Tilapia & Figs

[WillsC]

No, not a recipe

There is a member here, perhaps more than one grows Tilapia could you send me a PM please? Have the "brilliant" idea that I needed yet another project I don't have time for. My plan has always been to line the sides of the front greenhouse I am just finishing with 275 gallon IBC Totes, 24 to 28 of them. I have a source for the totes for $25 each which is quite cheap and they held a non toxic substance. Have the first 9 here now and working on digging them in as they will be buried in the ground about a foot. The original purpose was to pump water through a solar heater to warm the water so it radiates the heat back to the greenhouse on our brutally frigid Florida nights to keep the young fig plants in pots happy as well as the lychee and Mango trees that are planted in ground inside the greenhouse. In the summer I could reverse it and run the pump only at night which would cool the water a bit. The front greenhouse is basically just a winter greenhouse far as figs are concerned and the back greenhouse is the summer greenhouse as it gets shade. I figured since I am adding 7000+ gallons of water why not raise some Tilapia?

Just have some questions on filtration. Fertilizer run off as the plants would drip in the tanks. I could avoid that but would be more work and not sure if it is needed.

[DBJohnson]

I'm not one of those growing talapia....yet. Make a pot of coffee, Google "aquaponics", and settle in for some reading.

[WillsC]

I have read but aquaponics is different. That is using the fish and the plants system together. This is just fish raising and the plants would not be in contact with the water so there are a lot of differences.

[fitzski]

I read this Will Allen's book a couple years ago. He's doing it in Milwaukee so you it should be easier for you in Florida.

http://www.growingpower.org

Good Luck.

[Hershell]

Being that you have to add fertilize and lime to new fish ponds to grow alge I would say that it is ok and you are only talking about small amounts. But don't go stupid like someone you know and decide to spray an insecticide on your figs.

[WillsC]

Being that you have to add fertilize and lime to new fish ponds to grow alge I would say that it is ok and you are only talking about small amounts. But don't go stupid like someone you know and decide to spray an insecticide on your figs.

No....this person THOUGHT it was an insecticide but was in fact an herbicide, a freaking strong herbicide at that......the figs no liked that Out of respect for that fig grower I wont mention who it is or that he lives in GA and builds greenhouses for a living.

My concern would be that the fertilizer could contain trace elements that I don't want to consume. If it was just ammonium sulfate or something I would not care but do we truly know what is in the bagged fertilizer and this is a far off label place for that fertilizer to end up. Perhaps your idea of twinwall tops is a good one, angeled so run off sheds off the totes. That would be a lot of twinwall though.

[Hershell]

Read where talapia are grown in other countries and shipped here and you will quit eating them unless you grow them yourself. Or they are grown here in the US. They also use hormones to keep them sterile I think and that is the dangerous part ( think ) not sure. It's been a long time. I am going to talk to a local grower that offered me a tour of the warehouse that they grow them in and ship them north. He lives about 10 miles from here so I just need to give him a call and hopefully he will still be willing to help out.

[greenfig]

GreenFin I believe is the member

[WillsC]

Ty

[WillsC]

Read where talapia are grown in other countries and shipped here and you will quit eating them unless you grow them yourself. Or they are grown here in the US. They also use hormones to keep them sterile I think and that is the dangerous part ( think ) not sure. It's been a long time. I am going to talk to a local grower that offered me a tour of the warehouse that they grow them in and ship them north. He lives about 10 miles from here so I just need to give him a call and hopefully he will still be willing to help out.

I will only buy Tilapia from the US. If you want company for that warehouse tour I would drive up and go with you.

[Hershell]

I'm working on it. Wayne retired but I'm sure is knows who to see to get a tour. I will continue trying to call him or will drive to the farm. All they can say is yes or no but it seems easy enough

[GreenFin]

Yeah, I think I'm 'that guy'. I've been running a commercial tilapia operation for 5 years, and have extensive experience with aquaponics.

Aquaponics is basically the ultimate in SIP/SWP growing. The best growth and production I've ever gotten from any figs has been in my aquaponics systems. I've been wondering when people were going to start making the transition, especially guys like Wills and Pete.

Anyone interested in tilapia or aquaponics should visit my site at http://www.greenfingardens.com/ and look around. Especially interesting would be the page on my tunnel aquaponics system http://www.greenfingardens.com/p/aquaponics-tunnel.html and the page on aquaponics resources http://www.greenfingardens.com/p/aqu...resources.html

There are also several pics of my tilapia on the 'About' page here http://www.greenfingardens.com/p/abo...n-gardens.html

[GreenFin]

Imported tilapia are usually farmed in Malaysia and China in conjunction with hog farms and human sewage plants, and are raised on the waste from those operations. They are then mass harvested, flash frozen, and shipped halfway around the world. And they taste like it.

Farmed tilapia in the US are better since they're raised in cleaner environments, but since most commercial farmers raise them almost exclusively on commercial pellets, the fish tend to bioaccumulate the wrong fatty acids, amassing high levels of bad Omega 6's and lower levels of good Omega 3's. There are a lot of stories about the fatty acid problem with tilapia if you google about it. That problem can be easily rectified, though, by feeding the fish a more natural diet of algae, fruits, and vegetables; that way they bioaccumulate the good stuff and end up with good ratios of Omega 3's versus Omega 6's. It's all about the diet. Trouble is, on a commercial scale it's cheaper to feed them a bad diet.

I raise my tilapia on a healthy diet. They get about half their nutrition from algae, as they would in the wild, and I also throw in lots of fruits and vegetables that I raise on site. Their favorites are pumpkins, greens, corn, peas, bananas, and figs (the tilapia in my aquaponics tunnel have even jumped out of the water to snag low-hanging figs). I also give them some commercial pellets, but for me the pellets are more like a multivitamin to make sure the fish get a well-rounded diet.

[greenfig]

Thanks, James!
Is it profitable enough that you can solely rely on it? Who usually buys the fish, the restaurants or people?

[GreenFin]

Yes, but I'm a pretty rare exception in the industry. As for customers, mine are all people.

[WillsC]

Well that also answers my will Talapia eat figs question James do you mind if I email you?

[GreenFin]

Not at all, go ahead.

[GregMartin]

Hopefully they don't jump out and pick them for you!

[Harborseal]

Hey there's this guy who lives a few hours away from me. He grows figs and other tropicals and ships tilapia of various sizes all over the country, possibly the world. His name is James and I think he's on here as GreenFin.

You can always count on me to get you info you couldn't get any other way.

[WillsC]

lol thanks Bob, very timely

[Taverna78]

I would prefer to eat the fish with caramelized fig glaze!

[jmaler]

How many baby fish can be raised to eating size in a 250 gal tote? I am always looking for another project. Will they reproduce in the totes?

[COGardener]

I keep my breeding trios separate from the fish being grown out to eat.

[COGardener]

You should all look into growing Macrobrachium rosenbergii, I get 50 or so at an inch long most years. Very much with the effort.

[COGardener]

If you have the space to grow enough to make permit worth buying, you should.

I've seen them sell for $50.00 a pound live weight "whole" for the large premium specimens. And $30.00 or more a pound for the rest. 4 or 5 large individuals are typically around a pound.


Plus the amazing harvest for dinner.

[GregMartin]

Do they taste like lobster?

[COGardener]

More like a shrimp lobster mix... to me anyway.

[greenfig]

Is it a shrimp or a crawfish?

[COGardener]

http://www.miami-aquaculture.com/macrobra.htm

It's a giant freshwater prawn from Malaysia.

Any shrimp or lobster recipe will work, I'll post a better link later but here is a little info.

They are cannibalistic and require some space, but again so worth it! Big and so, so tasty! !!!

[kingoceanos]

The title of the post is enough to make me drool, now they added prawns to the discussion, wow. I might have to forgo the leftovers tomorrow and visit Red Lobster now

[COGardener]

Lol. ... if I had a heated greenhouse, I'd already have the prawns ordered to start growing.

[WillsC]

You should all look into growing Macrobrachium rosenbergii, I get 50 or so at an inch long most years. Very much with the effort.

50 or so at an inch long........i'm assuming a typo? Think that is what confused Hershell, not that it takes much

[COGardener]

50 - 1inch juveniles to grow out. I apologise for making it confusing!

[Hershell]

I guess that my cdo ( obsessive compulsive disorder alphabetized) confused me. 50 is hard to comprehend. 500 would have been easier

[COGardener]

In the space I have to grow them out and being the only one in the house whom eats them... oh darn .... 50 is plenty for now. I'll push it up in a few years or if I decide to sell some to offset my costs.

[COGardener]

http://www.aquacultureoftexas.com/index.htm

Here is the better link I mentioned.

[WillsC]

Scott so they are pretty big at adulthood? Here you can just go out at night in a boat and the shrimp will come to you and dip net them out. I hate the vile things.

[COGardener]

Yes they are Wills, quite big... and delicious! Oh how I envy you! I've looked at land at 100 miles or less from you... your making it real tempting.

[Guest]

Come on down I'll change your name to FL Gardener

[COGardener]

That would be stellar!