what's funny is talapia are illegal in texas but yet there are huge talapia farms in southwest texas that raise them for food. go figure
raising tilapia
- Thread starter sykofrenic
- Start date
the facility that raises them has permits and is inspected by the FDA on a regular basis if they can raise them and the rest of the state cant. thats the only thing i can think of...but Tx is an odd place...i know of some african game farms in Tx too...
Hello Dr. Joe, I would need some information on raising Tilapia in San Jose, CA, I would be located in an unincorporated area of san jose, the fish would be housed in tanks in a large warehouse in my backyard, attached to the house, I am thinking of raiising about 2000, split between 4 tanks, this would be for profit so I am hoping to serve the farmers markets, and flea markets, I am hoping to sell them whole live, for the set up I was thinking a recirculating system, all the water would be recycled and composted, the time frame I am looking at is a harvest every 3 months, I hope that is what you meant with that questions, Please feel free to email me, if you have any other questions, I am sure I checked it on this site, so that you could, I am looking to get the business up and running in the next few months, I am working through the permits and legal issues right now, I would be willing to go through the hassle of getting the permits for Nile, but have found some other species that are not listed in Section 14, of the F&G code, any help would be greatly appreciated, as for my skill level, I have been invovled in pond maintenance since the fourth grade, I have also been involved in hydroponics, and other plants growing mediums. Thank you for your help,Dr Joe;2661045; said:
if you do let me know ill be intrested in some im located in san francisco NEAR a flea marketanonsuus;3859352; said:
talapia in the philippines are very easy fish ..they are born survivors and are bred to grow fast and big.blue_francis14;2662355; said:Just curious, what will you feed tilapia? Here in the Philippines, we feed them commercially available algae or "lumot". Some tilapia farmers feed them with animal feed. Yeah, they eat everything but they'd taste too fishy.
I was a bit surprised that someone here is going to raise tilapia. Anyway, good luck raising them. They are delcious when salted and fried, grilled and I forgot what to call it in english, sinigang.
Since you're in California, ask some filipinos on how to gut and cook tilapia.
There are several people growing Tilapia in barrels in the back yard here in the San Diego area. The key is maintaining temperature as that is the one thing they are very sensitive to. I've collected a lot of information about them, including diagnosis and treatment of disease, and how to maintain healthy conditions, sources of fry and equipment, etc... at:
http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/pond/TilapiaRaising.htm
I would love to hear from anyone who is actually working with these fish!
http://techref.massmind.org/techref/other/pond/TilapiaRaising.htm
I would love to hear from anyone who is actually working with these fish!
There is a lot of outdated information out there on the internet when it comes to Tilapia and aquaculture. For example, the guy selling breeder colonies in Florida (he want's $700 now for 6 fish...lol) Uses what is called a "supermale" to obtain what he claims is 100% male offspring, but this really isn't necessary at all. I looked at his stuff for quite some time before I selected a cheaper source for pure Oreochromis Aurea and a Nile strain. They will claim that the females will breed excessively and overcrowd while at the same time stunting their own growth. Well, a net suspended above the bottom, or raising in cages also prevents breeding. when this is done, females will grow almost as quickly as the males and they can be harvested at the same time.
I have an associate who has just recently brought in a Golden Mozambique Tilapia strain from Hawaii. Although these fish aren't quite the growers that other Tilapia can be, they are nice fish and also satisfy the legal issues of states like California and others.
Taste is also no longer an issue of feed as it was in the past. The fish are grown out on normal commercial feeds (I use the feed in my sig), and I also use greenwater techniques to give supplemental nutrition...but for tasty fish, these days it is common practice to move the fish into pure clean water and withold feed for 1 week before harvesting. None of the Chinese imported Tilapia go through this process, so it all tastes like poop and mud, but for the small scale aquaculturist, the fish can be purged this way. In this week long period, the fish don't lose any muscle tissue...they lose fat only. Another thing that the home hobbiest can do is to taper off the commercial feed towards harvest time and finish up with a vegetable based diet to increase Omega-3 fatty acids...
don't let your local or state government ruin you goals for healthy fish. Raising your own food fish is the ONLY way to gaurantee that it is healthy... And don't eat anything farm raised in China or Indonesia...
Send me a PM if you have any questions. It may be a few months before I can get these Mozambiques from Hawaii to you for California, but you may find that you can get a permit anyways. Often, the permits are much easier to get when the operation is conducted indoors. There is a big difference between tank culture and, say, a pond that gets it's water from a diverted river or lake....
Also, beware of what you buy. MOST strains of Tilapia from the continental US are not genetically pure. The Mozambiques here on the mainland are not nearly as pure or colorful as the ones in Hawaii for example, and any of them found wild in Florida for example have hybridized themselves with other Tilapia species. None of these fish are native to the USA, so the ones in Florida are a genetic fusion of more than one species of Tilapia.
Sorry for such a long post, but I like to see people get interested in Tilapia aquaculture. I'm not really a huge operation, but I am working with one of the best farms in the business IMO.
Mike
I have an associate who has just recently brought in a Golden Mozambique Tilapia strain from Hawaii. Although these fish aren't quite the growers that other Tilapia can be, they are nice fish and also satisfy the legal issues of states like California and others.
Taste is also no longer an issue of feed as it was in the past. The fish are grown out on normal commercial feeds (I use the feed in my sig), and I also use greenwater techniques to give supplemental nutrition...but for tasty fish, these days it is common practice to move the fish into pure clean water and withold feed for 1 week before harvesting. None of the Chinese imported Tilapia go through this process, so it all tastes like poop and mud, but for the small scale aquaculturist, the fish can be purged this way. In this week long period, the fish don't lose any muscle tissue...they lose fat only. Another thing that the home hobbiest can do is to taper off the commercial feed towards harvest time and finish up with a vegetable based diet to increase Omega-3 fatty acids...
don't let your local or state government ruin you goals for healthy fish. Raising your own food fish is the ONLY way to gaurantee that it is healthy... And don't eat anything farm raised in China or Indonesia...
Send me a PM if you have any questions. It may be a few months before I can get these Mozambiques from Hawaii to you for California, but you may find that you can get a permit anyways. Often, the permits are much easier to get when the operation is conducted indoors. There is a big difference between tank culture and, say, a pond that gets it's water from a diverted river or lake....
Also, beware of what you buy. MOST strains of Tilapia from the continental US are not genetically pure. The Mozambiques here on the mainland are not nearly as pure or colorful as the ones in Hawaii for example, and any of them found wild in Florida for example have hybridized themselves with other Tilapia species. None of these fish are native to the USA, so the ones in Florida are a genetic fusion of more than one species of Tilapia.
Sorry for such a long post, but I like to see people get interested in Tilapia aquaculture. I'm not really a huge operation, but I am working with one of the best farms in the business IMO.
Mike
JamesNewton;4504771; said:
the books will have you think all that...but it isn't as critical as you may think. There is the ideal temp for max growth, and there is a temp range where they will breed, but especially when dealing with the Blues (O. Aureum), they can survive temps into the upper 40's all the way up to around 105f. But the problem with high temps is that fish farming is an intensive operation generally utilizing extreme stocking rates...and high temp = less Oxygen in the water....they'll generally suffocate before they cook.
I have some still growing out in a swimming pool here in Michigan. Water temp has been low 60's lately, they eat a little less and they grow a little slower, but that's all.
Mike
