a vegetable garden every year anyway.
Might as well kill three birds with one stone. Raise fish for many uses, grow plants and clean-up the water to a pretty high level..
A small Fish Farm/Greenhouse sounds like a fun, challenging and interesting project that I'm sure I could handle.. Live fresh fish at times and vegetables available year round for my family sounds pretty cool.
The hardest part might be getting mozambique tilapia this fall after/if I build the system..
