Cage culture of tilapia is an opportunity for Virgin Island farmers with freshwater ponds on their property. These ponds are typically multi-use; providing water for other farm activities making it inappropriate to drain for a fish harvest. When it is not possible to drain the pond for a complete fish harvest the use of floating cages is recommended.
Research
Manual feeding versus. Demand feeders
Six cages were deployed in a farm pond. Three cages were fed 2 times daily by rowing
to the cages and adding an amount of feed calculated as a percent of the estimated
fish biomass. Three cages were fed with demand feeders. The feeders were filled with
pelleted feed as needed.
Results:
The manually fed cages had a lower (better) FCR than the demand feeder cages.
The labor required was greater for the manually fed cages than for the demand feeder
cates.
Species comparison
Five genetic lines of tilapia were cultured for 24 weeks. Comparisons of growth rate,
FCR, survival and body composition characteristics of protein, fat and carbohydrates
were made.
Density
Tilapia (O. niloticus) were cultured at 3 densities, 300, 400 and 600 per cubic meter.
Results: