New to Tilapia -- Legal Issues

[TMorgan]

Make an anonymous call and question the state wildlife or fisheries office. Our state guys in NC were very nice and helpful, they are strict about the type of Tilapia you can keep, meaning manly Nile because they can't handle the temps. But my Tilapia permit is suppose to be here this week, took about 3-4 weeks if it shows up on time. Good Luck!

[bcotton]

If only it was a bit easier to get fish already... I don't want to wait another 8 weeks to have the place I want to hold them inspected >_< If I wasn't right under the nose of the university, I'd consider just buying them outright now. Mehhhhh

Have you considered starting the system with minnows? They will start adding ammonia to the system and start the cycling process. You could have a fairly well established sysetem by the time you add tilapia and then the minnows will get eaten.

brian

[bsfman]

If only it was a bit easier to get fish already... I don't want to wait another 8 weeks to have the place I want to hold them inspected >_< If I wasn't right under the nose of the university, I'd consider just buying them outright now. Mehhhhh

Have you considered starting the system with minnows? They will start adding ammonia to the system and start the cycling process. You could have a fairly well established sysetem by the time you add tilapia and then the minnows will get eaten.

brian

The minnows will indeed start the ammonia cycling, but don't count on the tilapia eating them! I had a half dozen or so gambusia living in a fish tank with 150 large tilapia for over a year. They prospered and never once did a tilapia show any interest in eating them. Tilapia seem not to be highly piscivorous fish!

[bcotton]

Meh, i've built four systems and 3 of them i started with minnows. The tilapia eventually eat the minnows. Sometimes they need to grow some first... They tend to try to taste anything that will fit into their mouths.

Maybe they just didnt like the taste gambusia ?


brian

[davidstcldfl]

I think the larger the tilapia, the less likely it'll eat a smaller fish. Of course, that's in an AP system where they are being fed a good quality feed, and enough of it.

We have gambusias and wild Fl mollies at Sahib's. The adult gambusia are probably about 2-3 times larger then the adult mollies.
I'm guessing bcotton's minnows are small like our mollies..?

We have a 75 gallon glass tank with a half dozen adult breeders. There are 2 or 3 mollies in there. They've been in ther for the better part of a year. The tilapia don't seem interested in the mollies.
It is funny when I feed them, the mollies are right up there with the tilapia, trying to get something to eat. If a molly gets eaten, it's most likely an accident... the little guy swam right into a tialpia's mouth...