Tilapia recirculating system

[jack@badflas]

I have not yet made the transition from fish to Aquaponics, but once my greenhouse is build the fun will begin.

Currently I have a 700 gallon recirculating system. It is composed of 6 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks, and one 125 gallon glass tank. This system uses a 1/2 HP pool pump, sand filter with perma-beads instead of sand, a 57 watt UV sterilizer, and an aquacube.

I also have 2 stand alone 40 gallon tanks, a 60 gallon and 80 gallon recirculating system, and various fry tanks. These systems have home brew sump filters made from perma beads and scrubby pads that work like magic. Once I get my ponics set up I can dispense with most of this, except the pump of course.

This is my aquacube in a 100 gallon stock tank used as a sump:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/aquacube.jpg

That and the bead filter keeps the water nice & clear:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/Oreochromisniloticus.jpg

This is a look into my overflow bottom scavenger. The pipe at the bottom is 2" and has large holes drilled in the bottom side. It is covered with a mesh pipe to keep the fish out.http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/Oreochromishornorum.jpg

Here is a top view of the overflow. If the bottom pipe clogs (it never has) water level would rise & overflow down the drain.http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/tank2.jpg

On the outside is my constant level overflow:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/tank1.jpg

[jack@badflas]

Here is a female O. mossambica holding a mouth full of fry:http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/holding.jpg

Here is what comes out:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/fry1.jpg

This is one of my T. horonorum:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c70/badflash/tilapia/P6070013.jpg

When bred with the female O. mossambica the offspring are all male, which is what you want for food fish. The males grow faster and larger than the females and don't burn up their energy on egg and fry. Females don't eat half the time as they have a mouth full of fry. The fry then compete with the adults for food and this is not what you want.

If you are interested in genetics the O. mossambica use an XY chromosome system similar to people where XY is male and XX is female. The T. horonorum uses ZZ for male and ZW for female. Cross a ZZ male to an XX female and all offspring are ZX, and as it turns out, that gives you males.

[GaryD]

Hi Jack,

Can you tell us more about the Aquacube......what size and how it works?

I wouldn't be in too big a hurry to abandon your current bio-filtration systems. There are other growing systems (other than the flood and drain grow bed)....like NFT and floating raft.....that work very well and will make good use of your existing set ups.

Gary

[Hamish]

That aquacube looks interesting - can you give us some more info on how it works?

[DaveOponic]

Hi Jack

I went to feed the fish this morning and to my complete surprise there were over hundreds of Tilapia Fry swimming in one corner of the tank! Over the past two or three weeks I have been taking out male fish and trying to isolate a breeding pair in the glass tank. This resulted in the violent death of one fish and the near death of another!

In the end I gave up and put all the Tilapia back in the tank but after reading your posts, I gave them some garden pots and PVC pipe offcuts to hide in and establish their territory. Well, this obviously worked. I am quite happy to have as many fry as my fish can produce because I would like to be well stocked with fish and grow lots of veges. Also the glorious day approaches when my fish will be ready for the BBQ. I now have a few Tilapia that have reached probably over a foot in length and growing fast.

My original Tilapia stock cost me $ B 1.00 each but now I know a spot where I can get as many as I like for free. The rivers and dams here are full of them.

Tilapia sure are a tough species. This morning I was transferring some of the fry to the glass tank when a few were left high and dry in the bottom of the bucket. I hadn't noticed but they had been there for several minutes. When I added more water, they swum happily away when emptied into the tank.

[jack@badflas]

That aquacube looks interesting - can you give us some more info on how it works?

Here is a link to the place I got mine from:
http://www.advancedaquaculture.com/landscape/aquacube/aquacube3.htm

It has air stones underneath that move loads of aerated water into baffles with loads of surface area. It doesn't clog and totally keeps the water aerated and nitrified after a bio film builds up on the surface. It is just a bios filter and does not remove particulates. In a pool system this allows me to feed spent distiller's grain to the tilapia, which I can get free and is about 30% protein. I shut down the pool pump and just run the aquacube until the tilapia are done feeding. The high flow through the aquacube keeps everything in suspension. The flow rate through the cube with just air is around 40-50 GPM.

He makes the perma beads too:
http://www.advancedaquaculture.com/aquaculture/perma-bead.htm

These are really incredible and make the best particulate filters I've ever seen, short of a grow bed. It comes in handy for grow-out systems.

[Hamish]

Thanks for the links Jack :)

[Crusty]

Cool set up Jack.