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badflash
02-15-2009, 01:59 PM
This is the most common variety in aquaculture. Somewhat salt tolerant, but nothing like the mossambica. Very hearty in my experience. The main varieties don't start reproduction until about 6 months old, but a sub-species known as the Baringo tilapia starts as early as 3 months and only 3". The Baringo females also grow as large as the males if they are not allowed to breed.

Here is a school of young Baringo's:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/Oreochromisniloticusbaringoensis1.jpg

These fish love plants and will rapidly take out just about anything you put in with them. They readily eat duckweed, string algae, najas, as well as just about anything that fits in their mouths.

Niles are often hybridized with Blue Tilapia (aurea) to produce a fast growing hybrid. The Rocky Mountain White is one of those crosses,

Niles are more cold tolerant than Mossambica, but not much. Keep them in the high 70's to high 80's F.

badflash
02-16-2009, 04:02 PM
Here is me holding a large male nile tilapia. He was hached in June of 2008. He is close to a kilo already:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/P2170006.jpg

Here is a close-up:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/P2170005.jpg

In the background is my O. hornorum breeders.

jackalope
04-29-2009, 07:08 PM
The Nile tilapia is a native of the Nile River, North African waters and Middle East. The Nile tilapia is likely the most widely cultured tilapia species. This species (or a hybrid with the blue tilapia) is most often cultured in recirculating aquaculture systems in the US.
Blue tilapia is the second most cultured, hybridized with Oreochromis nilotica. The blue tilapia breeds at a smaller size and earlier age than Nile tilapia (2-3 months vs. 5-6 months) and is more tolerant of high salinity and low temperature than many other species.
A hybrid between the mossambica female and nilotica male is known to be fast-growing. - from Aquaculture

badflash
05-28-2009, 03:08 PM
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/P5280002.jpg
It's what's for dinner!
They were yummy!

badflash
12-30-2009, 03:33 PM
It was time to thin the herd again. Here is a 9 month old male:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/PC310001.jpg

davidstcldfl
12-30-2009, 03:51 PM
9 Months old ? WOW...nice looking fish badflash !

jackalope
12-30-2009, 08:48 PM
Got any idea what he weighed?

badflash
12-30-2009, 11:18 PM
2.4 pounds

davidstcldfl
12-31-2009, 11:45 AM
Badflash, 2.4 pds in 9 months.....I'll sound like the crazy guy, in the movie DR STRANGE LOVE.....I got to know, what's in the water ! :D :lol: :o WOW, I thought most get around 1 1/2 pds in that time (?)

In regards to your Feb 16, 09 post....In the first picture, your holding a fish. Down by your knees, there appears to be a regulator .....is it oxygen ?....and are you using it all the time ?
Same picture....there is a round duct, whick looks like it may be attached to the hood of your breeder tank (?) May I ask of it's purpose....hopeing to learn something :)

badflash
12-31-2009, 02:18 PM
I feed them good food and keep them warm and the water clean. That is pretty much it. I use Ziegler's Finfish Silver 3 mm floating pellets. The males put on weight fast if they are not too crowded.

The Oxy tank is for shipping fish. I use pure O2 rather than air. The duct is from my furnace on the other side of the wall.

MY system is pretty simple. 100 gallon stock tank as a sump. 1/2 Hp pool pump taking suction on it, and discharging to a pool sand filter using plastic beads rather than sand. There is a distribution header that brings water to all the tanks. Overflow pipes take the water back to the sump. I also have an aquacube bio flter in the sump and 2KW of heaters.

You can see my setup here:
My 700 gallon basement system (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?33-My-700-gallon-basement-system)

davidstcldfl
12-31-2009, 07:30 PM
The duct is from my furnace on the other side of the wall.
:lol: :lol: :lol: ....besides checking out the nice fish, I could'nt help but notice the duct. I do HVAC work and I'm a pipe fitter. I guess I was over thinking the duct....thought maybe you were trying to keep the humidty down. :D



The Oxy tank is for shipping fish. I use pure O2 rather than air.
I was asking about the regulator...I have my own small brazing/cutting rig. I was wondering if I could use the O2 from it, to use while transporting fry/fingerlings instead of buying a 12v dc air pump(?)

Picked up an idea or two from looking at your system. 'THANKS' Badflash....... I need to add airstones in my bio box, for one thing....

badflash
01-01-2010, 09:53 AM
My first O2 supply was from ahome depot setup. Map gas and O2 with those small berz-o-matic type screw on bottles. It worked fine. I see no reason that using gas from a welder wouldn't work as long as the line is purged of welding gas.

Cris Gaston
01-05-2010, 05:40 PM
Yup, any clean source of O2 will do. We prepare fish for shipment by first moving them to a clean tank and fasting them for 24-48 hours to purge their guts. Fish pooh in the bags will spoil the water and deplete the O2 real fast. 1/3 water + 2/3 O2 in the bag is s.o.p. Depending on how much fish are in what size bag, they can stay alive up to 48 hours.

Nice pics, badflash. Btw, the tilapia cultured here are mostly composites of various O. nilotica strains. Basic foundation is from the 8th generation of the GIFT ( Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia) line developed in the 1980's by a multi-national project to improve tilapia.

badflash
01-06-2010, 09:05 AM
Correct, I always purge them for at least 48 hours too and 4 days prior to fillet.

urbanfarmer
10-14-2010, 08:26 PM
TAXONOMY:
http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/8128

Bioritize
07-19-2011, 10:52 AM
Where can I buy these fish? I live in Iowa

urbanfarmer
07-19-2011, 04:19 PM
You can always order them via the Internet, but this will be the most expensive option. Check around for a local source. Heck, if they true genetics of the fish don't matter much you can always try free classifieds (craig's list even) for a local supplier.

larryreinhardt
08-17-2011, 04:33 PM
I enjoyed reading the post on this site. I'm a retired former owner of a Koi farm. I raised tilapia in a couple pools with some channel catfish I got from a place in Leesburg Florida. I don't know what variety the tilapia were as one of my customers brought me a dozen from a pond on his farm. They could and did survive the winters in central Florida in above ground pools without any heat. I sold the farm 10 years ago and now I am living in peaceful little town in small house and property. I have/am building and aquaponics system the FT is 2600 gallons with two 16' grow beds holding 450 gallons. I purchased a hundred tilapia on June the 6th, they were just an inch in length. They are now 5 to 8 inches and the males are setting up the territories. I thought they were Nile Tilapia but they don't exactly look like those pictured above. Their growth has been a real surprise until a week ago I kept them in a 3,000 gallon swimming pool and fed them 6 times a day, most the males turn an almost white with a lot of red spots in the fins when a female approaches them. Their color returns to a gray when the female leaves. I've looked at some of the Blue Tilapia on Youtube and they don't look like those either. I would like to know what I have if possible perhaps their a hybrid. Thanks

urbanfarmer
08-17-2011, 04:47 PM
Unfortunately, we have had 2 record low freezes in Florida recently. The few I had (14-16 inch bad boys) died in a 1000 gallon in ground pond last winter. The blue gill survived, strangely, but he was very small. The goldfish didn't seem to care whatsoever.

davidstcldfl
08-18-2011, 08:15 AM
Hi larryreinhardt, welcome to the forum... :D
By chance, were you the fellow with the koi farm near Holopaw FL ?

I too, am supposed to have 'blues'. I have some blues in a 55 gal aquarium in the house. They seem to always be changing colors. Even the ones with vert. stripes, seem to lighten and darken at times.

I'm guessing that 'most' tilapia in FL , have been 'crossed' at some time or another. Nile were introduced to one of the lakes...back in the early 60's. They were surprised they managed to spread... :o ... :lol:
Here's an article that I just found on 'spotted' tilapia in South FL ( which I didn't know about)...
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/d ... lapia.html (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/gallery/descript/spottedtilapia/spottedtilapia.html)

larryreinhardt
08-18-2011, 08:24 AM
My main farm was in Apopka but in 1998 I acquired Gordon's Tropicals in Holopaw. I quit fish farming after a year of that, now its a hobby again. They look like a mixture to me. Thanks

Larry

urbanfarmer
08-18-2011, 09:19 AM
We also have Zebra Tilapia in our waters. I have seen them, but I have been unable to catch one!