PDA

View Full Version : New activity



Roger L.
07-16-2013, 01:20 PM
I was sitting just watching my fish today, as I like to do, and noticed some new behavior. I have 16 guppies that I started out with to make sure I would not kill my tilapia when I bought them. A week and a half later I added 30 blue tilapia. From that time they have co-mingled nicely. 4 of my tilapia died and I squashed one trying to catch it, I banned myself from the net for a week. So today I notice all the guppies congregating in the corner in what appears to be a defensive pack. Is this a sign that the tilapia are of the age to become more aggressive and they will soon be having guppy for dinner?

15mules
07-16-2013, 06:47 PM
I seen a special on the discovery channel, I think it was the discovery channel?????? Anyway, doesn't matter where!! The show was on the Parana. They told how they would form "Packs" and in these "Packs" they were able to eat other fish and animals many times their size. Just saying!!! If your guppies start gaining weight and your tilapia start disappearing????

I mean if they start coming up missing for some reason other than you sqwuushing them with the net!!!!

Hey, I am just trying to cover all the possibilities here, that's all!!

JCO
07-17-2013, 02:23 AM
Tilapia are carnivorous from the day they are release from their mother's mouth until the get about 4 or more inches long...then they start leaning toward vegetation...duckweed, algae and other aquatic plants and debris.

If your Tilapia are of that age, it will do the guppies not good to group and they won't last long enough to reproduce to replenish their selves either. They'll be history in a short - short.

I doubt you could even raise enough guppies in a separate tank to ever keep the Tilapia's appetites appeased so start looking for a source of floating catfish or KOI food to feed them once. Even if it's too big for their mouths, they will suck at it as it softens until it is gone then they'll go looking for more.

OH...and "PUT DOWN THAT NET AND STEP AWAY!" :shock: :o :lol: :mrgreen:

keith_r
07-17-2013, 05:16 AM
Tilapia are carnivorous from the day they are release from their mother's mouth until the get about 4 or more inches long...then they start leaning toward vegetation...duckweed, algae and other aquatic plants and debris.

If your Tilapia are of that age, it will do the guppies not good to group and they won't last long enough to reproduce to replenish their selves either. They'll be history in a short - short.

I doubt you could even raise enough guppies in a separate tank to ever keep the Tilapia's appetites appeased so start looking for a source of floating catfish or KOI food to feed them once. Even if it's too big for their mouths, they will suck at it as it softens until it is gone then they'll go looking for more.

OH...and "PUT DOWN THAT NET AND STEP AWAY!" :shock: :o :lol: :mrgreen:
just watch your step!
:shock:

Roger L.
07-17-2013, 07:33 AM
Little guys are fast and I kind of swatted withe net and caught him mid-escape between the side of the tank and the net frame. I said an extra few words than normal before he got his burial at the commode.

bsfman
07-17-2013, 10:15 AM
If your Tilapia are of that age, it will do the guppies not good to group and they won't last long enough to reproduce to replenish their selves either. They'll be history in a short - short.



Probably so, but I had a half dozen gambusia (mosquito fish) that peacefully coexisted in a fish tank full of tilapia up to 3 pounds for nearly two years. They showed no fear of the tilapia and the tilapia never showed any interest in them. The gambusia started out about an inch in length and were approaching 3 inches when I relented, netted them out and set them free in the canal where I originally acquired them.

I thought it strange that the tilapia would devour tree frog pollywogs with relish, but totally ignore the gambusia.

Another interesting anecdote about predator fish: Some Years ago, I kept Oscars. One, a large red Oscar I called Napoleon, had a tank to himself. Every couple of weeks, I would spring for a treat for Napoleon and bring him a dozen feeder goldfish from the local pet store. The first time, he almost instantly devoured all the fish, but one little goldfish he allowed to live. In subsequent live goldfish feedings, he would immediately devour all the fish, but always left that same goldfish unmolested. The goldfish showed no fear of Napoleon and would frequently swim right past his face. They lived peacefully together for nearly two years. I found that both amusing and amazing! :o

Roger L.
07-17-2013, 10:28 AM
Is there any intelegence in a fish. I know they have the Pavlov reaction as they always gather in the feeding area when I am around but not sure if they have the brains to develop personalities as we tend to project on them.

keith_r
07-17-2013, 11:58 AM
i know a guy that has trained his bass to "hand feed" them..
i've seen other fish trained as well...i think mythbusters trained some goldfish through an obstacle course... i think fish have a little more intellegence than we give them credit for

JCO
07-17-2013, 12:30 PM
Don't know about intelligence in fish but I do know about Oscars as I use to raise them for the Aquarium trade a number of years ago.

They can become tame, enough enough so as to eat from your hand and I even had one that liked his sides rubbed. I would feed him by hand and then he would come back and lay at the surface on his side for me to gently rub his side.

He was about 13" in length at the time this finally developed. Maybe he had indigestion and needed his belly rubbed, don't know. Never figured out why he would do that.

I had him in a 200 gal tank next to my recliner and he spent all his time at my end of the tank when I was sitting there. Then I got up one morning when he was about 7 years old and he was dead. Old age was the only thing I could figure. That was a bad moment for me even though he was just a fish :cry:

Roger L.
07-18-2013, 09:17 AM
That brings up another good question. How long will fish live. My tilapia when they get older I will choose breakers and put them separate from the herd. How long before I need to select a new set of breeders and retire the others to a retirement plate?

15mules
07-18-2013, 10:52 AM
Roger do not quote me on this, but it seems like I seen some numbers up around 10 years or so, can't remember exactly, but that seems like what I remember reading. Maybe someone will chime in that knows for sure.

Roger, I looked in one of my books I have with me and they are saying 10 to 15 years, but as with all living things this is an average and can very with individuals more or less.

bsfman
07-18-2013, 12:30 PM
Roger, I looked in one of my books I have with me and they are saying 10 to 15 years, but as with all living things this is an average and can very with individuals more or less.

Yeah, but if fish go through similar changes as humans, at about 7 to 8 years of age, the females go through "fishopause" and get really cranky and emotional. The males, though still interested in the occasional piscicine booty call, experience intermittent failures and embarrassment and decide "why fight this?" The males eventually die before the females (just because they can.)

keith_r
07-18-2013, 01:06 PM
did you read about the record rockfish that someone just caught? estimated to be 200 years old!
i think the record koi (they can live around 30 years i think) is 226 years old..
sturgeon can reach 100 years...

but regarding tilapia, i've ready that they will live anywhere from 8 to 20 years

dead_sled
07-18-2013, 01:25 PM
Yeah, but if fish go through similar changes as humans, at about 7 to 8 years of age, the females go through "fishopause" and get really cranky and emotional. The males, though still interested in the occasional piscicine booty call, experience intermittent failures and embarrassment and decide "why fight this?" The males eventually die before the females (just because they can.)

Thank you for the very scientific explanation! :mrgreen:

15mules
07-18-2013, 01:39 PM
Thank you for the very scientific explanation! :mrgreen:


Man, science has come along way hasn't it? Or has it??

bsfman
07-18-2013, 05:58 PM
Man, science has come along way hasn't it? Or has it??

Probably not the way I do science :)

urbanfarmer
07-18-2013, 10:01 PM
Yeah, but if fish go through similar changes as humans, at about 7 to 8 years of age, the females go through "fishopause" and get really cranky and emotional. The males, though still interested in the occasional piscicine booty call, experience intermittent failures and embarrassment and decide "why fight this?" The males eventually die before the females (just because they can.)
Oh, buddy... :shock:

Roger L.
07-18-2013, 10:11 PM
Nature is cruel that way to all of us creatures.

15mules
07-19-2013, 09:25 AM
Cruel, Heck if some of those desires went away earlier in life, just think of the time and money we would have saved!!!!

JCO
07-19-2013, 06:27 PM
OK, so what's (t)her name(s) :? :mrgreen:

Roger L.
07-19-2013, 09:37 PM
Most start out EX.......

15mules
07-20-2013, 04:33 PM
The older I get the more I like my mules. I especially like talking to them, they always agree with me. ;)

I think they do anyway, they have never said they didn't ;) :lol: