TILAPIA CULTURE
by
Leonard Lovshin
Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures
Auburn University, AL 36849 U.S.A.
Tilapia are native to Africa, Israel and Jordan
Water Temperatures
for:
Best growth- above
250C
Spawning - above
200C
Death- 10 to 120C
Popular Cultured Tilapias
Nile Tilapia
Mozambique Tilapia
Blue Tilapia
Red Tilapia
Food Habits
Tilapia feed low on the food chain
phytoplankton
zooplankton
Tilapia can be cultured in fresh and salt water.
1. All tilapia can be
grown in fresh water.
2. Mossambique tilapia
and red tilapia with
Mossambique tilapia
genes can be grown
in salt water.
Females incubate eggs
Reproduction
Males dig and defend a nest
and defend the fry
Tilapia can be spawned in:
1. ponds
2. cages ( hapas )
3. tanks
Fry can be harvested:
1. 18 days after stocking
brood fish
2. 40 days after stocking
brood fish
Fry can be:
1. partial harvested
2. completely harvested
Eggs can be removed from females:
Incubating tilapia eggs
Yolk-sac tilapia fry
Tilapia can be cultured as:
1. Mixed sexes - males
and females together
2. Mono-sex - only males
Grow-out:
Mixed-sex Culture
Advantages:
1. Technically easy
Disadvantages:
1. Small harvest weight
2. Mixed sizes at harvest
Mono-sex culture
Advantages:
1. Large harvest weight
2. Uniform size at harvest
Disadvantages:
1. Technically difficult
Stocking a predacious fish
with mixed-sex tilapia
will control tilapia density
and increase final
harvest weight.
Largemouth bass
in the U. S. A.
Peacock bass in
South America
Mono-sex male tilapia populations can
be produced by:
1. Visual selection
2. Hybridization
3. Sex-reversal
4. Genetic manipulation
Male Populations
Visual Selection of the Genital Papilla
Female papilla with
oviduct
anus
Male papilla
anus
Hybridization
Male Hornorum tilapia
ZZ
XZ
XX
Female Nile tilapia
All-male hybrid tilapia
Sex Reversal of Tilapia Fry
Genetic Manipulation
1)
XXF + XYM
estrogen
XXF + XY”F”
2) XY”F”
x XYM
XXF + 2 XYM + YYM
3) XXF x
YYM
100% XYM
Tilapia are raised in:
Small earthen ponds
Tilapia are raised in:
Large earthen ponds
Harvested tilapia are held in net enclosures
while waiting to be loaded onto trucks for
transport to processors.
Tilapia are raised in:
Floating cages
Tilapia are raised in:
Circular tanks with partial water exchange and mechanical aeration
Tilapia are raised in:
Raceways with constant water exchange
Tilapia are raised in:
Indoors with water reuse, mechanical aeration and oxygen injection
Tilapia ponds can be fertilized with organic
and inorganic fertilizers to increase yield
Tilapia can be fed to increase yield
Tilapia can be fed
Agricultural by-products
Pelleted feeds
sinking
cottonseed meal
wheat bran
rice bran
floating
Tilapia can be sold to
Neighbors
and
Friends
Tilapia can be purchased
At supermarkets and fish shops
fresh and frozen fillets
whole on ice
Tilapia farming in the U. S.
1. Most production is from enclosed, water reuse systems
because of cold winter water temperatures.
2. Production costs are high.
3. Most tilapia are sold live or whole iced.
4. Presently, U. S. producers can’t compete with producers in
tropical climates for processed tilapia.
5. Fresh fillets are imported from Central and South America.
6. Frozen whole tilapia and fillets are imported from Asia.
Advantages of Farming Tilapia
1. feeds low on the food chain
2. accepts wide range of feeds
3. resistant to poor water quality, disease and handling
4. good flesh quality
5. fingerlings easy to produce year round
Disadvantages of raising tilapia
1. sensitive to low water temperatures
2. reach sexual maturity at a young age
3. males grow faster than females
4. difficult to harvest from earthen ponds with a seine
5. low dressout percentage of fillet
Over 2.0 million mt of farmed tilapia
were harvest world-wide in 2004.
China>Egypt>Indonesia
U. S. tilapia Production 2004: 9,000 MT
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