Tilapia Farming

Raising and selling tilapia is a lucrative business for most fish pond and fish pen owners here in our country. The main reasons are because they are hardy, grow quickly and require inexpensive feeds. The two types I know are raising tilapia in fish pens and in fish ponds.

If you live near a bay like for example Laguna bay, it’s much easier than a fish pond because the water is already there and feeding them is not as much as when you will raise tilapia in a fish pond because there is natural food already in the lake like planktons or other small organisms. Building pens on the bay with the use of bamboo and of course labor, fingerlings, feeds and permits are the essential things to worry about.

But if you will consider digging a farm land for raising tilapia, you will need a bigger capital. Let’s say at least 500,000 pesos. You have to lease a land, rent a bulldozer to dig a pond, invest a water pump if you are far from a water source, buy fingerlings, a professional service of an aquaculture engineer and register to a local government.

There are also factors to consider like fish density for a given square meter of pond which are applicable to both fish pen and fish pond. Just to give you an idea for example you should only raise 3 to 8 tilapia per square meter of the fish pond. Quality and quantity of feeds to be given should also be considered. If you have business plan of tilapia farming it is best to attend a seminar in TLRC which they are conducting every month. Just search this site for TLRC Courses Available for their schedule or go to the TLRC website.