Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Tilapitopia 3.0

SB,

I would guess we have seen around 20 Tilapia around one inch from the aquariums, and there are also around 20-30 more over three inches from the IBC's.

In reality, I think if we would have had more cover, we would have had better recruitment. I might also set up an aquarium and see how we can do at the house, and yes we will have more cover.

I wonder if adding a tank seperater with holes in it so the fry could find a safe place on one side of the tank.

Is the mother alone, or is there other tilapia mixed in?

Sometimes a mother needs a few tries to learn the ropes. I now give them three tries, and then swap for another. There are some that never seem to get the hang of it. Just yesterday I had one spit out the fry. She hanged onto them for longer than usual, so long that I thought she was going to swallow them instead of letting go. Turned out there were about 200. Not bad for her first go.....

Ok guys, I captured 12 Tp last fall from the pond and going through a learning curve on how not to kill them, I wound up with 6 Tp. these were in the 3 to 5" size and they grew in the 3 aq's for 100 days with me doing water changes 1/3rd tank per week. One larger male would attack the others so I separated him, never had any recruitment even though there was a smaller male in the group of 6. Every time I added the larger male he would attack and bite the others. I finally returned the Tp back to the pond this spring. Now I need to do something different next fall, what or where would you suggest I start for reproduction.

Thanks

Tracy

Tracy, what was your water temps?

FnC,

We had one male and four females in each aquarium. We did not have enough area for the fry to escape into until we could retrieve them. Our water temps were 83. I think cover is going to be the key.

I know I've seen a few videos online where mouth brooding females were dip netted out and forced to open mouth in a small fry tank to release the fry. It was noted if not dipped/forced quickly female tilapia may tend to swallow some if not all fry.

Yes, I found this works if you do it with eggs in the first few days (not the fry stage). Problem then is you need to make an incubator. I have found all ways are possible, but little differences in how each person does a task will eventually determine which way works best for them. Lots of trial and error.

I have found the least stressful(without loss) way to do it is pull out all other fish and leave the mom alone and go thru the natural process. Don't get as many cycles per year doing it this way, but I'm not doing it for mass production.

Others cap the tube she hides in and moves her to another tank. All depends on your setup and what you have available.

Cut the lip off. Sounds drastic, but it works!!!!!! Had a male doing this, and was a real good producer. Over a period of time he killed a few females and I said enough. I had nothing to lose by doing it. Turns out he is my best one so far.

Doesn't do much for his looks but he don't seem to care. He's still happy

Interesting,

I would have never thought.

How does he sing Barry White after the "surgery?"

Tilapia males will mouth fight and rarely harm each other. Non-gravid females not near spawning, a male will hammer behind the gills, to cause clotting and suffocation. Doesn't sound very bright for survival of the species, but dominant males hate all other Tilapia that are not ready to drop eggs and are fiercely territorial. Btw, the larger the dominant male, the larger the area it will kill female Tilapia in.

Brian, I kept the water temp @ or around 83 F in the 3 tanks, two 10 gal tanks and one 29 gal tank. Watched and feed them daily, looking for babies but never happened, Maybe they just did not like me watching them having sex

Do u just force the mean male to stay with the female, even though she may be killed by him?

Tracy

With the small tank setup, you always have to keep an eye out to what's going on. If the female is ready to drop the eggs, I would let the male harass her at least for a few days(sometimes it takes a week, as long as no damage is done). If you see scales being ripped off, etc, then I would pull him for a few days. If she isn't ready, well then you are just not going to see anything happen and he will keep beating on her. Make sure you have a place for her to go hide and escape him, plus I have found you need a place for him as well. Again, consider cutting his lip. It saves a lot of grief.

I suspect you didn't have mature enough females. Literature says they will be breeding at a small size(can't remember the exact length), but for me it seems the females have to be 9 or
10 months old and about 8".


@Brian- Have you thought about creating a tank divider with very fine screen. Once the female is holding eggs, slip it in to keep her separated and the fry safe. I have done this a few times and works good. I don't like the idea of the fry in with other big fish. I still think they will get picked off to much so.

F&C,

I used females that were around seven inches and they did spawn. I was thinking about a separator, but that will be for next year.

We definitely learned a lot this year. Next year, we will have a much better program.

Separators and cover are going to be in the mix.