My First Tilapia Farm

Well, what do you do with a goldfish in a half-gallon plastic bag in order to keep your 5 and 3-year-old daughters from having a traumatic life and death experience?

You keep the darn thing alive, that's what!

I can still picture it, an innocent county fair, a little girl covering her eyes with one hand, throwing a ping-pong ball with the other, and oh brother! We are the proud owners of a "feeder goldfish."

A "feeder" is a fish destined to end up being dinner for a big carnivorous fish.

A trip to the toy store and we had the obligatory "Little Mermaid" one-gallon aquarium.

Fast forward 5 years. I have one 45-gallon and one 125-gallon aquarium in my living room, as well as a few smaller ones stored in the garage. The kids have lost interest in fish ever since "The Lion King." came out, and I was NOT about to take them to the zoo, thank you very much!

Who knows what I might have found myself dragging home!

Fast forward another 6 years. I look at the aquariums and say: there has got to be something I can grow in these aquariums that I can actually benefit from, as in edible fish. Hmmm, what to do?

In 2006 I searched the internet and found out about Tilapia,a fish that, up until then, I didn't even know existed.

I purchased a breeder set of Hornorum/Mossambica from a retired commercial Aquaculture professional and was very impressed with how easy it was to breed them.

Then I purchased sets of "breeder breeders" so I could market the breeder colonies themselves.

The saga continues, folks!

In mid-2010, I was caught doing good and got what I deserved!

I was volunteering at a non-profit in Dade City, FL, that teaches Aquaponics classes when I met my Mrs. Ladyfish!

I was assisting the instructor one Saturday morning, and she was taking the class.

She was mostly interested in the plant side of Aquaponics, and I was interested in the fish.

We now own and operate Tilapia Vita Farms on a property that was her late granny's farm.

She inherited it when she was caught being a do-gooder!

I'm telling you! Being good gets you stuff!

Oh, my God! I still have to pinch myself every now and then!

Kim Sanchez, my Ladyfish!

I love her!

My First Tilapia Farm

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