TILAPIA

The most widely used fish in Aquaponics is the tilapia in its various subgroups. Tilapia are warm water fishes and belong to the genus Cichlids - the temperature should not fall permanently below 15 ° Celsius.
The tilapia is usually chosen because it is not particularly demanding as far as food is concerned - this fish eats just about anything! In addition, it is a large part of vegetarian fish, so it is also possible to dispose of vegetables or the like in the fish pond. Furthermore, Tilapia are very attractive for rearing because they convert up to 80% of the feed to body weight.
Many Aquaponics also pull duckweed (duckweed) in another pond to feed the Tilapia. This does not happen directly in the fish tank, since the tilapia would provide a very fast reduction in stock.
A cichlid against hunger and malnutrition

Tilapia, especially the tilapia niloticus, is a problem solution. The fish is easy to breed, reproduce, robust, fast growing, adaptable. It does not make any demands on the fodder and its water world, spreads with great success and its attitude requires no special knowledge. All these characteristics give the fish the ability to supply the fast-growing population in underdeveloped countries with high-quality, cheap and rapidly growing food. In fact, the health of the population has significantly improved in areas where breeding has been introduced. Typical problems caused by malnutrition could be mitigated by regular tilapia consumption. There are many different projects around the world which aim to improve the local nutrition situation by the planting of tilapia ponds. The team Finca La Virgen wants to help with this.

Since January 2017 approx. 60 fish live in the pond 2. The ponds are supplied with fresh water from the source via the Pelton plant. If this water fails (repairs), the water supply is secured by the drinking water line. The tilapias feed mainly on the plants and additionally on food and bananas. Some fish feed is added. Fresh water intake is particularly important in the small pond. The pond is currently being expanded in the shallow water area. The fishes love this area.