how-to

Just add water!

That's the beauty of it! You can keep it simple and functional or make elaborate and fancy! "it is just a matter of using the tools that are available when they are available," someone famous once said.

Primary considerations are:

A) A container (ideally an aquarium) of at least 55 gallon capacity for the breeders, a small "delivery room/nursery" tank of about 15/30 gallons for just that purpose, and a big "grow-out" container (at least 400/500 gallon) for the babies to grow.

B) Temperature control. All your containers must be situated so that the water will not get any lower than 60 degrees in temperature (tilapia are tropical fish). Ideal temperature is 86

degrees.

C) The usual items required for keeping fish contained: filtering, aeration (make sure air stones or bars are on the opposite side of the tank from the flower pot), etc. Lighting is important! If your tank does not get natural sunlight, artificial lighting should be on from 6 am to midnight. As you can see in the picture below, my tank is right in front of a large window that gets sunlight most of the day. It also promotes algae growth which the fish love to munch on!

This is my 125 gallon aquarium. Notice the 4 inch PCV pipe segments for the females to hide in, as well as the flowerpot "arena" for breeding.

Simple

A 55 gallon aquarium in your living room (if you are lucky, otherwise out in the garage. Yes honey...) with a small 15 gallon one nearby, and a 6 or 8 foot diameter kiddie pool ($15 bucks at walmart) out in the patio.

An aquarium heater is a must! you want the water to be at least 80 degrees for the breeders to "get in the mood".

Simple filter and airstones for both aquariums will do. For the pool outside you can get a pond filter/water fountain setup at walmart. The water fountain action will supply the fish with all the oxygen they need.

Depending on where you live, heating the outside tank is important. Here in Florida you could get by with just covering the tank with a plastic dropcloth when temperatures are going to fall bellow 60 degrees overnight. In North Dakota you might have to invest in an electric aquarium heater and use the plastic dropcloth for weeks at a time.

Fancy

A 125 gallon aquarium or bigger with all the goodies for the breeders, a couple of 29 gallon aquariums nearby (for multiple births), a small greenhouse or "cold frame" structure in your backyard with multiple small above ground pools or fiberglass tanks,

A back yard pond (or private lake). Just remember: temperature is where it's at. You must be able to keep it above 60 degrees, which means you may have to use a pond heater in the winter.

I built a 24 x 50 feet "cold frame" in my backyard. In it I have six 500 gallon pools, one 400 gallon pool, and a 5000 gallon tank. (for the 2 pounders ;~)

The added benefit of the greenhouse is that you can also grow vegetables in it, and feed them fish dookie instead of cow manure. My tomatoes love it.

But wait, that's not all! how about the...

Big Time!

Supersize that fancy one please!

With as little as an acre of land and multiple sets of breeders you can set up a small commercial facility and market your Tilapia to or sell at : Farmer's Markets, Hispanic, Caribbean, Oriental markets or restaurants.

Umm, umm, umm, Love That Fish!!

How big or how small. It's all in your head.

OK, enough about the hardware for now, how about the software? Tilapia Farming Basics is the next stop.

Welcome to Tilapia farming!

Tilapia farming at home, for food, for profit, for fun! ---------------(and all you need is a wet thumb!)