Tilapia fish food vs catfish fish food

Stargazer

Stargazer

Surin Legend
We just bought fish food pellets. We were confronted with 'tilapia' type for herbivores (which are tilapia certainly are) and 'catfish' type. My wife says that the 'catfish' type is also OK for tilapia, and has more vitamins. It costs more. But my wife has more opinions gotten from friends and Youtube videos than perhaps justified. Can anyone here comment from experience? We're also struggling to gauge just how much of this is enough per fish per day as they grow. Any relevant links appreciated.
 
Mel Malinowski said:
We just bought fish food pellets. We were confronted with 'tilapia' type for herbivores (which are tilapia certainly are) and 'catfish' type. My wife says that the 'catfish' type is also OK for tilapia, and has more vitamins. It costs more. But my wife has more opinions gotten from friends and Youtube videos than perhaps justified. Can anyone here comment from experience? We're also struggling to gauge just how much of this is enough per fish per day as they grow. Any relevant links appreciated.
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we use catfish pellet for our koi farm fishing lake and tilapia/java barb lake all the fish love it and growth rates are good for all fish
tilapia will eat anything you give them
catfish pellet is expensive in this area I am looking into bulk buying and alternative feeds with help from a friend who until recently ran a fishing park near cha am
if there's a few of us needing pellet then maybe we could bulk buy together and save more
anyone interested let me know
 
PHIL J said:
we use catfish pellet for our koi farm fishing lake and tilapia/java barb lake all the fish love it and growth rates are good for all fish
tilapia will eat anything you give them
catfish pellet is expensive in this area I am looking into bulk buying and alternative feeds with help from a friend who until recently ran a fishing park near cha am
if there's a few of us needing pellet then maybe we could bulk buy together and save more
anyone interested let me know
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I'm not sure what 'expensive' means. We just paid 470 THB for a 20kg bag of catfish pellets, less for tilapia. (Is that a good or bad price?) But they told us the next shipment will go up 20 THB a bag. Can you also comment on how much you feed per fish at various sizes? I'm considering trying to clarify the water with either gypsum or lime, but am finding I must learn a lot more about water chemistry so I don't harm the fish! We plan to eat the tilapia, and try to let the koi grow big for color. I understand koi can live many years. I hope our lake (which has a section 4m deep as well as a long shallow klong) and has about 900,000 liters stays cool enough. We fortunately have a great well that (so far) can pump 24/7 if needed.Screenshot 2023-03-21 at 14.21.35.png
 
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Mel Malinowski said:
I'm not sure what 'expensive' means. We just paid 470 THB for a 20kg bag of catfish pellets, less for tilapia. (Is that a good or bad price?) But they told us the next shipment will go up 20 THB a bag. Can you also comment on how much you feed per fish at various sizes? I'm considering trying to clarify the water with either gypsum or lime, but am finding I must learn a lot more about water chemistry so I don't harm the fish! We plan to eat the tilapia, and try to let the koi grow big for color. I understand koi can live many years. I hope our lake (which has a section 4m deep as well as a long shallow klong) and has about 900,000 liters stays cool enough. We fortunately have a great well that (so far) can pump 24/7 if needed.View attachment 61042
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This was bare dirt in October, no lake either. Lots of work left to do. We've mulched all the bare soil, and planted a couple hundred trees and shrubs.
I call it Mavin's Garden :) after our grandson. Fish seem happy so far. Solar water aeration fountain. This is for family fun and recreation, not commercial.
 
your pond looks good
we have around 700 koi in our lake we feed with the large size pellet (around 6mm) 2 bags a week
I would not mess with the water maybe look at putting a bit more oxygen in there and if you have the time feed the fish 3 times a day rather than one big meal
 
Mel Malinowski said:
I call it Mavin's Garden :) after our grandson. Fish seem happy so far. Solar water aeration fountain. This is for family fun and recreation, not commercial.
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Teach Marvin how to swim...or at least be trained in 'drown-proofing' technique depending on his age. :) TiT.
 
PHIL J said:
where did you get the water lilies
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The smaller ones we bought in nurseries, the big ones we harvested free from a local lake and irrigation canal.
Coffee said:
Teach Marvin how to swim...or at least be trained in 'drown-proofing' technique depending on his age. :) TiT.
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Thanks, Coffee. We'll teach him as soon as possible. I think it is not yet possible at 23 months. A very big concern. I don't think his parents fully appreciate what happens if a child that age falls in. They are not buoyant, and go straight to the bottom. In a murky lake, 4 meters deep, you would have virtually no chance of finding and saving him. Lots of little kids die that way. It is a big worry to us. I have not yet found a toddler size life jacket that works properly, keeping your head up even if you are unconscious. Their heads are disproportionately heavy at this age. Water wings don't cut it.
 
PHIL J said:
your pond looks good
we have around 700 koi in our lake we feed with the large size pellet (around 6mm) 2 bags a week
I would not mess with the water maybe look at putting a bit more oxygen in there and if you have the time feed the fish 3 times a day rather than one big meal
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How big are these 700 koi? We're currently feeding our perhaps 100 2 to 3" tilapia with a few koi in the mix about ½ kg a day, which is about 5 grams a day per fish. You're feeding more like 8 grams a day per fish. Our plan is to up the food gradually to 15 grams a day per fish as they grow, but we may be under-feeding them. Our lake is still immature, only 5 months old, so there is not a lot of vegetable matter for the tilapia to graze on yet. I can see why you want to bulk buy! That's more than 50,000 THB a year for fish pellets. We have been feeding them morning and evening. We'd be willing to sign up for part of a shipment if we could arrange one. We've been using a lot of planter soil getting our area planted, hundreds of bags, and my wife found a local wholesaler who only charges us 10THB a (small) bag delivered, whereas most nurseries resell them for 15-20 THB.
PHIL J said:
your pond looks good
we have around 700 koi in our lake we feed with the large size pellet (around 6mm) 2 bags a week
I would not mess with the water maybe look at putting a bit more oxygen in there and if you have the time feed the fish 3 times a day rather than one big meal
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Thanks, Phil. What area is your lake at? Are you commercially growing the koi? We have two lakes, one about 3 million liters, and in that one we have a solar paddle wheel aerator. For this smaller one, we're pumping water every day out of it and spraying it in a fountain instead. We have absolutely no professional expertise in this area, and hope our fish will survive! In the US, I'd talk to a local agriculture agent for science advice, but I don't think we have such here.IMG_6552.jpegScreenshot 2023-03-22 at 20.02.47.png
 
PHIL J said:
your pond looks good
we have around 700 koi in our lake we feed with the large size pellet (around 6mm) 2 bags a week
I would not mess with the water maybe look at putting a bit more oxygen in there and if you have the time feed the fish 3 times a day rather than one big meal
Click to expand...
I have read tilapia need somewhere from 2-4% of their body weight per day in fish pellets. That would mean 5 grams per fish might be ok for our little guys, going up to 16 grams per day for them at 400 grams. The hard part is getting them to stand on the scales!
 
we don't do maths regarding we find that when we feed the fish go into a frenzy once they calm down feed a few more handfuls for them to casually mop up you won't go wrong with this method and bear in mind that smaller fish will be pushed away by the bigger fish when you start to feed this method should get feed to all your fish
I will be in need of planter soil in a few weeks if you could help with that
our koi range from 8-20 inches there lake kept rather than put in holding tanks which we feel makes them stronger and improves growth they are for sale if anyone is interested we will in the not to distant future put in some holding tanks for customers that know what they want ie if you call and want an all white koi we will take them from the lake and put them in holding tanks for you to come and look at once business is done the rest are retuned to the lake
we are in thenmi just outside Surin your more than welcome to come down and see what we are doing and have a chat I'm no expert but have. friends here who are so most problems can be dealt with with a phone call or two
 
PHIL J said:
your pond looks good
we have around 700 koi in our lake we feed with the large size pellet (around 6mm) 2 bags a week
I would not mess with the water maybe look at putting a bit more oxygen in there and if you have the time feed the fish 3 times a day rather than one big meal
Click to expand...
I have read tilapia need somewhere from 2-4% of their body weight per day in fish pellets. The hard part is getting them to stand on the scales!
 
Are you down near Ampuen Reservoir? We'd like to drop by to meet you and see your koi.

One sign that your fish aren't getting enough to eat may be if when you take a dip in your lake, they chew on your toes like in a fish spa?
 
yes we are
if you come into thenmi there is a big police station with a football pitch next to it between the pitch and little shop is a concrete road turn down this road and follow to sharp left Han bend we are just around this on the right the concrete road turns to dirt road half way down
if you have WhatsApp can call me on +447834060179 let me know when coming I'm homely the time and your very welcome
 
it was an absolute pleasure to meet you guys and everybody are very much looking forward to your next visit which hopefully will not be in the to distant future
please keep in touch and take care until next time we meet
 
PHIL J said:
it was an absolute pleasure to meet you guys and everybody are very much looking forward to your next visit which hopefully will not be in the to distant future
please keep in touch and take care until next time we meet
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Likewise. We respect what you're doing, and will come see you again when we return in October.
 
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