What’s New at OSA...

2/1/15 - Aquaculture

Sorry for the long delay in updates on this project.  Although the posts slowed to a halt for a spell, the project goes on...  Let’s talk about fish!

Over the past year or so I’ve been working on fish breeding and rearing experimentation.  One of the very cool things about Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus) is that they are mouth brooders.  During the breeding ritual the female lays her eggs on the bottom, then picks them up in her mouth after they are fertilized by the male.  She then keeps the eggs and fry in her mouth for the next 14 days or so before letting the fry (baby fish) swim free.  It is during this time that females will often sit in a safe place (I have PVC pipes stacked for them to hide in) and incubate her eggs until hatching.  To capture the eggs I catch all the female fish one by one and check them for eggs.  If they have eggs I simply hold the bottom lip open and move the whole fish back and forth in a pail with water in it.  I collect as many eggs as I can and then put them into a small container (yogurt cup) and inline it in my water flow.  I direct a light flow of water over the eggs to keep them oxygenated and provide small food for the newly hatching fry.  It takes a few days for the fry to absorb the yoke sack and then they look like little swimming eyeballs with tails. lol

Here’s a video of the hatching process...

As the fry grow they begin swimming and eventually find their way out of the hatching cup and into the rearing trough...

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