I went ahead and returned my water conditioners (did not perform as advertised, cost me a lot of time, water swaps, water tests, etc.) and in the process was able to suggest to the Amazon staff to support AquaLife Complete which I found on your website. Helping hands help helping hands! The best part is they credited me 10$ for all the hassle, so I was able to order the product immediately without hurting my checking account. Natural Rapport brand is good for treating city water but I find it stalls the nitrogen cycle after vigorous testing. (I am a STEM undergraduate headed for a Ph.D. in Biology and M.S. in Engineering) You've also helped serve as a motivator for my disabled step-father to get into the hobby with me. Coming from a military family hearing it from a veteran really appealed to him. Thank you!
I appreciate the video. I'm roughly 3 months into my aquaculture venture with Tilapia after switching to stand-alone hydroponics instead of aquaponics with bluegills. The breeding tank setup explanation was helpful (particularly the bit about no current near the "nest"). I got into this the same as you (as a hobby on a student budget) and am quickly learning how fast it can escalate. I'm up to four tanks and already know I'll need more soon; Looking into IBC bins & 55-gallon drums but it's definitely worthwhile to be able to watch the process at first via an aquarium. I read your website and it appears we share a passion for aquaculture and educating others - good man! Anyway, I appreciate the videos and I wish you and your aquatic pals the best! I wish I had family members that took an interest, they think I'm crazy for running indoor gardens and trying to live sustainably! I think they are crazy for ordering junk food 5 nights a week :P
My husband and I are starting an aquaponic farm, raising tilapia and growing veg in the waste water. We'll be taking a closer look at your set up. Always open to learning more as we go. Sexing the fish was a great bit of information. Males have 1 vent hole, while the females have 2. Our fish are young, so it's a work in progress.
On sexing the fish, remember that the count of 1 for the male and 2 for the Females is correct if you exclude the anus. I have another site that goes into a little more detail. This site is not yet published but you can see it at aboutniletilapia.com . If you have a specific question about sexing the fish, just let me know.
I just set up a breeding tank and my male fish seems to be overly aggressive; 1:4 ratio and despite having hiding places the females don’t hide. 2 of them hang out by the surface and seem to avoid the male but the other two seem to get chased around the tank to exhaustion. Is this normal? Or do you have Any suggestions?
Sorry Joshua, I was watching my grand daughter compete in a figure skating compitetion in Nashville this weekend. The air pump is an Elemental. Both sizes of air pumps I use are elemental....no particular reason, It was just the first pump I bought and the are priced the best.
Very educative. I bought about 34 three weeks old Tilapia fingerlings last June, 2016. It's meant to by now produce but each time I check, I keep seeing the gravel the male digs up. What can be done to get them to mate? Thanks.
Please describe your breeding tank setup. How many females, how many males, what is your temperature, pH, etc: I will try to figure out what is going on in your breeding system
Mineral Springs Tilapia Temperature is 32°c. I am not using a brooding Tank rather I built a pond with concrete. the size of the pond is 3x4 foots. I am not sure of how many males are there out of 34 but am sure it should be upto 15. Thanks
Yeah, having that many fish in that kind of pond, you may or may not get them to breed.....too many males and no way to verify that a female is holding or when she got eggs. In that kind of environment, when she gets ready to spit the babies from her mouth, the other fish will be waiting to eat them. Only the few who find a hiding place could possibly survive. This would be a less than desirable breeding situation and I couldn't really tell you too much about it because I have never had to deal with it.
Hey Dennis, when I clean tanks, depending on how dirty they are, I usually take out half to 3/4 of the old water and refill. I always try to keep at least a quarter of the cycled water and at least one cycled filter....either a sponge filter or a hang on back power filter, or in the fry tanks at least one of the sponge filters.
Are the small stones needed at the bottom of the tank ? I have some larger lava rock and they seem to be moving the rocks around....but they are also sitting in the tubes a lot more lately.
Hey Zach, For almost a year now, I have not had any rocks in the bottom of any tank. It has not affected the breeding of the fish except in the very beginning for a few weeks. Rocks are not bad, but not necessary either and not having them makes cleaning the tanks much easier.
Yes have been using hand siphon tube to clean the tank bottom after each water change but ammonia is at 4.0 and nitrates 80 ppm out a bunch of plants in to take that up. Am looking at bubble filter construction now.
Hi, I just subscribed and watched all of your videos and learned a bunch and enjoyed them all. I noticed in your march 19, video, "New Facility" that you have set up one or more swimming pools. Are you growing fish in them? I'm thinking about do that after I set up a breeding tank and nursery tanks. I'm going to use it for an aquaponics system. Your input would be geat help.
Hey Jack, thanks for subscribing, glad you enjoyed the videos. I have found that the pools work just ok for growing out the fish. They require much more maintenance and cleaning than the tote system so I use them as "purge" systems now. When a group of fish become large enough to sell for food, I put them in the pools for 5-6 days with lots of air and I do not feed them. This purges the fishes system (cleans them out) which makes them easier to clean, less messy to clean and firms and sweetens the fishes flesh which are great selling points. Since you have to pump the water out of the pools and into the filter system, you cannot get all of the solid waste into the filter system making it necessary to actually vacuum the bottom of the pool weekly which is a very time consuming task. That is why I only use them on a limited basis. Hope this helps you out.......Thanks again.......Greg
Keith Dewing Oh, we sell fingerlings, fry and breeder colonies of both Blue and Nile Tilapia and will soon have all male hybrids from our Hornorum X Mossambique breeders.
Ed P Hey Ed, the flower pot that I use is about 12" across the top. Just a clay pot from Home Depot. The smaller fish like I put in the tank in the video don't really need one that big, but as they grow the certainly will.
Mineral Springs Tilapia Greg, I cannot thank you enough for your videos and your feedback. I have done my best to replicate your breeder setup because I was new and of course having problems. I am now producing baby tilapia for my family instead of buying them. We eat a lot of fish in my family and I am just amazed at how easy it now is to feed my family healthier food without the hormone treatment of commercially bought tilapia. We are now over 200 fish growing out which will be plenty for us and our chickens as we continue on. Thank you again. Ed
Ed P Wow Ed, that's great and thanks for the kind words. As you move forward it will become easier and before long you will have more fish than you know what to do with. Congratulations again.
Well, you may see them in the flower pot with the male, but more likely, you can tell by the large bulge in the chin of the female. There are a lot of photos in my videos showing females holding eggs. Take a look at how the chin of the female is extended and watch the movement of the mouth. The females suck water through fairly closed lips in order to roll the eggs. It kind of looks like they are sucking water. Another clue is that they don't eat. Very easy to know when a female is holding.
Hey Judd, I always use 1 Male and 5 Females in a breeder colony in a 55 gal tank. If your tank is bigger, you could try 2 males with 7 or 8 females, but you will probably go crazy harvesting fry and if your type of tilapia are like blues, you will spend all your time taking care of baby fish. If you put more than 6 breeders in a 55 gal tank, you will have to watch the water quality closely as 8 or 10 breeders can create a lot of waste and foul your water very quickly. Good Luck with your breeding program. Remember to keep good records. Greg
I set up the tank close to what you did and my male decided not to use the clay pot but one of the lower PVC pipes. Now the females have nowhere to hide as he chases them away from the PVC pipes. What can I do? or will he still mate?
+Ken McNeill If your male has mated in the PVC pipe, he will probably stay there. If he is new to the tank and has not mated with a female yet, he might move to the flower pot. Either way, it is not a real problem because the females will use the pot side of the tank as refuge. Only issue would be if he was a very, very aggressive male in which case I would change him out anyway.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia Oh, yes he will still mate as long as he has a flat surface for the female to lay her eggs and a defensible position. Something you might do if he mates in the pipes is push one end of the pipe cluster up against the glass which gives one way in and out. Eventually he will get to big and have to move anyway. He won't be able to turn around in a 4 inch pipe and he will get tired of swimming in and having to back out.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia IHe already mated and I have one female carrying eggs. I put another set of PVC pipes in the other end of the tank for the females and removed the pot. Ill see how that works for the females to hide out in.
Well, hard to answer that question. I know that the pleco will not hurt the tilapia, but in a breeder tank, the pleco will try to hide during the day. If he decides to hide in the flower pot, that would be a real problem. I would say give it a try and see what happens.....it might work. I have never tried it but one thing you don't want is for the male or females to be constantly chasing around a pleco instead of breeding.
A female holding eggs in her mouth will not eat. There are a few occasions where the female decides to swallow or spit her eggs and eat food if it is available, but that is pretty rare. I still feed the rest of the breeding colony and a holding female will sometimes bump into the food, but if she takes into her mouth, her eggs will be gone.
hi do they breed when they r in different tank growing up together than breeding tank? i see uve few hundreds in different tank. do they breed there too? how to control it? i like to have just one breeding tank and one breeding colony so i can have just one source of frys.. any advice? thanks.
+N B If the fish are a mixed sex species, they will breed no matter where they are If conditions are right. If a female does get a mouthful of eggs in a tank that has 100 fish in it, when she does release the fry from her mouth , the vast majority of them will be eaten. You can control breeding by separation of males and females or by making the water too cold for them to breed.....other than that, they will breed.
Warren Sybrandt hey Warren, I don't have a formal course for teaching folks how to do this, although I have taught many local people how to breed these fish. Where do you live?
Hi thanks for the instructional video. I have a 15 Gallon tank. Is it Ok to use this tank for breeding with say 1 male & 2 female tilapias. Also, I recently caught some wild tilapias and put them in the tank the male always chases females and killed 2 of those. what shall I do? thanks.
A 15 gallon tank is much too small to use as a breeder tank. Tilapia grow quickly and much too large to breed in that small of a tank. I have had no luck at all trying to breed even in a 29 gallon tank. When you have them in a 15, there is no place for the females to hide from the male.....they are just too close for them to run and get away. Also if your male is killing the females, he may be a highly aggressive male and will continue to kill anything that goes into the tank. You should replace the male. I have even seen females breed with the male, be holding a mouthful of eggs and the aggressive male kills her anyway.. If you want to be successful breeding, get a 55 gallon tank and start with the smallest fish possible.
Whats the dimension of the tank you have in this instructional video? Looks sufficient for breeding purpose. i have some space constraints since i dont have a backyard and live in an apartment.
Hi Sir thank you for your videos. what you use to prepare the water ? I use water conditioner for fish I want to know if is ok only and control the PH level please let me know thank you
Ruben Cruces I use a product called Aqualife Complete to condition the water. It is a great product and works instantly. I use crushed coral to buffer up my PH. I don't think there is anything wrong with using other product for buffering up PH. Since I sell fish, I use products that are approved by the FDA so there is no unnatural chemicals added to the system. The Aqualife Complete is the only thing I add to the water and it is approved by the FDA for use with food fishes. Thanks for the question, I hope this helps.
Ruben Cruces thank you for you answer is help me a lot. I have a other two question : I see the you have always clear water on your tanks what to use to mantein clear water, how many times I have to change the water I here the some people use UV ligth is ok for the fish? and my two question is how many days I need to know when the mom tilapia is ready to let the babys to come out. Please let me know thank you . God bless you always
Hey Ruben, I change at least 25% of my water weekly...that helps to remove excess ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. A UV Sterilizer can be very helpful and does not harm the fish in any way. When you notice that a female has a mouthful of eggs, count 8 days and then go ahead and harvest the babies. If you wait too long and she releases the babies in the breeder tank, the majority of the babies will be eaten by the other fish. Having said that, the 8 days depends on a couple things....good water quality and temperature. If water quality is poor or the temperature drops below 80 for too long, it takes longer for the babies to grow and become free swimming fry.
Hey Travis, the start breeding at 4 to 4.5 inches and 4 to 5 months old. I have had a few that started smaller and earlier, but these numbers are on average.
Ok cool thank you.my male is 3.5in 1 f @4in and 1f @3.5.i had more females around the same size but they passed on.so I have four more females to add to the breeder colony but they r only about one in.and I have no clue how old any of them are the bigger ones I've had since 11/3/17.the bigger female is really agressive towards the male and other female.my pH is rite at 8.0 temp is 82° water quality is good I do a 25% water change at the first of the week and a 50% towards the end of the week every week.lights are on a 14hr on schedule
If you want to put the eggs in a tumbler, get them now. In seven or eight days when they are in at least 80 degree water you can harvest the free swimming fry. Either way is fine.
The colors, which are controlled by the fishes chromatophores. Blues can change colors to whatever they want. A breeding male will normally be a pinkish/gold body color with red on the tail and black trimmed dorsal and pectoral fins.
The clay pot is 8 to 10 inches in diameter. It is really dependent on the size of fish you are working with. I use both sizes and another which is smaller.
+Rahadian Harda K If the fish have been fed properly and are growing well, they will start breeding between 3 and 4 months old at around 4 to 4.5 inches long.
Judd Jim Hey buddy, if the temp is at or very close to 80 with decent water quality, harvest the babies after the female has held them for 8 days. You can look at her through the aquarium glass and just peak into her mouth as she is taking in water. If you see little tan/orange balls that would be just eggs. If you see flashes of black and silver rolling around in there then you are looking at babies. I always harvest after 8 days and the fry are free swimming and ready to go......good luck.
Mineral Springs Tilapia If you are stripping the eggs to put in an egg tumbler, let her hold them for a couple days then wash the eggs from her mouth and put them in the tumbler.
Mineral Springs Tilapia i see Greg but i just harvested my eggs and i put them in my tumbler but im not sure when its fertilized or not but i put heater on it and the color of the egg is white.
Judd Jim I only breed Blues and I don't know what you are breeding, but if she had them in her mouth for a day, they would be fertilized if you have a good fertile male. When she lays the eggs on the bottom of the flower pot he moves in and fertilizes them. Then she picks them up. You will know for sure in 3 or 4 days as the fry will start growing on the surface of the eggs and you will be able to see them easily. The egg itself will be slowly absorbed by the growing fry and as it becomes smaller they become sac fry (with the yolk sac attached, then around day 7 or 8, they will become free swimming (no visible yolk sac). Now, keep in mind that I am talking about Blue Tilapia, other species may take a little longer to develop. Sounds like you have done things right, so just watch the eggs develop, if the male didn't fertilize them, you will know soon enough. Growing fry is an amazing thing to watch, so enjoy....
my fish scales have all changed colour to a silvery, I do have a fish that guards the pot and chances everyone else away....its been a week and everyone eats but nothing else in the mouth yet!!!
Get as many females in with the male and only 1 male if you can....up to 5 females. Don't just put 1 in the tank, the male will be so fired up after he breeds her, he may kill her.
sir !! i upload yesterday my fry tilapia sir.. just go to jimboy colandog and search.. it breed my 10 inch 5 deep male and 6 inch lond and 2 1/2 deep female those are there babies sir :D ..
I went ahead and returned my water conditioners (did not perform as advertised, cost me a lot of time, water swaps, water tests, etc.) and in the process was able to suggest to the Amazon staff to support AquaLife Complete which I found on your website. Helping hands help helping hands!
The best part is they credited me 10$ for all the hassle, so I was able to order the product immediately without hurting my checking account. Natural Rapport brand is good for treating city water but I find it stalls the nitrogen cycle after vigorous testing. (I am a STEM undergraduate headed for a Ph.D. in Biology and M.S. in Engineering)
You've also helped serve as a motivator for my disabled step-father to get into the hobby with me. Coming from a military family hearing it from a veteran really appealed to him.
Thank you!
I appreciate the video. I'm roughly 3 months into my aquaculture venture with Tilapia after switching to stand-alone hydroponics instead of aquaponics with bluegills. The breeding tank setup explanation was helpful (particularly the bit about no current near the "nest"). I got into this the same as you (as a hobby on a student budget) and am quickly learning how fast it can escalate. I'm up to four tanks and already know I'll need more soon; Looking into IBC bins & 55-gallon drums but it's definitely worthwhile to be able to watch the process at first via an aquarium.
I read your website and it appears we share a passion for aquaculture and educating others - good man!
Anyway, I appreciate the videos and I wish you and your aquatic pals the best!
I wish I had family members that took an interest, they think I'm crazy for running indoor gardens and trying to live sustainably! I think they are crazy for ordering junk food 5 nights a week :P
Great info iv watched lots of videos .and yours is the best one .thanks doc.
Great video! Thanks, Greg. I look forward to the rest of the series.
My husband and I are starting an aquaponic farm, raising tilapia and growing veg in the waste water. We'll be taking a closer look at your set up. Always open to learning more as we go. Sexing the fish was a great bit of information. Males have 1 vent hole, while the females have 2. Our fish are young, so it's a work in progress.
On sexing the fish, remember that the count of 1 for the male and 2 for the Females is correct if you exclude the anus. I have another site that goes into a little more detail. This site is not yet published but you can see it at aboutniletilapia.com . If you have a specific question about sexing the fish, just let me know.
Mineral Springs Tilapia Thanks so much! We've got a ways to go, and much more to learn along the way.
Thanks for information on all your videos. Very helpful.
Looks Great Greg.
Is really beautiful
I want to start it in a small way
So l have two thousands litre tanks
Is it enough?
I just set up a breeding tank and my male fish seems to be overly aggressive; 1:4 ratio and despite having hiding places the females don’t hide. 2 of them hang out by the surface and seem to avoid the male but the other two seem to get chased around the tank to exhaustion. Is this normal? Or do you have Any suggestions?
Thanks for sharing
Great video thanks for sharing
My Wife has a field in Buriram Thailand, We are going to build a house there. I want to have a Tilapia hatchery. Lots to learn. 😊
How old in terms of months does tilapia starts to lay eggs?
Hi, Thanks for the easy to follow instruction. Can you tell me the brand name of the air pump. Do you use the same pump for other systems? Thanks!
Sorry Joshua, I was watching my grand daughter compete in a figure skating compitetion in Nashville this weekend. The air pump is an Elemental. Both sizes of air pumps I use are elemental....no particular reason, It was just the first pump I bought and the are priced the best.
Very educative. I bought about 34 three weeks old Tilapia fingerlings last June, 2016. It's meant to by now produce but each time I check, I keep seeing the gravel the male digs up. What can be done to get them to mate? Thanks.
Please describe your breeding tank setup. How many females, how many males, what is your temperature, pH, etc: I will try to figure out what is going on in your breeding system
Mineral Springs Tilapia Temperature is 32°c. I am not using a brooding Tank rather I built a pond with concrete. the size of the pond is 3x4 foots. I am not sure of how many males are there out of 34 but am sure it should be upto 15. Thanks
Yeah, having that many fish in that kind of pond, you may or may not get them to breed.....too many males and no way to verify that a female is holding or when she got eggs. In that kind of environment, when she gets ready to spit the babies from her mouth, the other fish will be waiting to eat them. Only the few who find a hiding place could possibly survive. This would be a less than desirable breeding situation and I couldn't really tell you too much about it because I have never had to deal with it.
frank on your 55 gal. breeder tank setup did you use all fresh water or a mix of new and established wter from a other tank?
Hey Dennis, when I clean tanks, depending on how dirty they are, I usually take out half to 3/4 of the old water and refill. I always try to keep at least a quarter of the cycled water and at least one cycled filter....either a sponge filter or a hang on back power filter, or in the fry tanks at least one of the sponge filters.
Great video thanks
Are the small stones needed at the bottom of the tank ? I have some larger lava rock and they seem to be moving the rocks around....but they are also sitting in the tubes a lot more lately.
Hey Zach, For almost a year now, I have not had any rocks in the bottom of any tank. It has not affected the breeding of the fish except in the very beginning for a few weeks. Rocks are not bad, but not necessary either and not having them makes cleaning the tanks much easier.
Yes have been using hand siphon tube to clean the tank bottom after each water change but ammonia is at 4.0 and nitrates 80 ppm out a bunch of plants in to take that up. Am looking at bubble filter construction now.
Hi, I just subscribed and watched all of your videos and learned a bunch and enjoyed them all. I noticed in your march 19, video, "New Facility" that you have set up one or more swimming pools. Are you growing fish in them? I'm thinking about do that after I set up a breeding tank and nursery tanks. I'm going to use it for an aquaponics system. Your input would be geat help.
Hey Jack, thanks for subscribing, glad you enjoyed the videos. I have found that the pools work just ok for growing out the fish. They require much more maintenance and cleaning than the tote system so I use them as "purge" systems now. When a group of fish become large enough to sell for food, I put them in the pools for 5-6 days with lots of air and I do not feed them. This purges the fishes system (cleans them out) which makes them easier to clean, less messy to clean and firms and sweetens the fishes flesh which are great selling points.
Since you have to pump the water out of the pools and into the filter system, you cannot get all of the solid waste into the filter system making it necessary to actually vacuum the bottom of the pool weekly which is a very time consuming task. That is why I only use them on a limited basis.
Hope this helps you out.......Thanks again.......Greg
Thanks for the posts I really like watching I wanted to start a aquaponics system was wondering if you sell any of the fish
Keith Dewing My fish can be purchased through Lakewaytilapia.com. Just let Mark know that you want Mineral Springs Tilapia fish.....Thanks.
Keith Dewing Oh, we sell fingerlings, fry and breeder colonies of both Blue and Nile Tilapia and will soon have all male hybrids from our Hornorum X Mossambique breeders.
nice setup
Great video. Thanks for sharing it. I do have one question though. What size is your pot?
Ed P Hey Ed, the flower pot that I use is about 12" across the top. Just a clay pot from Home Depot. The smaller fish like I put in the tank in the video don't really need one that big, but as they grow the certainly will.
Mineral Springs Tilapia Greg, I cannot thank you enough for your videos and your feedback. I have done my best to replicate your breeder setup because I was new and of course having problems. I am now producing baby tilapia for my family instead of buying them. We eat a lot of fish in my family and I am just amazed at how easy it now is to feed my family healthier food without the hormone treatment of commercially bought tilapia. We are now over 200 fish growing out which will be plenty for us and our chickens as we continue on. Thank you again. Ed
Ed P Wow Ed, that's great and thanks for the kind words. As you move forward it will become easier and before long you will have more fish than you know what to do with. Congratulations again.
Hi Mineral Spring Tilapia, thanks for your very informative video. My question is how do I know that the female fish are starting holding eggs?
Well, you may see them in the flower pot with the male, but more likely, you can tell by the large bulge in the chin of the female. There are a lot of photos in my videos showing females holding eggs. Take a look at how the chin of the female is extended and watch the movement of the mouth. The females suck water through fairly closed lips in order to roll the eggs. It kind of looks like they are sucking water. Another clue is that they don't eat. Very easy to know when a female is holding.
Hi Sir, thanks for your immediate response, i appreciate a lot. God bless your heart.
Sir any kinds of strain tilapia can be breed like that?
Thanks for posing this great video!
can i put more than 6 fish in a tank?
Hey Judd, I always use 1 Male and 5 Females in a breeder colony in a 55 gal tank. If your tank is bigger, you could try 2 males with 7 or 8 females, but you will probably go crazy harvesting fry and if your type of tilapia are like blues, you will spend all your time taking care of baby fish.
If you put more than 6 breeders in a 55 gal tank, you will have to watch the water quality closely as 8 or 10 breeders can create a lot of waste and foul your water very quickly.
Good Luck with your breeding program. Remember to keep good records.
Greg
Thank you very much Greg for your help keep it up 👍
I set up the tank close to what you did and my male decided not to use the clay pot but one of the lower PVC pipes. Now the females have nowhere to hide as he chases them away from the PVC pipes. What can I do? or will he still mate?
+Ken McNeill If your male has mated in the PVC pipe, he will probably stay there. If he is new to the tank and has not mated with a female yet, he might move to the flower pot. Either way, it is not a real problem because the females will use the pot side of the tank as refuge. Only issue would be if he was a very, very aggressive male in which case I would change him out anyway.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia Oh, yes he will still mate as long as he has a flat surface for the female to lay her eggs and a defensible position. Something you might do if he mates in the pipes is push one end of the pipe cluster up against the glass which gives one way in and out. Eventually he will get to big and have to move anyway. He won't be able to turn around in a 4 inch pipe and he will get tired of swimming in and having to back out.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia IHe already mated and I have one female carrying eggs. I put another set of PVC pipes in the other end of the tank for the females and removed the pot. Ill see how that works for the females to hide out in.
How long does the babies take to hatch in the mothers mouth??
Hi Greg! is it ok to put pleco fish inside the breeding colony? cuz algea is getting thicker..
Well, hard to answer that question. I know that the pleco will not hurt the tilapia, but in a breeder tank, the pleco will try to hide during the day. If he decides to hide in the flower pot, that would be a real problem. I would say give it a try and see what happens.....it might work. I have never tried it but one thing you don't want is for the male or females to be constantly chasing around a pleco instead of breeding.
Mineral Springs Tilapia thanks Greg! l"ll try and do some little experiment about it.
do you feed them while breeding? if not, when do you start and stop? Thanks!
A female holding eggs in her mouth will not eat. There are a few occasions where the female decides to swallow or spit her eggs and eat food if it is available, but that is pretty rare. I still feed the rest of the breeding colony and a holding female will sometimes bump into the food, but if she takes into her mouth, her eggs will be gone.
Awsome! thanks for prompt respond. My tilas are spawning and I will continue to feed the others.
hi
do they breed when they r in different tank growing up together than breeding tank? i see uve few hundreds in different tank. do they breed there too? how to control it? i like to have just one breeding tank and one breeding colony so i can have just one source of frys.. any advice?
thanks.
+N B If the fish are a mixed sex species, they will breed no matter where they are If conditions are right. If a female does get a mouthful of eggs in a tank that has 100 fish in it, when she does release the fry from her mouth , the vast majority of them will be eaten. You can control breeding by separation of males and females or by making the water too cold for them to breed.....other than that, they will breed.
THANK YOU.
Hello and thanks for the how to
Set up tanks,would like to know
Do you have a beginner course
To start up,and learn thanks.
Warren Sybrandt hey Warren, I don't have a formal course for teaching folks how to do this, although I have taught many local people how to breed these fish. Where do you live?
What water test kit do you use or recommend?
API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Its got everything you need in it.
Hi thanks for the instructional video. I have a 15 Gallon tank. Is it Ok to use this tank for breeding with say 1 male & 2 female tilapias. Also, I recently caught some wild tilapias and put them in the tank the male always chases females and killed 2 of those. what shall I do? thanks.
A 15 gallon tank is much too small to use as a breeder tank. Tilapia grow quickly and much too large to breed in that small of a tank. I have had no luck at all trying to breed even in a 29 gallon tank. When you have them in a 15, there is no place for the females to hide from the male.....they are just too close for them to run and get away. Also if your male is killing the females, he may be a highly aggressive male and will continue to kill anything that goes into the tank. You should replace the male. I have even seen females breed with the male, be holding a mouthful of eggs and the aggressive male kills her anyway.. If you want to be successful breeding, get a 55 gallon tank and start with the smallest fish possible.
That's good amount of information. Thank you very much sir.
Whats the dimension of the tank you have in this instructional video? Looks sufficient for breeding purpose.
i have some space constraints since i dont have a backyard and live in an apartment.
A normal 55 gallon aquarium like the one in the video is 48 inches long, 12 inches wide and 21 inches high. And no problem, glad to help.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia Thank you Sir,
Im about to build one this weekend.
Hi, how are you, what is the brand name of the heater you you are using in that tank?
Thanks,PA
Sorry Phaby, I just don't remember the brand name of the heater....it was just a 200W heater that I bought on Ebay and it was not expensive.
Oh ok, thanks.
Hi Sir thank you for your videos.
what you use to prepare the water ?
I use water conditioner for fish I want to know if is ok only and control the PH level
please let me know thank you
Ruben Cruces I use a product called Aqualife Complete to condition the water. It is a great product and works instantly. I use crushed coral to buffer up my PH. I don't think there is anything wrong with using other product for buffering up PH. Since I sell fish, I use products that are approved by the FDA so there is no unnatural chemicals added to the system. The Aqualife Complete is the only thing I add to the water and it is approved by the FDA for use with food fishes. Thanks for the question, I hope this helps.
Ruben Cruces thank you for you answer is help me a lot.
I have a other two question : I see the you have always clear water on your tanks what to use to mantein clear water, how many times I have to change the water I here the some people use UV ligth is ok for the fish? and my two question is how many days I need to know when the mom tilapia is ready to let the babys to come out. Please let me know thank you . God bless you always
Hey Ruben, I change at least 25% of my water weekly...that helps to remove excess ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. A UV Sterilizer can be very helpful and does not harm the fish in any way. When you notice that a female has a mouthful of eggs, count 8 days and then go ahead and harvest the babies. If you wait too long and she releases the babies in the breeder tank, the majority of the babies will be eaten by the other fish. Having said that, the 8 days depends on a couple things....good water quality and temperature. If water quality is poor or the temperature drops below 80 for too long, it takes longer for the babies to grow and become free swimming fry.
Thank you very much I will use all your advises and I let you know how I'm doing .
God bless you Greg.
Hey greg hows it goin.couple questions how old are your breeders when they start spawning and about what size
Hey Travis, the start breeding at 4 to 4.5 inches and 4 to 5 months old. I have had a few that started smaller and earlier, but these numbers are on average.
But breeding also depends on pH, temperature and overall water quality.
Ok cool thank you.my male is 3.5in 1 f @4in and 1f @3.5.i had more females around the same size but they passed on.so I have four more females to add to the breeder colony but they r only about one in.and I have no clue how old any of them are the bigger ones I've had since 11/3/17.the bigger female is really agressive towards the male and other female.my pH is rite at 8.0 temp is 82° water quality is good I do a 25% water change at the first of the week and a 50% towards the end of the week every week.lights are on a 14hr on schedule
I have a female that has been holding since 12/5 when is the earliest to strip her?
If you want to put the eggs in a tumbler, get them now. In seven or eight days when they are in at least 80 degree water you can harvest the free swimming fry. Either way is fine.
did you know biofloc fish farming technology ?
I have noticed that the males I am putting in seem to have the brightest red tails. mine are nile tilapia
The colors, which are controlled by the fishes chromatophores. Blues can change colors to whatever they want. A breeding male will normally be a pinkish/gold body color with red on the tail and black trimmed dorsal and pectoral fins.
red tail yes and some black trim.
Thanks again Greg. I'll keep you posted.
Where do you buy your tanks?
a local aquarium shop gives me all my tanks for 1.00 per gallon.
What size clay pot and what dia and length for pvc tubes please?
It is 4 inch diameter perferated sewer PVC. The schedule 30 and 40 will float.
Sorry, the sections I cut at 8 to 10 inches whatever you prefer
What size pot?
The clay pot is 8 to 10 inches in diameter. It is really dependent on the size of fish you are working with. I use both sizes and another which is smaller.
Ok thank you
how old the fish is ready to breeding?
+Rahadian Harda K If the fish have been fed properly and are growing well, they will start breeding between 3 and 4 months old at around 4 to 4.5 inches long.
+Mineral Springs Tilapia thank you,.
Hey Greg! Do you know when is the right time to harvest the eggs inside the females mouth? Thanks
Judd Jim Hey buddy, if the temp is at or very close to 80 with decent water quality, harvest the babies after the female has held them for 8 days. You can look at her through the aquarium glass and just peak into her mouth as she is taking in water. If you see little tan/orange balls that would be just eggs. If you see flashes of black and silver rolling around in there then you are looking at babies. I always harvest after 8 days and the fry are free swimming and ready to go......good luck.
Mineral Springs Tilapia If you are stripping the eggs to put in an egg tumbler, let her hold them for a couple days then wash the eggs from her mouth and put them in the tumbler.
Mineral Springs Tilapia i see Greg but i just harvested my eggs and i put them in my tumbler but im not sure when its fertilized or not but i put heater on it and the color of the egg is white.
Judd Jim I only breed Blues and I don't know what you are breeding, but if she had them in her mouth for a day, they would be fertilized if you have a good fertile male. When she lays the eggs on the bottom of the flower pot he moves in and fertilizes them. Then she picks them up. You will know for sure in 3 or 4 days as the fry will start growing on the surface of the eggs and you will be able to see them easily. The egg itself will be slowly absorbed by the growing fry and as it becomes smaller they become sac fry (with the yolk sac attached, then around day 7 or 8, they will become free swimming (no visible yolk sac). Now, keep in mind that I am talking about Blue Tilapia, other species may take a little longer to develop. Sounds like you have done things right, so just watch the eggs develop, if the male didn't fertilize them, you will know soon enough. Growing fry is an amazing thing to watch, so enjoy....
my fish scales have all changed colour to a silvery, I do have a fish that guards the pot and chances everyone else away....its been a week and everyone eats but nothing else in the mouth yet!!!
The fish probably haven't been together long enough, give them at least a month.
that long? ok I could do that....so feed them until someone has a mouth full and then feed just the male?
Get as many females in with the male and only 1 male if you can....up to 5 females. Don't just put 1 in the tank, the male will be so fired up after he breeds her, he may kill her.
Have 3 female will see about more
name of feed of tilapia
Purina Aquamax 300
waooo👍👍👍
sir !! i upload yesterday my fry tilapia sir..
just go to jimboy colandog and search..
it breed my 10 inch 5 deep male and 6 inch lond and 2 1/2 deep female those are there babies sir
:D ..
craig; i apologize for calling you frank. sorry about that!
It's fine, honestly didn't notice....thanks.
Please, sutitle in españis.