Tilapiaaaaaaa...!

Hehehe... ~Finally~ got some Baby Tilapiaz!

This morning, I went to Langat Aquatech Sdn. Bhd. to purchase tilapia fingerlings. The price are RM0.25 for one 2" fingerling and RM0.50 for 4" ones. They only sell a minimum of 100 fries for each purchase, so it's RM25 for a bag of 100 fingerlings. :D


View Larger Map 

They sell commercial fish feed too. They come in 3 kinds - Starter pellets for fingerlings, Growth pellets for medium sized teenage tilapias, and Finisher pellets for those plate-sized ones... I bought a starter bag and a growth bag - each of them 10 kgs. I had forgotten how much they cost but since I spent RM76 for both the fish and the food, RM76 minus RM25 for the tilapias leaves us with RM51 for the feed.

From left to right: Tilapia fingerlings, Starter pellets, Growth pellets

Close up shot of fingerlings

It is now time to acclimate the fish to their new tank. At first, I just use the common "float the bag" method used to match the water temperature in the bag to the fish tank water slowly.

But then, the 1 hour journey from Hulu Langat to Kota Kemuning had stressed those fish very much. I can see them gasping for air inside the bag - a lack of oxygen? Perhaps, I should just release them in to a large container for acclimation...

I counted... 102 tilapia fingerlings... No deaths!

and divert some water flow to slowly trickle into their acclimation tank... By filling their tank with water from the fish tank slowly, those fingerlings get to acclimate themselves not only to the temperature, but also various other water parameters such as pH, NH4, NO3, NO4, KH and GH... The slow water input flow rate means more time needed for the acclimation tank to fill up causing the water chemistry and temperature to change very slowly - which is less stressful for the fish!

A trickle of water diverted from the main fish tank in to the acclimation tank. I've also added an air stone bubbler for extra aeration.

Tilapia fingerling fighting for that stream of fresh water from above.

After about 2 hours, the tank had filled up quite much. That looks like a 5 or 6 folds increase in water volume which should make the water chemistry quite similar to the water in the bigger fish tank.

It is now time to transfer them in to their new home!

 I net them out of the acclimation tank and throw them into the main tank. I disposed all the water in their acclimation tank into the drain as I don't want to risk introducing new parasites or diseases in my system.

Tilapia fingerling exploring their new greenish environment. They immediately started nibbling on the leftover kang kong floating on top of the water.

I won't be feeding them pellets today to reduce ammonia excretions. For the next several days I'll be monitoring the water chemistry because I do not think my grow bed can handle so much new fish at once. I must be very very careful.

Thanks for reading...!