Raising Tilapia in Your Backyard

1. Raising Tilapia in Your Backyard Sherilin Heise & Bill Tall City Farmers Nursery March 14, 2009

2. Schedule • Welcome • Thank you for coming • 10-11AM Intro to Tilapia for Beginners • 11-12AM Hands-on Idea Workshop & Tour • 12-1:30 Lunch • 1:30 Fish Sale – Class Special

3. Tilapia For Beginners • Resources • Why Raise Tilapia – How to get started • Health Benefits • History • Special Considerations • Diseases • 4 Best Ways to Kill Them • What you need to raise them successfully

4. Hands-On Idea Workshop • Tour - Look at some ideas in the nursery • Draw out your system • Draw your idea • Discuss questions and issues • How to build it • What you need and where to find it

5. Fish Sale, starting 1:30 • Special Fish sale for the class - $1 each • Mossambicus/hornorum hybrids with health certification • Commercial quality/Organic • Mostly males - They will grow large • You can order fish today and pick them up this afternoon or another day when you are ready

6. Invitation • Please fill out a card with contact info • I will e-mail you a copy of this powerpoint, if you would like. Posted on website: • Invitation to join our community • http://eatwhatyougrow.wikispaces.com

7. My Introduction • Naturalist with the San Diego Natural History Museum • 5 years with the UC San Diego School of Medicine • 4 years ago decided to raise tilapia. • Researched it for a year • Raising and breeding tilapia for 3 years • Turned my backyard into a third world country

8. Tilapia: Solution to World Hunger • Many Fish can be raised in a small recirculation system. Feed a village with a system the size of a garage. • You can eat whatever you want, but if you do not eat enough protein---you will die. • Sustainable, renewable, affordable. • Can be raised anywhere. In an aquarium in your livingroom.

9. Why Raise Tilapia? • World supplies of wild fish are decreasing • Aquaculture is an alternative way to catch fish • Catfish, trout, salmon. Now, Tilapia is a new species. • Its prolific and easy to grow. • It is a fine tasting white flaky fish with no bones – its delicious

10. Intro to Tilapia • Eat what you grow • Homegrown source of protein • They are relatively easy to raise. • You can control the water quality and food quality • Great addition to an organic garden or hydroponic garden. • So, Do you like to eat tilapia? • you might want to try it

11. A Word About the Heath Benefits of Eating Fish • We are told to eat fish to lower the risk of heart attack because of Omega 3 • Omega 3 is good and Omega 6 is bad (Currently) • Is eating Tilapia a good source of Omega 3? • Yes. A 4 oz cutlet has 90 mg of Omega 3 and 21 g protein. But, what about Omega 6? • If fed inexpensive corn-based feed– high omega 6. It depends on the feed.

12. Omega 3 and Omega 6 • It all depends what the fish eats • Boost Omega 3 by feeding ground flax • Omega 6 is boosted by feeding corn—we don’t want to do that. • Supplement with trout chow/kitten chow • Safe for human consumption • Edible garden and kitchen waste • No tomato leaves!!

13. Here are Some Guidelines • 70% of US Tilapia comes from China • Avoid Tilapia from China • US farmed/Costa Rica/Equador, etc. is OK • Costco has excellent fresh choices • Ranch 99 has live fish

14. Introduction to Tilapia • Where they live • What they eat - Food Requirements • Diseases • Special Considerations – not wild fish • Resources you can make use of • 4 Best ways to Kill Off Your Fish • How to Raise them Successfully

15. Tilapia – An Interesting Fish • Tropical fish from Africa and the Holy Land. • Called St. Peter’s Fish – Sea of Galilee – banding • Reportedly fed by Jesus to the multitudes during the Sermon on the Mount • Also called “monkfish” • Oreochromis Mossambicus/Hornorum Zanzibar • Kosher, it has scales. Catfish do not. • Not a new fish. Cultured for more than 4,500 years in Ancient Egypt. Found in Chinese writings from 3,000 years ago. • Tolerant to poor water quality and eats a wide range of natural food. Farmed commercially in 85 countries.

16. Tilapia Facts • Farmed in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Americas and Oceania. • Can be raised on land that cannot be used for farming. • They are easy to manage, with a tolerance for low water quality • Extremely fast growing – about double the growth rate of trout.

17. California Tilapia • Tilapia live in freshwater and in saltwater • Introduced to California in the 1960s in the Imperial Valley. • They live in the Salton Sea – 30% saltier than the ocean, and in the fresh water irrigation canals. • Legal to raise in Southern California. • There are Fish farms at the Salton Sea • However, San Diego has perfect conditions for raising them.

18. Tilapia Food Requirements • Can eat algae beneficially • Special grinding teeth • A stomach with very highly acidic pH which ruptures the cell walls of the algae • Very efficient in digestion of plant protein • Duckweed • Pellet food • Garden and Kitchen

19. Diseases • Tilapia are more resistant to viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases than other commonly cultured fish, especially at optimum temperatures. • Fish should be certified by a USDA accredited aquatic disease diagnotistic laboratory as being free of Streptococcus, Trichodina, Columnaris and Aeromonas.

20. Invasive Species • Two kinds of Tilapia are allowed in California: • Mossambicus tilapia - mossambicus • Zanzibar tilapia – hornorum • These fish are bred to be farm raised and must never be allowed into natural waterways.

21. Raising Tilapia for Beginners • Resources • Aquaculture Network Information Center AquaNIC • Aquanic.org • Eating size 1.25 – 2 pounds • Temperature requrements: 78-88 • Not lower than 70 • Lethal: 55

22. Four Best Ways to Kill Off Your Tilpaia • Not to dechlorinate tap water • Use Vitamin C 500mg to 50 gallons instantly • Fish need Vitamin C Anyway • Inadequate Oxygen • Especially at higher temperatures • Too Cold of Water • 80-88 not below 70 • Feed them too much, or forget to change the water weekly, or both

23. Best Ways to Raise Tilapia • Objective: grow big fast • 36” deep • 80 • Crowded • Why? To avoid territoriality and fighting • These conditions simulate nature and they will eat a lot. At too warm temperatures, they will start to think about breeding, and then they don’t eat.

24. What Else? • Air supply (two for redundancy) • Aquarium heater (two for redundancy) • Thermometer 80 degrees. Lower edge. 78-79 • Insulation to retain heat to save power. Stable temp helps growth. • Water change 25% every week • No need for recirculation • No need for a filter • The water is better green, not clear • Use the water in your garden

25. Feeding • Small fish need frequent feeding in small amounts. Stomach is the size of their eye. • Do not over feed. Better to underfeed. • They can go for a few days without food. • Provide duckweed, and just make sure they have some. Supplement with ground flax and greens. If you grind it up, they will eat it.

26. Contact • Thank you for coming • tilapia@cox.net • Order fish for pick up at 1:30 today or later