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  1. #1
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    Blue tilapia growth sampling

    Last night my wife and I transferred half of our blue tilapia fry out to the greenhouse. This sampling is rough estimates no exact counts were done other than the total number of fish transferred. This amount was from one 5-6 inch female brood fish.
    As I said roughly half were transferred and the total count was 284. So that puts her total spawn somewhere between 500 and 700 fry. I will update an accurate count when I transfer the other 50%. These fry were 30 days old last night when we transferred them. I am excellent with measurements without a ruler. Carpenter. Percentages are a rough estimate based on my wife and my estimates. I know this is not very scientific, but it is darn close.

    20% of fry were +/- 2.25 inches
    60% of fry were +/- 1.5 inches
    20% of fry were +/- 1 inch

    I will update from time to time as growth progresses. Thought some of you might be interested. I am very happy with the results considering the current conditions. No auto feeder. These fry only got fed in the morning, then several times in the evenings, and multiple times during the day on the weekends. They were kept for the first 20 days in a 75 gallon aquarium, then separated into two 75 gallon aquariums for the next 10 days. Needless to say by day 30 they were getting rather cramped (IMO) Feed was Purina Aquamax.

    I fully cycled the greenhouse tanks, and if no water quality issues present themselves in the next three days the remainder of the fry will be transferred, I don't anticipate any. I need the space because I have plenty of females holding eggs right now.

    I know that Blues are not known to be the easiest of the Oreochromis species (I have no experience with others), but I honestly can't imagine them being any easier. I have a modest total poundage of +/-75 pounds around the farm right now. I had 25 pounds delivered in the spring, though he gave me 32 pounds. By best calculations I have tripled my weight in three months. Most were 4 inch fish, and the bulk were stocked in my 1/4 acre pond. The average fish we are catching now out of the pond by rod and reel are now 8- 10 inches long. Males being on the larger end, and females on the smaller.These fish are going into a 700 gallon clean out tank, and are slowly being consumed by my family. As temps start to cool, we will seine the pond, and retrieve as many as possible before winter kill.
    In grow out tanks I have false bottoms made of 1/2 inch hardware cloth to prevent egg gathering by the females, which really helps in reducing the male/ female size differential. Though males till grow larger.
    Oh, a little tidbit of info in case any of you guys stock tilapia in ponds, and want to catch them by angling. Stubby Steves pellet lures! http://www.stubbysteve.com/ These little pellets mimic fish pellets, and work great for catching any feed conditioned fish. They were highly recommended to me, and I bought a few. They work great. Tilapia are not much for the fight the first 10 seconds is impressive, then they just roll over and drag in.

  2. #2
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    I went ahead and relocated the rest of the fry. Not even close on total number. What I thought was half was less than one third. We had by our best hand count. Actually counting them as we pulled them from the net, not just estimating, 925 fry. The average weight was taken by a single net scoop, and getting 30 fish, and weighing, and dividing. Slightly less than what I would have guessed, but they averaged slightly over one gram per fish. I would have guessed more by looking at them. But I am certain the two inch fish are catching my eye more than the one inch fish. I will continue to update, as I plan to weigh every week to adjust my feed ration.

  3. #3
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    how much water capacity in the green house. sounds like you are going to have a full house.

  4. #4
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    Roughly 1800 gallons give or take. So yeah, if allowed to grow out to harvest size, I have a full house. But my target market are people much like ourselves. An extension agent is coming to visit Monday morning to discuss a workshop for teachers that I am speaking at. These teachers are building systems , and need to stock them. That is where I hope to come in. As a small producer, I would rather not try to compete with the big guys for food fish production, I want to cater to backyard producers, and learning institutions. The big guys don't want to sell 50 fish to a local teacher. And of course I want to supply my own table. Thanks for replying.

  5. #5
    Moderator jackalope's Avatar
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    Great posts ..... glad you're eating the product, as well as getting others interested in the Aquaculture/Aquaponics. Keep up the good work!
    I use the Linux Operating System ...... Free as in beer!
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  6. #6
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    Hi Brier, Interesting post....
    I'm glad to hear, that it's not just my fry/fingerlings, that grow at a noticable differant rate...
    "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

  7. #7
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    No, it is normal in all the species I've kept. This isn't just tilapia, but many fish, snails and crayfish as well.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  8. #8
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    Thanks guys! I agree with badflash here. I have seen this in every species that I have successfully bred. You may think you are the odd man out when you visit a hatchery, and see all the tanks of nearly identical sized fish, but a lot of time has been put into sorting these fish. In fact I am certain that If I were real production oriented, I would take the time to sort them so that each size class could be fed for optimal growth. There are many reasons for the size differential, but I think that the primary difference is aggression. I notice that many fish rise to the top and come half out of the water at feeding time, and others mill around below taking the crumbs that drop through. As soon as the feed at the top is eaten the more aggressive fish drop down, and start eating the crumbs as well. These are typically your larger fish. Though not always.

  9. #9
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    I agree that agression plays a role, but there is a natural reason. Nature usually has an ace in the hole. The little guys can hide better and eat smaller food. If some upset comes along or a new predator shows up, the little guys may survive where the larger ones get wiped out.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  10. #10
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    Re: Blue tilapia growth sampling

    That is a good point badflash. I believe many fish species have populations where there are large individuals, and then a sub population of adult "dwarf" fish. Brook sticklebacks, and arctic char come to mind.

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