How to house your new pink tilapia, Oreochromis mossambica, with pictures

Pink Tilapia Factoids
Origin	Mozambique and environs
Temperature	70 to 90 Fahrenheit
Size	Males exceed a foot. Females smaller.
Age	10+ years
Substrate	Not picky. Likes to dig (a lot).
Security	Not a shy fish
Foods	Eats everything
Breeding	Pit breeders. Females brood eggs in their mouth.
Threats	Restaurant patrons and runting out

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12-inch eating size "pink" tilapia.

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12-inch "original" male mossambic mouthbrooder.

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12-inch "original" strawberry male mossambic.

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Today's two-inch "red" tilapia. Note breeding tube on top tilapia. They start early.

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Many are mottled, such as Zorro, pictured here.

cichlidom. Think of pink tilapia as a blast from the past.

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Two-inchers -- the size most encountered in local fish stores.

More Name Stuff.: Originally called Tilapia mossambicus, then Saratheradon mossambicus, and now Oreochromis mossambicus. Now we just call them tilapia.

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T. mossambic male about five inches not in spawning mode. Original colors.

Origin: Out of Africa originally, Tilapia of various species now reproduce all over the world. Aquaculturists find tilapia a fast growing and economically raised crop. Even Iowans raise these guys for fun and profit. However, Fareast imports hit the market at very competitive prices. Regardless of their origin, tilapia taste pretty good. You can find them on many menus under a variety of names: snapper, red snapper, cherry red snapper, St. Peter’s fish, moharra, pla tub tim, and oddly enough sometimes they call them tilapia.

Commercial Tilapia Rearing. Starting from the 0.07 ounce size, tilapia grow 2 to 3% per day when fed twice a day. They add one pound of weight per each 1.5 pounds of food (at 23¢ a pound). Just add the warm water coming out of the local electrical plant and get to work. We like aquaculture (and tilapia).

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10-inch male mossambic (spell it anyway you want) not in spawning coloration. He eats one of those convicts behind him per day. Same fish as very first photo one year ago.

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2-inch mossambics. More common on menus today than in aquaria (when grown).

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Male digging pit to attract females.

Color: Originally a grey fish when not in spawning mode, now you see them in a variety of colors hinting more toward pink than red. (Wholesalers call them red tilapia or strawberry tilapia. The “reds” in the aquarium market ain’t red. And strawberry stretches it a bit also. Some of the “eating strains” are bright red.) In spawning mode, the original males turned black with a red tail and a white chin. They now stay a variant of pink or white.

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Took this 3-incher till lunch to dig this pit.

Fanatical Breeders: Tilapia of all species feel the need to breed when still small. Ours start digging pits at three inches. And once the hormones start flying, they all want to breed at the same time. Fine for aquarists. Not so hot for commercial tilapia raisers. They runt themselves out fast due to overcrowding. Some fish farmers introduce predators to thin the herd of the swarms of fry. Others cross mossambics with other tilapia species to produce mule or all male strains, some of which really are red.

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The larger three-inch male waggles to attract the smaller (and cuter) females.

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Two spawning sites in this crowded 20H aquarium. This 20H includes 2 firemouths, 1 jurupari, 10 painted "jelly beans," several corydoras catfish, as well as the 10 tilapia.

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Same tank next day with two spawning pits.

Fanatical Diggers: Of the two sexes, male tilapia seem to be the most dedicated diggers -- especially at breeding time. Male tilapia grab one or more pieces of gravel and spit it against the front glass -- right down to your undergravel filter plate (refer to above photo). Then they alternate between wiggling their booty over their nest to attract females and chasing off other less attractive tilapias. They pretty much ignore the non-tilapia population.

Substrate: Immaterial. You provide it. Tilapia will dig it.

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Got duckweed? This much disappears in one day thanks to this eight-inch tilapia.

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2.5 incher before and after three weeks of power feeding. Note breeding tube.

Fanatic Feeders: Pink tilapia eat anything. They are omnivores. You gotta love a fish that eagerly eats algae. And devours duckweed. Wild populations will survive on detritus -- a diet best fitted for bacteria. Males grow faster and larger (nearly twice) than the females. The little rascals stuff themselves on any flake or pellet you feed them. The young are carnivores. The adults are herbivores. All ages are fanatic flakivores and pelletivores.

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Mouths of a couple 5-inch tilapia.

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Mouth of a 12-inch male "pink" tilapia. We didn't try to pry his mouth open.

Mouth Weirdity: Unlikely as it may seem, the males have much larger mouths than the females. Females can carry several hundred eggs in their mouth. You’d think female tilapia would sport the larger mouths.

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Breeding pink tilapia are easier to find than breeding Haplochromis.

Unproven Hypothesis: Thinking inside the buccal cavity, you may be able to convince Mossambics to foster parent Synodontis multipunctatus -- our Aqualand logo. These sneaky catfishes normally breed at the same time as Haplochromis species. The female hap picks up her eggs and the catfish eggs at the same time. She incubates the eggs together while the catfish hatch early and cannibalize the hap eggs. Mossambics would make potential foster parents?

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Shucked eggs (use a ballpoint pen to hold mouth open) about three days after spawning.

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Little closer view of their mondo egg sacs.

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Almost two weeks later They've absorbed their egg sacs.

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They will emerge on their own when ready.

Water Conditions: Pink tilapia will live and reproduce in fresh, brackish, and seawater. Seawater slows them down but does not stop them. Only the larger ocean predators control their spread into the ocean. The females with mouths full of unhatched eggs can spread their kind widely and wildly. Several states and countries have made their possession illegal. You cannot use them as bait (live or dead) in many places.

Game Fish: Tilapia make excellent game fishes. They grow larger than you might expect. Five pounders are not common but are caught -- usually on earthworms. The current Nicaraguan record is six pounds, five ounces. As we said, tilapia are wide-spread. Go to “Tilapia Fishing” for more details.

Pond Cleaners: Pond keepers despise algae -- any algae. Tilapia love algae -- any algae. Do the math. Of course, temps below 68 degrees really slow down tilapia, so they do not want to stay outdoors in earmuff weather.

Last Words: Be careful with your tilapia. They are the number two most farmed fish in the world. Bested only by salmon. But they are also on the List of 100 Most Invasive Fish. In some countries you can get in huge trouble if you get caught with a non-filleted tilapia in your possession. LA

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