Tilapia culture

• Egypt has long been the traditional

leader in the MENA region (Middle
East-North Africa) in tilapias
capture and culture.
• Until the late 1980s, the presence
of Nile tilapia in pond harvests,
although native to Egypt, was
considered a sign of bad pond
management.
• Tilapia was not stocked in
aquaculture ponds
• Fast development has occurred in
recent years after aquaculture in
general has been intensified as the
best answer to reduce the
increasing gap between supply and
demand for fish in Egypt.
• Development of privately-owned
hatcheries
• Feed mill construction.
• The production of all male tilapia
 Culture sytems in
Egypt:
• Generally, tilapia producers seek
all-male populations of fry for
culture.
• since males are reputed to grow as
much as 40% faster than
females.??????
 Phases of culture
• The culture system in Egypt and
throughout most of the tilapia
producing countries is one of
monosex culture via sex reversal
using a 3-phase production system
employing reproductive, nursery
and final growout cycles.
• Only large farms can afford to have
hatchery and nursery phases and
generate an excess of fry or
fingerlings for sale to smaller
farms.
 Reproductive phase:

• chapter (Hatchery operation).

 Sex reversal of tilapia by
androgens
• commonly referred to as sex
reversal.
• directs the expression of the
phenotype.
• phenotypically mono-sex but
genetically will have remained the
same as determined at the moment
of fertilization.
• So we can have phenotypical male
fish which are genetically female or
phenotypically female fish that are
genetically male.

• Newly hatched fry are preferred (9

to 11 mm total length) for sex
inversion .
 Feed preparation
• MT feed 42% palatable diet.
• 17 α- methyltestosterone (MT).
• passed through a 0.6 mm mesh screen
before use.
• dissolved in 95% ethanol (200 ml/kg
diet).
• Sprayed on thin feed layers
• Air died.
 Doses and treatment
duration
• 30 to 60 mg MT/kg feed.
• 3 to 4 week
 Stocking densities
• Hapa: 2000-6000 fry/m2
• Tanks : 150-750 fry/m2
• Earthen ponds 75 to 260 fry/m2
recalculating tank systems 6000 to 12000
fry/m2 in, and
• tanks with continuous water exchange
8000 to 17000 fry/ m2 in
 Reasons for poor sex reversal.

• Fry are greater than 13 mm at the start of

sex reversal

• When growth is very rapid (due to high

water temperature and high feed
quality), causing the fry to pass too
quickly through the narrow window of
susceptibility to sex reversal.
• The quality of the feed may decline
if it is not dried properly after the
addition of the alcohol carrier.

• hormone exceeds 60 mg/kg.

• Insufficient treatment duration.
 Growout phase
• Mostly semiintensive
• Recently Intensive
• Monoculture and polyculture.
• According to our field experience
the culture of Tilapia in Egypt relies
mainly on the semiintensive
aquaculture which is done mostly in
ponds providing about 75% of the
country’s total aquaculture
production and most farms are in
northern or eastern part of Nile
Delta.
• intensive culture of Nile tilapia has been
practiced in the last few years in small
scale commercial culture in both

• earthen ponds and concrete ponds

• but still, the profitability of this system is

a matter of discussion.
• Fertilizers are commonly applied in
extensive and semi-intensive pond
farming and to some extent in
intensive aquaculture to improve
the natural productivity of the
pond.

• supplementary feed is used to

ensure adequate growth at higher
stocking densities.
 Feed ingradients
• Most of the essential feed ingredients
such as corn, soybean meal and fishmeal
exist domestically in limited quantities
and the bulk is imported. The reliance on
imported ingredients can be a limiting
factor to the expansion of the feed
industry in Egypt due to the need of
foreign currency exchange and their high
cost.
• Until 2007 the use of supplementary
feeding is not widely practiced by
private fish farmers.
• This concept was greatly changed

• idea about using high quality extruded

pellets was changed completely by the
year 2010,

• but still the high cost of feed that is

combined with the fluctuation in the
market price of tilapia makes the fish
farmers consider feed administration is a
risky activity.
Relationship between supplementary feed and fish
production
Relationship between supplementary feed
and fish yield
 Recommended fertilization
strategy, frequency and rate

• Depend upon what you have on

hand and what you require.

• Experimentation shows extremely

variable results where, each pond
has its own individuality which is
governed by numerous
environmental conditions.
 Recommendations for
fertilizing Tilapia ponds
• Maximum yields of tilapia are
attained with;
– Nitrogen inputs of 2 to 4 kg N/ha/d;
phosphorous input levels should be
sufficient to prevent P limitation.
– Typically. a N:P ratio of 4:l is used.
– In acid-sulfate soils, the P input level
might have to increase as high as an
N:P ratio of l: l.
• Lime should be applied to maintain
alkalinities above 50-75 mg
CaCO3/L when fertilizing at
maximal rate.

• Type of fertilizer (cost).

• Mix of fertilizers.

• Add fertilizer in layers then fill your

pond to 10-20 cm (30-40 Cm).
• Quantity and frequency of
fertilization is best determined by
using simple techniques to detect
and adjust nutrient limitation, such
as nutrients concentration and
algal assay methods.
 pond water
transparency:
• 1. Clear water : 30 kg N ha-1 wk-1
10 kg P ha-1wk-1

• 2. Visibility down to 0.5 m: 20 kg N ha-1 wk-1

4 kg P ha-1wk-1

• 3. Visibility down to 0.2 m: 10 kg N ha-1wk-1

2 kg P ha-1wk-1
• Wait for 5-7 days and not more than 2
ws.
• Stock your pond.
• Raise the water column to 1-1.2 m
within a week of stocking.
 Do not fertilize a pond if:

• Natural food dependence.

• Excessive water exchange rate .
• Too much emerged or other aquatic
vegetation;
• Muddy water or dark-colored, with
limited transparency.
• Very high plankton turbidity.
 Extreme range: Normal range:
Factor Comment
all species Oreochromis spp.

35-40
Depth, m Influenced by temperature, O2,
<20
CO2, H2S, NH3 gradients

Reproduction stops < 22°C,

Temperature, oC 6-42 25-32 feeding < 16 °C; tolerates lower
temperatures in saline water.
0-150 with gradual adaptation
Salinity, ‰ 0-20 Low fecundity < 10‰, but some
will reproduce in 35‰

pH 5-11 Influenced by [O2],[ CO2] and

6.5-8.0
hardness
Hardness, as
calcium carbonate
1-300 75-200 increases with salinity
[Ca]

Carbon dioxide 0-72.6 0-10 Toxicity increased by [DO]

Ammonia-N 0.3-3.4 0-0.5 Toxicity increased by [DO]
More toxic in freshwater, Cl
Nitrite 0.7-2.00 <1.0 reduces
toxicity, NH3 increases it
Hydrogen sulphide <1.0 <0.01 Toxicity increased by [DO]
Oxygen Influenced by temperature, and
0.1-400% saturation 3-9
partial pressure of other gases
affects
Turbidity, mg/L
<80 <25 light penetration and O2
absorption through gills.
 Levels of management intensity and production
parameters in Egypt
Yield(Tilapia
Densit Harvest Type of
Days in spp.)
Inputs & Equipment y weight culture
System culture (mt/feddan/y
(fish/ (g) (mono or
r polyculture)
m2 )

Ponds, fry, domestic

Extensive waste, net, hook & 1-2 <150 180-240 0.5-1 Polyculture
line
Ponds, fry,
1. Fertilizer, manure
Semiintensive
2.Fertilizer, by- 3-4 200-250 150-180 2.5-3 Polyculture
products, feeds, nets,
water supply, drainage
Ponds, all-male fry,
supplemental pelleted Monocultur
Intensive 1 feed, daily partial 5-6 200-300 150-180 4-5 e
water exchange, catch- Polyculture
pit, water test kit
Ponds, all-male fry,
pelleted feed, partial Monocultur
Intensive 2 water exchange, 8-10 200-250 150-240 6-7 e
routine aeration, polyculture
equipment as above