Tilapia and other questions

[dayna]

We are currently digging out a pond on our property. Okay, my husband is digging out the pond! lol

I was thinking of having tilapia (to eat). I've never had tilapia, though I am a fish lover. I am the ONLY person that eats fish or seafood in my household.

What does one do with a tilapia? How does one prepare it. I've looked online and mostly what I saw was a white fish type or fried preparation. I'm used to cooking fresh salmon and halibut. How would tilapia compare to those in both flavors and cooking methods?

Is there somewhere locally I could order dinner, of tilapia that is not fried to I can see if I like to eat it or not?

Along with tilapia can you keep other fish? Like those fish that eat mosquitoes?

Does anyone know how deep a pond needs to be for tilapia and how many inches of tilapia per gallon? I'd have to measure how long and wide the pond we are digging out is, I'm sure we'll have to have a special liner made just for it as it's a heck of a lot bigger than any liner I've seen at home depot or similar places.

Any advice on this project would be very welcome.

Dayna

www.E-Z-Caps.com

[Carey]

They are a light white fish (lighter & thinner that orange roughy) I have often just broiled with a squeeze of citrus (usually orange). but can also be poached (good with a wine basted poaching sauce) & flash grilled (not too long on the BBQ!)

Tilapia like at least 3' of water & a good rule of thumb is between 3-10 adult fish per 50 gals (less than that & territorial male spats start, more than that & it is too overcrowded)
They can have a mild salinity (10ppt does affect fry counts, but fish can grow well in up to 16-20ppt (salinity can discourage some pests...so...)

They do eat algae & are most nutritious with flax seed based, rather than corn feed based fish pellets...

This is one UH based researcher you may want to brain pick:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustainag/le...amaru.html
& from the aquaponics 'livebinder'
https://www.livebinders.com/play/present?tab_view=side&id=561710#anchor

OK, well my livebinder didn't select, but scroll down to the tilapia paper on the left!

[pahoated]

You can go on youtube and there are dozens of videos on how to prepare and multiple recipes. This is one showing how to filet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFGWRxDehuI
It's got a pretty tough skin and it takes a sharp knife to get a clean filet. An oriental way is just put the whole thing on a hibachi and grill it really toasty. They grow really fast so some people add a couple catfish to balance the population plus ending up with catfish meals.
There is a fairly large aquaponics farm up north that has an open house on the first Saturday from 10am.
http://www.friendlyaquaponics.com/about-us/farm-tours/

"It was a majority decision to descend into the Dark Ages. Don't worry, be happy, bang on da drum all day!"

[dayna]

Thank you both for your responses. Does anyone know of any local places to eat that serve fresh tilapia or a store that has fresh (not frozen) tilapia? I've found a HUGE difference in the flavor of salmon depending on frozen-ness and age. Fresh caught off the boat and eaten within hours of catching is always the best, fresh not frozen from the store or market is second best. I won't eat hard frozen salmon. Tates yuck and mush.

If I have to make it myself the first time I guess I would do it oriental style lol, like trout and just toss the whole thing on the grill minus the guts.

Dayna

www.E-Z-Caps.com

[Lee M-S]

you can put mosquito fish in the tilapia tank. Then you can put in some more--the tilapia think they're yummy. We have several ponds, only one with tilapia, so I just occasionally harvest from other ponds to replace the mosquito fish in the tank.

[bananahead]

tilapia, is the so called St. Peter's biblical fish (if you believe in those fairytails), will taste like the water its grown in (like farmed catfish), if the water is clean and clear its yummy, if the water is murky and full of algae it will taste muddy. It can also live in brackish water like all the small canals around Ala Moana/Waikiki on the overcrowded/polluted island known as Oahu... no eat da kine there

save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[riverwolf]

Dayna,there is a nice couple who sell live Tilapia and Catfish at the Makuu market. I can't remember their names but there on the Mauka side of the market next to Warren who sells fresh Ahi and Aku. ..and next to the Hawiain style pizza cooked in the portable wood fired stove.
enjoy.

riverwolf

[taropatch]

The only restaurant that I know of that serves tilapia is Seaside Restaurant in Keaukaha but that place is pricey. If you do go, ask for tilapia by name because they may have it listed as "sunfish" since some people consider tilapia trash. Of all the fish I've tried there, I found the tilapia and fried moi to be the tastiest.

Mosquito fish and koi can co-exist with tilapia in your pond.

[mar1957]

Walmart (in Alaska ) has it in the frozen section.
It's a softer meat then halibut but can be battered
and fried I like it poached in a lite butter lemon sauce.
The Internet has some wonderful info. I also want a small
pond the most important info I read was about h2o quality
having enough water flow and feeding just enough to get 1 lb fish.
It amazes and excites me at all the things one can do in Hawaii !

This is the site
Tilapia farming at home

[oink]

All that I've seen at WalMart is raised in China. With China's out of control pollution I'm very careful what food products I buy from there. No farm raised fish or shellfish. I loved my smoked canned oysters but I've had to give them up as every can I see is from China.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.