CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Why should tilapia be farmed with all-males instead of all-females?

Why should tilapia be farmed in all-male rather than all-female formats?

Tilapia is an omnivorous fish that mainly feeds on plants. The digestive tract of tilapia in the pond contains mostly organic debris and other plant feed (such as aquatic plants, commercial feed, etc.), followed by phytoplankton, zooplankton and a small amount of benthic animals. So why should tilapia be raised in all-male rather than all-female breeding?

The reasons are: raising male fish alone has good commodity value and is easy to sell, raising female fish alone or raising both sexes is easy to produce seeds, and big fish will pinch small fish during autumn fishing. No one will buy small fish, and big fish are ugly and difficult to sell.

When tilapia is raised artificially, it can be fed 2 to 3 days after entering the aquaculture water surface. Under artificial breeding conditions, various feeds can be fed, such as wheat, corn, cake meal, etc., which are all high-quality feeds.

The protein content in the feed should be 32% to 35% at the beginning. When the individual size grows to about 200 grams, the feeding amount can be adjusted to 2% of the total weight of the fish, and the protein content in the feed should be guaranteed to be 27% to 29%. When the individual reaches about 300 grams, tilapia enters the fastest growth period.

Additional information:

Tilapia matures early, has a short spawning cycle, and hatches young fish in its mouth. It does not require high breeding conditions and reproduces naturally in large areas of static water. Tilapia reaches sexual maturity at 6 months old, and a female fish weighing about 200 grams can carry about 1,000 to 1,500 eggs.

During the breeding period, the male fish has beautiful nuptial colors, and two openings on its abdomen: the anus and the urogenital opening. White semen flows out when the abdomen is squeezed. The female fish has three holes on its abdomen: the anus, the genital opening, and the urinary opening.

When the water temperature is 18-32℃, the mature male fish has the ability to "dig a nest". The mature female fish enters the nest to mate, produces mature eggs and immediately holds them in the mouth to fertilize them. The fertilized eggs develop in the female fish's mouth. When the water temperature is 25-30℃, the young fish can hatch in 4-5 days. The young fish leave the mother's body when the yolk sac disappears and has certain abilities.