Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Tilapia Project

We don't seperate them to spawn but we do check the every two weeks to put eggs in one aquarium and fry in another. We have seen the fry eat the eggs if put together. In one aquarium there have been as many as 400 fry in there. Ours a game of tank size to prevent over crowding. The water temp is around 83 degrees.

We don't seperate them to spawn but we do check the every two weeks to put eggs in one aquarium and fry in another. We have seen the fry eat the eggs if put together. In one aquarium there have been as many as 400 fry in there. Ours a game of tank size to prevent over crowding. The water temp is around 83 degrees.

Had a little spare time to post photos. A while back I had three small tanks built to grow out forage.

It's nice to have a well to fill them when there is no rain.

Looks perfect for a seine!...........Sweet!!!

Ricky, if you netted them off the nest, you may have an all male population. The male builds, guards, fertilizes, then chases everything away. The other fish are terrorized by the male except for about an hour spawning period where he "entices" the female by b wiggling and biting her on the side, then he quickly kicks her butt to the curb.

Rainman, I watch the males on the nest for a few days, then I saw the female about five or six feet from the nest letting the fry in and out of her mouth in a patch of moss with a hole in it about the size of a basketball. I got a fine meshed dip net and when she let them out I dipped up 84 fry. The next day I found another female and dipped up 30. That was on June 22. I have them in a tank in my basement. I have not lost one fish yet and they are growing like crazy. I was just wondering if they would spawn in the tank on their own without doing anything special, I was told they would by the guy I bought some from last year. He puts his in tank and leaves them alone and dips out the fry as soon as he notices them before they are gobbled up by the other fish. My fish are about 4 inches long and I did not know if they were too young to spawn yet. They are starting pick out areas of the tank and chase the other fish away. I am thinking something going on. Any information would be helpful. Ricky

Ricky, yes, they will start spawning at about 3-4 months old. Tilapia ARE cannabilistic! If your aquarium water if filtered and clear, you will lose all ofspring. If it is VERY green w/algae about 1% will survive.In the pictures, the dominant male is about 10" and the females are about 8". There are 3 smaller (2 mos old) fish that are the only survivors of over 25 spawns. In the upper right of the 55 gal tank is a small(5x5x8") breeding cage I started using 10 days ago. In the net you can see 100's of fry that are 8 days old and some eggs I collected yesterday. In my tanks, as soon as the female spits out the fry, they are eaten! It's rather obvious that the breeder net will save most of the fish, but I will have to set up at least 2 more smaller tanks to raise the various sizes in.

Dom. Male is lower left

2 month old in center (1 of 3)

Blurry, but shows a mix of red/blue hybrids and the darker blue tilapia. Fry are 8 days old and eggs in upper right are 1 day old.

Rainman, How do you collect the fry before they are eaten? I watch my fish alot when I am home, but what do you do when your at work or gone and the fry hatch ? Will the mother hold them in her mouth for a few days?

Yes Ricky, she will keep them in her mouth for up to two weeks. Try using a CLEAR container to slowly trap the female. Again, I use a breeder style with a lid that has slots in it. When you trap the female she will spit out the fry and/or eggs she has in her mouth. let her get water iback into her mouth a couple times more to make sure she flushes out all of them. Sometimes you can catch them with a dip net, but this usually frightens her enough to spit out everything before you can catch her.