# looking for live tilapia



## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

Hey iv been scowering the net trying to find a source of live tilapia for my aquaponics system with no such luck so i cam e on here and searched the forums with no such luck does any one know where i could find any?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Chinese grocery stores? Although, I'm pretty sure they're supposed to kill them before they give them to you.


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

Yea i was going to try the grocery store but i heard the same thing about them killing them before handing them over. theres a place in the states with a certain breeding stock i want but i cant seem to get them shipped up here. also i believe tilapia are an african chiclid and need temps of 77 to 85. i just cant seem to find the ones i need.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

What do you need? Buttofikeri are common as corn chips.


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

theres a certain type i need some O. Mossambica females and a O. Hornorum male the reson for this was with some research i have found that these should produce 99% male offspring so that in the future they would not be reproducing in there grow out tanks. i google that name in the post and could not find anything is it different name for the same fish?


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

why not just ask the grocery store not to kill them? and put them in a bag with water or something?


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

ill have to check that option out i really wanted to breed them ill just have to get a few and hope for the best iv also heard that they cannot legaly sell them to you live i will have to check that out for my self i notice u life in markham not far from me do you know and specific stores i should try?


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

Bend201 said:


> ill have to check that option out i really wanted to breed them ill just have to get a few and hope for the best iv also heard that they cannot legaly sell them to you live i will have to check that out for my self i notice u life in markham not far from me do you know and specific stores i should try?


I know No frills on warden and hwy 7 has them

and I am pretty sure the chinese grocery store TNT has them too

but if hey are illegal to buy them live...then i guess you are beat, however I did one time drop by to get live tilapia, and even though they gutted it, like 10 minutes later it was flopping in my BAG


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

ill be sure to check it out and ask anyways. lol half alive would make a nice meal not to sure it would help with my breeding lol.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

I suspect the live tilapia in the food stores are the product of a similar cross, so are either all males, or sterile. They are large fish and you need a huge tank to breed them -- more like an indoor pond. Yes, they do need heat, which is very expensive in this climate.

Tilapia aren't the best choice for fish production in this climate unless you have a large greenhouse. If you want tilapia to eat, really, it's a lot cheaper to buy them frozen. If you want to raise an edible fish on a small scale, carp are probably your best bet, and you'll need a large pond. Trout are aquacultured in Canada, but you need a free source of massive quantities of cold clean water.

There's supposed to be a tilapia operation near Guelph or KW. They have large greenhouses and use water hyacinths to clean the water so it can be recirculated to conserve heat. Unfortunately I don't have much more info.

If you google for aquaculture sites in Canada, you'll get more info. You may be able to find a source for young fish to grow out.

If you want to raise something in a small aquaponics setup, you're furthest ahead with ornamental fish, which you can sell for a lot more per pound than anything edible.


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

interesting well the plan was 2 have 2 300gal indoor ponds to start and eventually move up to a small above ground pool but indoors. the space isint that much of an issue i just cant seem to fine breedin stock i will research that area and see what i can find. when u said anouther type of fish would be good in such a system ornimental i believe. What kind of fish were you refering to.


thank you all for the quick responses this site is full of information!


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bend201 said:


> Yea i was going to try the grocery store but i heard the same thing about them killing them before handing them over. theres a place in the states with a certain breeding stock i want but i cant seem to get them shipped up here. also i believe tilapia are an african chiclid and need temps of 77 to 85. i just cant seem to find the ones i need.


Bend,

Welcome to GTAA. I have an active thread here on Aquaponics.

You may very well be correct on that as I have heard from various sources (fish department as well as a LFS) that Tilapia is a African Chiclid. You are correct that they need warm water.

Tilapia grow fast and can reach plate plate size in 6-7 months time. Duckweed, algae, and additional feed can be feed to them. There is a place called Sids Pond which is north of the GTA (not sure where you are but given you're going to stock 2x300gal I'm taking a good guess you've got a house of some sort with some soil out back then an apartment (then again I have heard of the odd crazy guy online with a few 100+ tanks in the apartment and a balcony that grows like the amazon (good thing that is  ) .

I have heard of tilapia grown in 55gal drums but you're looking at max about 5 fish in there and at varoius stages of sizing because packing 5 dinner plate sized tilapia in there is cramp. I mean if you're going to famr it for food at least let it 180 in there. You can not find a better source of ammonia/nutrient fish that produces more waste then a goldfish to my knowledge. This is why goldies are used in small scale because pound for pound they pack out like IIRC 2 times as much waste which translates to more nutients. If your plants are suffice in the grow beds you should have no need to do a water change as you'll be over filtering the water excessively as the plants suck out all the nitrates feverishly. If for some reason you over planted and are out of balance of over filtering the water to fish ratio then add a few extra fish in there to bump up the bio load or add Seasol or any organic fertilzer. Worm compost works magic in there. As long as you're not doing DWC you can throw some red wiggler (AKA compost worms) worms into the grow bed and they'll eat all the fish solids and the worms byproduct helps the plants as well. They won't die in there as long as you're not in a DWC setup and they'll have oxygen to breath each flood/drain cycle.

There is a place that I know of an have had a user confirmed for me (personally confirmed, no, but this user did keep it in their tank for a while as a pet before moving to another fish) that will sell you the fish live but you have to move FAST to keep it alive (so have the money ready and the running shoes on) which is by IIRC 14th Ave & Kennedy Ave I think. It's a chinese store there. I know Magic Wok is around there and there is a water tower IIRC there by Magic Wok as well. I've been there one or twice before but a looong time ago and IIRC they changed company names before but still a grocery store there. I'll post if I can find the name for you.

EDIT

Sids Pond was mentioned by Nelson and Pade as the Ontario or Toronto local Aquaponics supplier or dealer or info source. I just know they're up north of the city.


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

hey thanx for all that info i have alot of reading to do for any one interested this is how i had they original idea for farming tilapia. http://tilapiafarmingathome.com/default.aspx

ii do have a tnak full off feeder comets for my aligator snapping turtle so i was going to use them to start my basic system. i think i mite jsut have to stick with that plan after reading that.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bend,

I believe that place is Bigland Farms. IIRC there is a Timmys just across the street from it.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bend201 said:


> hey thanx for all that info i have alot of reading to do for any one interested this is how i had they original idea for farming tilapia. http://tilapiafarmingathome.com/default.aspx
> 
> ii do have a tnak full off feeder comets for my aligator snapping turtle so i was going to use them to start my basic system. i think i mite jsut have to stick with that plan after reading that.


Not sure putting the turtle there is a good idea. http://www.anapsid.org/salm3.html

I've also read something about that somewhere else before with someone trying to do AP with turtles.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

One problem in this climate is whether it's cheaper to heat a lighted space or light a heated space. Either can be expensive. A greenhouse won't work without supplemental heating in winter, which is only feasible with a very large one, and natural light may be inadequate in winter. A problem with indoor spaces is humidity -- moisture condensing in the walls can rot the frame of your house, and condensing elsewhere can grow mold. Dehumidifiers can be expensive to run, but another solution is a countercurrent heat exchanger. Indoors you have to supply light, which can get expensive on this scale.

I'd be cautious about eating salad greens or any raw food from an aquaponics setup with a turtle in it since turtles and many other reptiles can harbor Salmonella bacteria that can make you very sick.


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

hey sorry for the confusion but the turtle in not part of the sytem he is just the reson yi have feeder gold fish.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Well if you did have the turtle in the AP unit I think it'll still work but then I'd highly recommend boiling all the produce produced from the AP unit for 1 min in boiling hot water will kill any salmonella (Checked with sis who's a Dr. M.D).


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bend, 

You got a private message (PM).


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## SparrowHawk (Oct 8, 2009)

*O. Mossambica*

By the way, the O. in the O. Mossambica stands for the genus Oreochromis I believe and that is the Mozambique mouth breeder, sometimes available at LFS but considered a garbage fish as they multiply rapidly. I kept them for awhile when I was younger and had a pair breeding every couple of weeks like clockwork. They would mate, I would let her hold the eggs for a few days then I would pull them I think on day 5 and they would mate again shortly thereafter. Probably one of the easiest fish to keep and breed.

I sold the babies at the pet store I was working at, and I gave a few to a friend who had outdoor ponds. He raised them up over the summer and harvested them when it started to get too cold.

Good times!


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## Bend201 (Mar 6, 2010)

thanx for the replies i would love to find some around here where did u get your originals from?


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Bend201 said:


> thanx for the replies i would love to find some around here where did u get your originals from?


You might want to give Sid's Pond a call and see if they have any.


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## ahamstra (Jun 17, 2010)

Did you happen to find any live tilapia?

I also am interested in finding a Canadian source of live tilapia for personal use.


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