My intention was to purchase fingerling Tilapia (1-2" long) from a lady in Olympia this spring, after the IBC totes were converted into aquaponic (combination plant growing bed & fish tank) and aquaculture (fish tank only) systems.
However, a few days ago a friend of mine saw a craigslist ad for Tilapia in Rainier; due to an issue with a frozen water pipe, the gentleman that was raising the Tilapia had to sell them immediately. My friend told me about the ad, I contacted the seller, and later that day I bundled up the kids and we drove out with lidded containers to purchase the fish.
The seller was a very nice gentleman with a lovely family, and we had a nice visit while he netted the fish and put them in the containers I'd brought. He also gave me a lidded bucket, since there were more fish, and they were larger, than he had thought. He also offered the IBC tote that he had already converted into an aquaculture system, but as I only had cash for the fish, I had to pass on the tote. He also gave me the box of food for them: pellets for the larger fish, and a very fine powder for the fry (newly hatched babies).
When we arrived back home, I slowly put the Tilapia in their new home, the 50 gallon tank that was set up and ready for them.
Since then, they have survived an unintentional assault from Abby (she wanted to feed them, so she crumbled up styrofoam into small pieces and dropped them in the tank) - I don't know how, but they all survived that.
Last night, the Tilapia did what I wasn't expecting; they started spawning (laying & fertilizing eggs).
Here's a YouTube video that shows spawning behavior in Tilapia: http://youtu.be/PbBwCa3rSjY
The Tilapia I have are blue with vertical stripes along their bodies. When they get ready to spawn, the males turn a pinkish white with black along the tips of their fins, choose then clear out a nesting area, and chase away the other fish. The female will lay her eggs, the male will fertilize them, then the female will suck the eggs up into a special pouch in her mouth, where they will incubate, hatch, and she will release them when they're swimming and ready. Ideally, if she's a good mom, she will stay with them and allow them to swim back into her mouth for protection for a few more days...if she's not such a good mom, she may just leave them to their own devices...if she's a really rotten mom, she may just eat them. Kids? What kids? Nope, no kids here... ;)
Because there are several fish in this tank (19, I believe), several have changed color, and shown nesting behavior, although I have yet to see any of them lay & fertilize eggs, so I'm not certain that has actually happened yet. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out which are the males and which are the females, so that I can select one male and 4 females to keep as my breeding colony, and the rest I can sell or barter.
Here is the progression of the Tilapia Tank so far: