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  1. #1
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    how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    hi, i have a couple of large ponds in which i have tilapia. i have read that for optimal growth, tilapia need to eat 2-3% of their body weight in a day. my fish have been sorted according to body weight, so thats easy, but the thing is i dont know how many fish i have and i cant even begin to guess because im still relatively new to all of this.
    so is there another way to calculate how much pellet to feed my fish?
    thank you!

  2. #2
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    Need more data..how big is the pond (gallons), how deep is the pond, how many fish did you initially put in the pond, how big were they then and any other particulars you can come up with
    JCO
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  3. #3
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    well im afraid its a big mess. i initially put about a hundred kilos of mixed sizes of fish. but that was a year ago. i have been selling the large ones and their babies have already grown. the other day i drained the ponds and took the lot of them for sorting.
    they are now separated by size into 4 ponds of 300 meters square that are about 0.7 meters deep. each pond has differing number of fish.
    the ponds are not aquaphonics ponds. they have a continuous inlet supplied by canal water, and the run off supplies a rice field. the water flows at a rate thats enough to fill the ponds ever 24 hours, but i can change the flow to pretty much whatever i want.
    i am situated near the equator so its year round warm weather.
    so is there a way to know how much to feed them? right now i feed them twice a day as much as they can eat in a space of 5 minutes. i feel like i may be giving them too much. the large fish consume 800 grams of pellets in 5 minutes and thats twice a day so it becomes 1.6kg in a day. i have no idea how to know if im reaching the 2-3% of body weight goal?

  4. #4
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    You will have to catch some of the bigger fish and clean them in order to see what kind of body weight and % of meat you are producing with what you are feeding them. Get back to me with your findings
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
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    so never forget
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  5. #5
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    Well i have sorted them by body weight. I harvest them for selling when their weight is around 700g. After fillet the meat is usually around 200g (2x 100g steaks). I feed them with a 28%pelleted pelleted feed.
    I dont really see how this can help you figure out how much fish i have in my ponds since at harvest, i will know the number of fish once they have already been sold, but that would be too late.
    My fish are now currently sorted into 4 ponds like this: below 100g, 100-200g, 200-300g and finally the pond with all the fish above 300g. That was a while ago. The pond with the bigger fish are now weighing close to a half kilo. I would say that i could harvest them in about a month from now.

  6. #6
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    ok, so today i harvested one of my ponds and i weighed and counted all the fish. i was quite surprised to learn that i was grossly under feeding them. i come to the conclusion that the fish will eat 2-3% of their body weight if you feed them 3 times a day, as much as they can eat in a time space of no longer than 10 minutes.
    so i dont know if someone else out there can use this information to confirm and even refine what i have concluded on my own.
    on a side note i was very surprised of the growth rate and fcr that was achieved. in a single month i was feeding them only around 1.5% body mass of pellet per day, yet their weight went from 300g average to 500g average in only a single month? that would give a fcr <1. seems impossible. i did notice the pond water had become contaminated with thousands of shrimp. could it be that tilapia eat live shrimp?

  7. #7
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    Congradulations on your findings and astonishing growth rate. Pump up the feed ration and see what happens.

    i did notice the pond water had become contaminated with thousands of shrimp. could it be that tilapia eat live shrimp?
    I don't know about shrimp but I can tell you that I never have any tadpoles in my pond for more than a few days because the tilapia eat them like crazy anytime they can get to them.
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
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  8. #8
    Members Roger L.'s Avatar
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    Re: how to calculate the amount of feed to give tilapia?

    I know my tilapia love the freeze dried shrimp.
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