Learn something new every day... Sometimes about Cichlids..

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The weird thing is you may be looking at the Nile tilapia which fits your description. They are considered food fish here in Asia so it is extremely rare that you will see them in home aquariums. Treated as food, these fish are not given the inch per gallon rule though they really thrive in denser conditions and are very hardy. There are many decorative and aesthetically pleasing species of the Tilapia though technically not belonging to the genus.
 
Tilapia are surprisingly cool fish. I had what I think was a blue tilapia last year and it was growing faster than my oscar. Unfortunately it was too aggressive to keep.

We have tons of them in the river down here. I've gotten quite a few with bows and cast nets that were at 19 inches in length so if you keep one of them, you'll need a good sized tank or pond.
 
Chicxulub said:
So you thought his display tank for fish to pick to eat was a show tank? LOL good story!
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Heh, Yep. Thats exactly what I thought. Oh well.. It was hard to tell and they were good looking fish. Maybe he should have put a sign up or something.. a price written on the tank glass? hahaha

"Uhm yes... I'll have the..... Green Terror sandwich please.."
 
Naos1984 said:
The weird thing is you may be looking at the Nile tilapia which fits your description. They are considered food fish here in Asia so it is extremely rare that you will see them in home aquariums. Treated as food, these fish are not given the inch per gallon rule though they really thrive in denser conditions and are very hardy. There are many decorative and aesthetically pleasing species of the Tilapia though technically not belonging to the genus.
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That's what I read, and that they tolerate overstocking very well. Looking at some of the pics posted in this thread, there are some good looking food fish. I wonder what that guy would say if I showed up with a water chemistry kit and some big plastic totes and asked "How much for just the fish.. I brought my own net thanks.."

Might be uncomfortable to anyone there ordering the tilapia...
 
majorhavok said:
That's what I read, and that they tolerate overstocking very well. Looking at some of the pics posted in this thread, there are some good looking food fish. I wonder what that guy would say if I showed up with a water chemistry kit and some big plastic totes and asked "How much for just the fish.. I brought my own net thanks.."

Might be uncomfortable to anyone there ordering the tilapia...
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They would probably just assume you were taking them home to clean.
 
Longshot said:
I'm guessing you've never been to a red lobster. lol

Typically they have a lobster tank and sometimes you get to pick yours out.
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Oh I'm totally aware that there are live animals available to eat. I just didn't know then what a live tilapia looked like or that they were actually cichlids. Plus each part of the world finds different animals to be food. I'd be pretty mortified if I ordered a fish special in indonesia and got a clown loach on my plate but it happens.
 
majorhavok said:
That's what I read, and that they tolerate overstocking very well. Looking at some of the pics posted in this thread, there are some good looking food fish. I wonder what that guy would say if I showed up with a water chemistry kit and some big plastic totes and asked "How much for just the fish.. I brought my own net thanks.."

Might be uncomfortable to anyone there ordering the tilapia...
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Been there, done that. I've been to a local Walmart where they sold me Channa argus (a snakehead), a Chinese soft-shelled turtle and a Chinese perch all from the live food section. My coworker suffered the inconvenience of explaining to the salesmen who cut them up before giving them out to customers after weighing them. As for the Tilapia, most of them are sold banged up here so you will not find them pleasing to the eye at all coz of handling and there is always that alpha you see picking on the rest. I like them steamed so I always choose the alpha and have him cut up into 4. Hehehe... As I realize, what can be food here are aquarium fish on the other side of the world and vice versa.
 
I used to have a breeding pair of Oreochromis males 2ft nice colors and big!!

had a buttikoferi also and a few others. Imo great fish only issues is they are very aggressive bash all my south and centrals up even my dovii cops a beating from the oreo :(.

Now they are all illegal here but which sucks as some have amazing colors and imo very fun to watch the oeros swim an awful lot and there color by far is the best I have seen on a big fish. reminds me of a school of tetras lol.
 
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