TILAPIA

INTRODUCTION:

Tilapia comes in variety of forms, colours and sizes and are found in various ranges spread around the world due to their super invasive nature. 

They are widely used in aquaculture as a well known species of food and very rarely in aquarium trade. My topic is concentrated on the Indian common tilapia or Telapia as being called here in my native place.

ORIGIN:

In the late 1970's the tilapia from African continent was introduced in Indian subcontinent. Being an overtly invasive species it immediately turned the tables. It is now the second most commercially popular fish plate in the world. The ones in India are hybrid species. Cooked with Indian spices and vegetables they serve as a mouth watering delicacy in Indian cuisines. Their origin in local delicacies around the world can be traced back to hundreds of years where they are easily reared for flesh.

SIZE AND GENDER DIFFERENCE:

Only few months back I  very clearly remember buying a species which easily was a little less than 2 kilos. However much smaller sizes are also commercially available and popular always. 

Tilapia was a very common sight in my glass containers of horlicks where I used to keep them in and used to be easily fascinated by their ease of adjustments in that small space. Though none of them lived for more than 3 or 4 months because of my lack of experience in fish keeping at my grass root level. I used to be fascinated by their playful nature .

Although during juvenile condition it wasn't easy enough to differentiate between the genders however I could tell them apart if my pond caught tilapia were a 3 to 5 inches, where males were a bit more humbly coloured compared to the females.A oh-not-so sharp belly would reflect the masculine qualities in the fish.

FEEDING HABIT:

Tilapias are aggresive feeders; atleast I strongly believe that. As a hero-omnivore it would catch, crush and chew WHATEVER fitted in its mouth. 

I occasionally used to treat it with crickets and very small dragon flies. However it used to be very fond of puffed rice (muri) I used to feed.

I have never got hold of tilapias after I started with commercial fish pellets over my other fish pets, so It would be better to say that I am completely ignorant about the idea of feeding them with pellets; however going by their nature to accept almost any food items it is safe to say that pellets will be well accepted by them.

HEALTH:

Frankly I always had problems with the tilapias I had kept probably because of my backdated way of handling them easily 20 years back. I changed water too often which actually would effect their overall growth and health. They  used to have powdery coat over their skin which I suspect now was "ich" .I regret now the way I handled them back then.

Stringy stools were a common sight with them , after which death was certain, which probably I believe now was some sort of intestinal infections. 

I personally think a good water change schedule along with a good feed of high quality should let them feel at home .

This species suffers from ich and intestinal infections in the wild too.To keep them in their best health a pH of about 6 to 8 is great . Any tropical or subtropical temperate is optimum for their growth.

TANKMATES:

Tilapias are better not to be kept with some delicate species like discus,neons and other smaller tetras, Bettas and few kind of other fishes which have got long flowing fins. More robust fishes like bigger gouramis, catfish, barbs and platys and mollies are excellent tankmates for them. I remember keeping 20 or 30 Indian ghost shrimps once back then and each one of the shrimps just vanished within a span of 30 -35 minutes.

BREEDING:

Indian tilapias are prolific breeders and spring and summers mark the beginning of their journey towards parenthood. Just like chiclids female tilapias mouth broods their babies after the eggs are fertilized by the male in the floor of the lake, pond or tank where she has laid them.

She protects the brood from predators and provides them with a place for resting. 

Many males sometimes fertilizes the eggs. Silt or gravel substrates are preferred by these beauties.

CONCLUSION :

Tilapias aren't very common in the aquarium trade as much as it is in the aquaculture industry; however in India few fish keepers adore this beauty and its restless nature. Its ease of maintenance can easily qualify it as a very common aquarium fish but its potency of reaching gigantic size can somewhere deter fish keepers who has constraint of space.

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