Quote Originally Posted by chrisfoerst
Good point, yes it's still fun! I have about 40 medium sized tilapia that I want to add to my aquaponic system. It's a long story but basically, I have been transferring them between tanks until my system is ready. Can I plant some mature small plants and add in the fish (maybe one fish and one plant per day?)

I am still waiting for the cycling to finish. My ammonia is down below .25ppm but my nitrites are really high.

What's your pH and temp?

Blue Tilapia have a 96h LC50 of 14 ppm to 19 ppm (mg/L) at 8 pH and 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Unless you raise it passed 4 ppm ammonia to cycle your system, the levels will not be high enough to kill most of your fish! To be safe, don't put fish in if you started the cycle with more than 2-3 ppm ammonia.

As a side note, I would put my feeder goldfish in no matter WHAT the conditions. The real men will survive, and Darwin will have a happy school of soldiers to carry on the aquaponic legacy!!!

REFERENCES
Palachek, R. M., and J. R. Tomasso. 1984. Toxicity of nitrite to channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), tilapia (Tilapia aurea), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides): evidence for a nitrite exclusion mechanism. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 41:1739-1744.