What you should know about aquaponics tilapia

The Tilapia cichlid is undoubtedly the most popular fish in aquaponics. This is certainly because the Tilapia is an excellent food fish and loves warm water. But what else do you need to know about this interesting fish?

Tilapia are flexitarians

This is what I would call the fish if I observed the cichlids eating in the wild and then had to attribute an eating culture to the fish. Cichlids are able to eat a vegetarian diet. This means that they can also consume purely plant-based protein. For example, home-grown duckweed or vegetable scraps from the kitchen are also suitable as food.

But even in natural habitats, insects are also on their menu from time to time, depending on what is available. Animal protein does not have to be the main focus, but it is a good idea to offer the animals a good mix. This is of course reflected in better growth. While purely plant-based food is sufficient, I still recommend feeding them home-grown insects, for example. Mealworms or the larvae of the black soldier fly are good options.

Tilapia have a very good feed ratio

The feed ratio describes the efficiency of converting feed mass to increase body mass. This is of course an important value when selecting food fish and determining the profitability of an aquaponics system. If you look at this ratio for tilapia, you can see a pretty good feed ratio.

Depending on the conditions such as temperature, feeding and feed composition, some fish farmers report 1kg of growth with 1.1kg of feed. This would be a feed ratio of 1.1. Personally, when raising my fish in aquaponics, I currently achieve a ratio of 1.3-1.5 (=1.3 - 1.5kg of feed for 1kg of growth). Compared to other fish species, this is actually very efficient.

Breeding Tilapia yourself

Have you ever heard of mouthbrooders? These are fish that let their offspring grow into babies in their mouths. Tilapia are also mouthbrooders. And so breeding them further is not particularly difficult. Of course, there are a few important things to consider when breeding:

Determine the genders

Find out what gender your potential breeding fish are and whether you have enough males and females available. The fish reach sexual maturity at around one year of age.

Suitable breeding tank

Then you put about four to five females and one male in a sufficiently large breeding tank. Aquarium tanks with around 300 liters are recommended. Glass tanks are particularly suitable because you can observe your fish closely.

Create optimal conditions

A pleasant temperature (approx. 25-30°C), sufficient oxygen, at least 12 hours of light per day and hiding places and places to retreat for all fish are a basic requirement. Stones, clay pots or tubes are ideal places to retreat.

Watch

Now you observe the behavior of the fish. After a while, the male begins to attract the females. Males are often aggressive during this phase. If things get too heated or you have the feeling that a fish is being injured, isolate the fish immediately and take it out of the tank. If a suitable female is found, it immediately begins laying eggs (usually in one of the hiding places) and the male fertilizes the eggs. After fertilization, the female takes the eggs back into her mouth and incubates the offspring there.

Isolate the mother with the offspring

In order to provide the female with enough peace and quiet with her young, I recommend providing the female and her future offspring with a separate tank. This tank should also be a glass tank.

Raise the fry

After about 4 weeks, the mother will spit out her young completely and permanently and you can start raising the young fish. The fish are only a few millimeters long at first. It is best to put them in a separate tank without a pump! Only use an air pump for oxygen enrichment and make sure to change the water regularly. You can also find suitable food for the young fish in the OFERA shop.

Summarized

The fish is simply very well suited to seasonal aquaponics in the summer. It does not necessarily depend on animal protein, grows quickly, tastes excellent and you can breed it yourself completely independently.

Well, have you become a fan of this fish? Leave your questions, impressions and experiences. You can find the comment box below!