getting ready to raise tilapia again... year 3...

[Magnum Man]

it's a learning process, last year I goofed up, and we butchered fish, before catching the breeders from their outside tank...
this is what I think happened... 5 females, and a male were in their 275 gallon tank outside, for the summer... I think an alpha female, forced the male to jump out of the tank... when drained and caught the fish out of that tank, last, there was no male, and we had already butchered all the males from the other grow out tanks... so I had to order more fry this year again... so I ordered 30 sexed male fingerlings again this year, and we'll try again... they came the other day, about twice as big this year, than last year, maybe because I ordered them earlier... they are in a 5 gallon bucket with 2 sponge filters right now... I'm thinking I'll keep the females in their over wintering aquariums, so I can better keep an eye on what's going on... the seller claims getting a working group, is challenging, and why they charge so much money for them... anyway... whoo hoo, starting year 3 of trying to raise and breed tilapia again

 

[GaryE]

I'm curious - I used to breed what was then a small Tilapia, and that's now classed in Coptodon. How violent are the males with each other? I found the small ones (3-4 inches adult - not food fish) coexisted very well. They also jumped very easily. But they bred like mice in a 30 gallon, and were kind of overwhelming numbers-wise.
I'm guessing you probably have a Sarathrodon species, but how rough are they with each other?

In Gabon, we kept meeting fishermen along the road with enormous Coptodon zilli types - very beautiful but serious tank busters. They were big, powerful fish.

 

[Magnum Man]

these are all supposed to be blue ( Oreochromis aureus )
when in big tanks, with high numbers of fish, to repeat a quote a heard somewhere, "you can stack them in a tank, like cord wood" I don't personally like to run more than 50 in a 275 gallon tank ( I've been told 75 per tank that size is acceptable ) that's for grow out, breeding gets trickier... I ended up keeping 5 females over winter, and think I've Identified the alpha female, who likely forced my male out of the big tank last summer... I'll be gifting that one to my buddy with the ornamental pond... the other females seem to get along, of course there is a possibility a new female will take over, with no desire to breed, but in the large outside tank, it's hard to specifically see what's going on... I'll be holding back a few of these supposed male fry, as potential breeders, and retain them in the house, the balance will go outside, once I have the tanks filled for summer

 

[GaryE]

I know nothing of the farming side, but have you ever considered an indoor tank to get fry? They're mouthbrooders and seem to shoal when smaller. The Oreochromis I've known were precocious breeders, when not very big.You could probably have a good crew ready to go out every Spring, as a head start.

Then again, maybe not. Just brainstorming....

 

[Magnum Man]

that's kind of my goal, if I can make this work... I'm doing it for my own consumption ( we got a recipe for canned fish, that's really excellent in a casserole, from one of the guys that helps me harvest... he cans all his northern pike ) and is much like canned salmon... going forward, anything too small to fillet, when I shut down the outside tanks in the fall, will be canned...
fry are really too expensive to buy, raise, and sell at harvest... I have a 45 gallon, and 65 gallon tank, currently dedicated towards breeding... I have had a pair breed before, my 1st winter, so it can be done... those 15 -16 fry mixed with last years , in the grow out tanks, and raised as ones I bought, and were indistinguishable at harvest...

 

[Magnum Man]

"they" say you need a breeding colony, I suspect to give the lady's a break, the males are very insistent on continuous breeding... I think, I may be better off separating the breeding male and females, to give the lady's more of a break, and keeping fewer females... as mouth brooders, the females don't eat while they have fry in their mouths, and I think I'm going to just use 2 females and one male... will try them in one tank to start, but may end up moving the male to the breeding tank, and removing him, from the lady's while they condition, or perhaps give each lady, their own tank, and move the male back and forth between tanks... interestingly, I did keep back a few from the batch I bred, and they got as large in the 65 gallon, as the ones outside, on the same feeding / time schedule... so I've even considered keeping them on a continuous cycle, rather than batching them... doing that would require cleaning fewer fish, more often...

 

[GaryE]

I've had a couple of friends try tankbuster "Tilapia" to see how they were as large fish pets. They bred like bad ideas.

My little Coptodon dwarfs produced huge numbers of babies. I could put a male in with several females and remove him when they were carrying. That species, which I could never conclusively, 100% identify, pumped out babies. I stopped keeping them when I moved from that house, largely because I didn't want them to take over the new set up. If yours are anything like them, you could have hundreds of young ready to go out as soon as it warmed up every year.