backyard tilapia fish farm august 19,2011 update

[ciceromatrix]

YOU COULD HAVE YOU WATER CLEAN BY PLANTIG DUCK WEED IN ANOTHER TANK AND CIRCULANTING THE WATER

[jaymangu]

Why don't you eat them?

[Sorren11]

Want to learn more about this I have 3 tanks, 1300, 900, and 1100 gallons each. I have them setup for garden drip line. What sort off pump are you using. What are the temps of the water i want to raise 200 tilapia to eat. If you could point me in the right direction for supplies and more info THANKS

[blotto85]

Do you know how to harvest fertilizer from the pond? There's big money in organic fertilizer such as compost tea and fish poo. You can run the pond water through screen filters (can be homemade like a waterfall) and scrape the goo off into paint buckets. Not only will your tank be cleaner, you'll have some of the best plant food around! If I were you I'd find a local farmers market and sell the fresh meat and babies in plastic bags.

[k98killer]

You definitely want algae in there, supposing these are blue tilapia. The only reason to worry about too much algae is for possible dissolved oxygen issues at night (algae respire and produce CO2 at night). If algae gets out of hand, just lay off feeding them for a day or two and they should filter it out. Pretty awesome--I need to get my own system set up.

[duckomega]

I wanna look at your pond filter... can you make another video for it?

[billavara]

great idea to have the fish in one of those swimming pools. How is the pool quality holding up? and do you know what your water temps dip to at night when it gets really cold outside? I would wager that if you caught some tilapias in the canal, they may tolerate the winter waters better than you expect

[warrenlc57]

Make some hardware cloth cages to grow spinach on top and your water quality will improve immensely! The plants take up the fish effluent for fertilizer and the roots oxygenate the water. You don't know what to do with the fish? Filet and freeze!

[paulgem123]

O.k. I see the pump.

[paulgem123]

That is really cool. I would love to have that in my back yard. Sell them! What kind of filter do you use?

[caliherbs]

So what did you do with the fish ?

[peppernickelly]

Can make another video and give us all an update. Plz, they're awesome videos

[mike73miller]

@peppernickelly im going to make another video, its really cold outside, lets see if they are still alive!

[peppernickelly]

@mike73miller Alright cool, I've been considering trying to grow bass or pan fish but I need to do more research on on the life phases of such fish. My father and I are going to buy some land soon and I'm working on a design to get the most out of our land. Thanks!

[billavara]

@mike73miller Mike, what is the temp when you say really cold, and how long does it last? I want to start up a Tilapia backyard farm, just like yours, but our winters get frost at night, though summers are extremely warm, and the heating for tilapia makes me a little sceptical if tilapia is best.

[JOHNROCKNZ]

Heres an Idea? Smoke t\hem : )

[psychobunny32]

are you starting an aquaponics system?

[MCcustomcontrollers]

do you use a filter and if you do what kind?



[dibblydooda]

I'd eat'em, my cat would eat'em, or you could use them for fertilizer. Start pulling them out before there's overcrowding and smoke, cure, or pickle them. You can always put them back where you caught them too.

[Rocky1765]

but where do you get the starter fish?

[mike73miller]

@Rocky1765 you can buy them off ebay, or catch them, I caught about 50 in a canal near my house here in Florida.

[DerAtze0815]

Hi,

very nice farm, are you looking for a Feeder?

Have a look at my Videos.

Greatings

[kaikane24]

i have a question how long does it take for a small tilapia about 1 inch become a big size?

[mike73miller]

@kaikane24 BIG it could take 2 years. I have had local restaurant owners offer to buy them from me but my setup still needs alot of work before I could produce enough meat to sell.

[mechanicalbu11]

Can you start from minnows in May and have pan ready fish by September? seems like you can make some money here and feed your family, good job!

[mike73miller]

@mechanicalbu11 no, if you want a nice big fillet it takes time, a blue gill can take 3 years to get full size. tilapia can live for 10 years. for a tilapia to get to 5 lbs it needs at least 5 years and perfect feeding conditions.

[istudywater]

Awesome video! Great setup.

[joeshittheragman42]

You have the great start of having a garden on top of your fish tank. you can get a grow tray from a Hydroponic store for about thirty dollars. Pump the fish waste water into your filter/settling tank and overflow it back into the fish tank. The vegetable growing in a lava rock ball bed will develop good bacteria and clean the water while fertilizing your garden. The water gets cleaner all the time. see some other posts on details on how to do it.

[sxcelite12]

you got some really big ones dangs.. and how long had you have these fishes?

[huntingkc1]

I wonder if you can blender and jerkify the heads and scraps of those fish you clean and feed those back to the tilapia

[carlr28]

add duckweed to your pond. duck weed is high in protein not only will it add shade to the pond but it will consume the fish crap. and if you really want to you can eat it.

[sandspoint]

sell the fish to chines markets etc? how can u learn toset up myself? tanks!

[eliden]

can i buy some off of u? if u got any spare finger lings lmk...

3 day priority usps

i got my catfish 3 usps still healthy...

[medusaliveson]

Look into aquaponics, like the previously mentioned lettuce raft system, will allow you to grow food for you and the fish. the fish will eat duckweed.

[alex9289]

this is very admired idea ,tilapia is a tasty fish and favoured in many countries , i grew up in egypt , nile tilapia is the best and was always expensive fish.

you can donate this fish as valuble gift to anyone in need at least if u dont eat them all,

[cubaniton74]

Eat 1 / 2 fish a week, you'll help decrease the fish population + you will buy less meat @ market. If you want to grow lettuce buy some foam sheets & drill holes so you can fit small plastic baskets or plastic cups (drilled in the bottom) and insert the baskets or cups in the holes drilled into the foam sheet, then fill the baskets or cups with ceramic beads used for gardening & plant lettuce seeds, it'll grow in 30 days, eat the lettuce you want and feed the fish the rest. Floating garden.

[mike73miller]

@cubaniton74 this is a good idea, i might try it if i can find a cheap piece of foam. i went to a hobby store and they wanted like $8 for a small piece.

[cubaniton74]

@mike73miller Try HomeDepot or Lowe's for the foam sheets ( insulation foam sheets ). Make sure they don't have any chemicals added to the foam that can hurt your fish.

[hastingr]

@mike73miller Use 3/4" foam insulation from Home depot. $10 for a 4X8 sheet.

[cubaniton74]

If you want to clean the water, do the following, buy a big 3 drawer plastic box from walmart, cut a hole in the top so water can be enter in and also cut the bottom of each one of the drawers and replace the bottom of the drawers with stainless steel wire mesh or plastic mesh, the top one should be 1000 micron, the second drawer should be 500 micron and the final and third drawer should be 100 micron. Every day pull out the drawers and hose them off gently in opposite direction, from the bottom

[mikenewmanphone]

@cubaniton74 Or you can just cover the tank so no light gets in. the algae will stop growing and the fish will eat what is already there. The rest will just die. Your water will be crystal clear within a week. Sooner that that if you add "Algae clear" and "Water clear".

Just remember... algae has another name too.. its called free food for your fish.

[cubaniton74]

Eat them, that is what you do with all that fish !!!! But don't eat them all at once, you might get indigestion ; )

[GreenTexasFish]

Greetings. Enjoy your videos. Any idea on how much effort to get so many fish?

Tilapia is $5 a pound at Wallmart. 200 fish is like $1000. Sounds like you're making a profit. Sell to your neighbors.

Would you happen to be in Texas?

[mike73miller]

@GreenTexasFish I live in SW Florida, the only real challenge with tilapia is keeping them alive when it gets cold. Tilapia die at 45 to 50 degrees F.

[RobG7aChattTN]

@GreenTexasFish Blue Tilapia can take down to 45F. You can also feed them lawn clippings or any other cheap, organic matter. Clean the water by filtering it through some crop plants (hydropoincs). The plants will love the waste and you can cycle the cleaned water back into your tank.