After lots of running and asking around, I managed to find a fish fingerlings retailer. The retailer is located about an 30 minutes drive away, which is very much closer than I expected. These fish are for generating poo for my aquaponic project. Talapia fingerlings ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) After doing my research on the internet I decided to go with talapia because it is hardy and eat almost everything. Acclimatising ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) I got 20 of them and because I do not expect to get 100% survival rate. They were left to float in the tank for about 30 minutes to adjust to the temperature. 2 days later ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) After 2 days I took this picture underwater and the water was slightly murky. Maybe it could be the feed I am using which I bought from the fingerlings retailer or the fish are doing ther job . Anyway the water did not get any mirkier than this which is acceptable by my standard because there is till no vegetation yet. This is the first time I am rearing fish for the table and I am not sure whether I'll eat them when the time comes
I could say 'Oh how cute' but that wouldn't help you be prepared to eat them when they are grown. Don't name them or talk to them or look into their cute little eyes...you might want to let your wife handle the fish catching and cooking
The fish look great KK. When you put plants in the grow tanks the water will probably stabilize and clear up. I have a few questions on the fish....maybe later. Are plants next? This is exciting, everything is coming together for a finished project. I'm going to look for Tilapia recipes. KK is going to be cooking fish soon. Jerry
Toni, you should see them during feeding time, they would all come up to the surface and with their cute little face as though saying "Hi, yummie time again..yahoo!!" Even before I got the fishes, my wife already said very strongly that she wants no part doing anything to the fishes except eating it .... ah well!! Err .... maybe Jerry can help me! Jerry, like to come and do some fishing here when they are ready for the table? My thoughts are excatly like yours about the plants and the water. Yes plants are next but I have to wait for the nutrient and bacteria to build up. Since I had inoculated the water with the matured water from the fountain, I guess by mid-April I should be able to start planting. Please shoot away on your questions about the fish and would you like to cook them?
Good luck with your new fish friends - hope they doo the job for you. Think you will have any trouble keeping them safe from birds who would like to snack on them?
tilapia questions KK, Do you know if the Tilapia are all male? A mixed tank of Tilapia leads to smaller fish. If you do have a mixed gender tank what will you do with the fry? Did you fertilize the tank to promote algae growth, tilapia love to eat algae. Perhaps you can grow algae separate from the fish. It's almost free!! Jerry
Thanks Cuatro-gatos and birds would not be a problem because there is no place for them to perch at the opening of the tank. Moreover the birds around here not fish eaters ...... I hope!! Hi Jerry, I have no idea at the moment whether they are all males or mixed. Anyway that is not important because their main job is just to produce "poo". If they produce fry then it is a bonus because I have no intention of breeding them. Each fry cost only $0.13, so it is much cheaper to buy them then to invest further in equipments for breeding. Yes I did introduced algae into the tank when I inoculated it with water from the fountain. I am now looking for duck weeds to grow which will be excellent for the talapias.
how exciting kk! we are thinking of growing talapia too. will be watching this thread for your success and ideas.
KK.. I've been watching and reading about this project of yours. First I thought that you were just bored going through of that work! But now... I can tell that you have a definite plan and it's all coming together nicely. I can hardly wait to see the next step. And thanks for giving such great details and insight into the whole project. Very nicely done!
KK around here in the summertime I can find duckweed in almost any pond with still water. When I had to resupply my pond a couple of years ago I went to a local pond. There was duckweed everywhere. A hand full was all i needed. I imagine you could find a pond with lots of duckweed. Almost as popular as pebbles. Jerry
Looking really good, KK. It looks like a great success story. I wish that I could send ytou some duckweed. The canals alongside mt lotties gets choked full of the stuff every year. I sometimes scoop out loads of it and flip it onto the compost pile which is near by.
Bunkie it is really easy to growing talapia. They are more than double the size now compared top the time I got them. I ahve been just feeding them pellets at the moment and no other attention is needed. Thanks Cherylad, glad you like it. Jerry, sad to say that duck weed is not that easy to come by here because ponds are rare due to development. I think I might have to check out the garden center soon if I can't get them in the next couple of weeks. Thank you so very much Sojerd, I wish you can.
