Fishing for Feed

We go through 50+ pound of Sportsman Choice Catfish Feed in a week. Not only do the tilapia on the fish farm enjoy the protein rich feed - the chickens and the ducks enjoy it as well. For about a week I could not find it at my local Rural King so i substituted with other feeds. The chickens were not about it. The dicks didn't mind the change and I am pretty sure the tilapia would eat just about any bite size item I threw in their tank.

We picked up 20 - 50 lb bags pictured here. That's 1000 lbs of food but it will only probably last a few months. Tilapia like other fish has a high Feed Conversion Ratio or FCR. The FCR represents the efficiency of an organism in converting feed into body mass. Most land mammals such as cows have higher ones (8:1) while salmon (1.2:1) can be a bit lower. Here is a little animated graphical representation of how FCR and oxygen levels affect mortality rates in farm raised fish.

As the fish get bigger their appetites will no doubt increase. An aspect of their care I have been closely monitoring is their oxygen levels, because as they increase in size naturally oxygen levels are depleted. My next post will take a closer look at oxygen saturation levels here at Sweetie's Orchard. Thanks for reading and please share comments or questions!