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  1. #1
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    Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    my tilapia have been spawning for the past four months, so I'm very much into the learing curve; I've placed the fry into a 10 gallon tank, but one of the problems has been as time passes the older fry get bigger and the new fry get eaten!

    My wife has done a yeoman's job of trying to net out the hungry "monster fry" but not a good solution; I tried googling "small fish graders" or "small fish sorters" and all I found were massive machines costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

    Solution: make my own! The prototype is made from acrylic and 304 stainless steel tubing, and it works very well sorting the perpetual hungry from the innocents <g>[attachment=0:4pzwnjy2]100_2539.jpg[/attachment:4pzwnjy2]
    [attachment=1:4pzwnjy2]100_2541.jpg[/attachment:4pzwnjy2]
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  2. #2
    Moderator stucco's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    Thanks for posting that. I hope to see it in action.
    Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.-- Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
    Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought~fortune cookie

  3. #3
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    Wouldn't it have been just as easy and maybe even less expensive to go on http://craigslist.com and buy a few more 10 gal tanks...they are quite cheap on there here in Fla. Just a thought. Cannibalism is common place among most fry especially among cichlids (Talipia) and Koi.
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  4. #4
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    Quote Originally Posted by JCO
    Wouldn't it have been just as easy and maybe even less expensive to go on http://craigslist.com and buy a few more 10 gal tanks...they are quite cheap on there here in Fla.
    Space is a problem for me, I just don't have the room for more tanks (at least inside, once the greenhouse is finished that may solve that problem); but even in one group of fry they grow at different rates, and the bigger ones do go after their slower growing brothers;

    The cost of the materials is small, so it's not really the money (the labor, however, is another thing! )

    Quote Originally Posted by stucco
    Thanks for posting that. I hope to see it in action.
    Thanks stucco, this is just a prototype, I've tested it out and it works fine, but further refinement is needed. As soon as the rough edges get worked out I'll post a pic of it in action.

  5. #5
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    Cool....stainless steel tube....break out the orbital welder...

    I remember having a plastic 'birhting' box years ago, when I was raisng sword tails. It had a plastic 'V' in it...the bottom of the 'V', was an open slot.
    The idea was the mother was above the 'V'...and the fry went down through the slot, into the lower 1/2 of the box.

    Might be a way to do something like that too.


    I just went over and looked at the 10 gal I have with hundreds of fry. Man, have they grown ! I better get the other 10 gal set up fast.
    I also, now have 4- 55 gal barrels that were used as holding tanks for fry. I better get them set up too !
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  6. #6
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    I know you really don't want to lose any fry but it's natural elimination...survival of the fittest...in this case...survival of the fastest growing which when you think about it, that's a good thing...eliminate the slow growers and soon your strain will be stronger for it.
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  7. #7
    Members francois's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    hi all

    i agree with survival of the fittest
    i grow my fry in a smaller dam and keeping in age groups
    later sorting the bigger/faster growing males
    and releasing them into my system
    selling smaller fe/males
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    Yust me thinking

  8. #8
    Members francois's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    this is just a prototype, I've tested it out and it works fine
    nice i will do something symm.
    Yust me thinking

  9. #9
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    Quote Originally Posted by JCO
    I know you really don't want to lose any fry but it's natural elimination...survival of the fittest...in this case...survival of the fastest growing which when you think about it, that's a good thing...eliminate the slow growers and soon your strain will be stronger for it.
    I'll never argue with Darwinism, but I think you're misunderstanding my situation. Since I only have one fry tank, the fry from a hatch two weeks ago are in the same tank with newly released fry. The newly released fry may be genetically superior to the hatch from two weeks ago, but will get eaten by possibly genetically inferior but much larger fry. Hence, the need for a sorter. Darwin's law can't work if a new generation is eliminated just because they are smaller than the existing examples of the species. Natural selection doesn't work like that.

  10. #10
    Moderator jackalope's Avatar
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    Re: Cannibalistic tilapia; Solution: Home made sorter

    I just go to the thrift store and buy all of the old plastic aquarium plants they have ..... they practically give them away, because they are such a nuisance to them ..... then after I wash them thoroughly, I throw them into the tank and let nature take it's course .... some of the plastic plants will float to the top, some sink to the bottom, and some end up in the middle If the get eaten with all that plastic to hide in, they deserve it! This has worked with Guppies, Swords, Mollies, Platties, Tilapia, and Cichlids among others!
    I use the Linux Operating System ...... Free as in beer!
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