You would think that obtaining fish for my system would be easy. Drive over to your local pet store pick out some goldfish and then put them in. Ummm, not when you want Tilapia apparently. Let me take this time to give a shout out to my wonderful wife. She is so supportive and I am so thankful for that.
Now, I wasn't naive enough to think that Tilapia were at my local Pet Co. but I did think there would be many sources in southern California or online.
Online
Yes, there are Tilapia fingerlings readily available online but the shipping costs were more than the fish so I began my search for a local Tilapia source.
Local
I was sure there would be plenty of Tilapia sources because of the close proximity to San Diego and Los Angeles. My Google searches were not that easy. After much research my mother-in-law (such the enthusiastic helper) and I did come across Blue Beyond Fisheries. I called the manager Oscar and he said it would be no problem to come down and pick up some fish. Yes, mission accomplished, sort of.....
He asked what it was for and I was describing my OUTDOOR aquaponics system and he stated that Tilapia were warm water fish and needed a minimum of 75 degree water. I admit that I have not researched every aspect of this project and assumed, due to the hardiness of Tilapia, that they would be fine. Not so. This was a detail that needed attention.
Setback... for now. I did some research and bought two 250 watt aquarium heaters to heat up my 150 gallon outdoor tank.
Once they arrived I plugged them in and hoped they would bring the water temperature up from the frigid 51 degrees F. The next morning the water was at 61 degrees. Great sign. It is now resting at 74-75 degrees. This will be just fine.
Next...... the fish farm.
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