Starting A Tilapia Farm – What Should You Know?
Thinking of starting a Tilapia farm? If you have decide to engage in Tilapia farming, then there are some important things that should be considered first.
Location 
It is the first thing that you should think about you want to start a Tilapia farm. This decision will influence the profits and losses that you will be facing in the business of Tilapia farming. Factors like temperature, climate, access to water and laws of a country are influenced by the location you choose for Tilapia farming. In some countries you even need to take permission from the government before starting the farm. Along with location you must determine how many farms you want in your area.
Temperature of water
You may face a problem regarding the temperature as Tilapias fish are seasonal. These fish can survive and breed only in warmer water. The ideal water temperature for a Tilapia farm is 82 – 86 degrees. Fish will start dying below 55 degrees and you will see a drop in growth rate. Temperature below this can have a bad impact on the breeding of Tilapia fish and it could cause your farming business to collapse. If you own a small farm then you can overcome this temperature problem by making use of a water heater. By using a water heater you can heat the water to the required temperature.
Managing the breeding
Breeding can be a problem for you. You need to think how you will manage the breeding. Actually Tilapia fish start breeding three months before being big enough to eat. They have an extremely high breeding rate. An adult Tilapia female fish can produce up to 100 fry per week.Many breeders manage the breeding by making use of hormones to breed male Tilapia fish. This may be expensive for small scale farmers but they can also use other methods. One such method is building a breeding cage and keeping them overstocked with fish thereby reducing the breeding rate.
These are the main factors that you need to think of when starting a Tilapia farm.
