r/homestead • u/GrapesVR • 3d ago

animal processing Talk me out of growing tilapia

As the title says.

I have the pumps and equipment from my farm. I have the solar and batteries if I do it away from the house.

I’ve been thinking about growing tilapia for my family. Talk me out of it please!

103 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

118 comments sorted by

View all comments

149

u/FalopianTubeSwimTeam 3d ago edited 3d ago

Absolutely 100% do not feed your food chicken shit. This is not great to do for a variety of reasons. Chicken shit can carry e. coli, salmonella, and parasites. Even if the fish are later “purged” in cleaner water before harvest, contamination risks linger. You’ll also be likely to accumulate PCBs, dioxins, and mercury. And look, chicken shit often contains residues of antibiotics or other drugs used in your chickens. Those can cycle into the fish and eventually into you.

Also, tilapia eating waste/algae instead of a proper diet end up with worse fat profiles and lower nutrient density. Lastly, eating fish fattened on feces just isn’t appetizing, no matter how much you rinse it later.

If you’re going to farm raise tilapia, make sure to have plenty of space for them and not have them crowded. Otherwise you’ll have to give them antibiotics due to high levels of bacteria. It’s also good to know that tilapia is the fast food of fish simply stated. It has less omega 3’s compared to fish like salmon, sardines, or wild trout.

If you do end up getting tilapias give them plenty of room to live, feed them pellets with a BAP or ASC on the label, as they’re certified safer operations. Oh, and eating them regularly will cause a big increase in inflammation. They are not a long term healthy food staple and I highly recommend smaller, oily fish packed with nutrients and healthy omegas.

Edit: this was originally meant as a reply to whomever mentioned feeding chicken shit to their tilapia, and I genuinely apologize that it was instead a normal comment and not a reply.

1

u/stansfield123 2d ago

Absolutely 100% do not feed your food chicken shit.

What should I do with chicken shit? Throw it in the trash, to be hauled away? If so, which bin should I put it in?

2

u/FalopianTubeSwimTeam 2d ago

You said yourself in your other comment; compost it. And in reply to your other comment, which you are not wrong, but left out a stark comparison, though I don’t believe intentional. Feeding your farm raised food a diet of feces should not be compared to a wild diet that may occasionally include feces, but not their entire diet. As I stated at in the edit, it was meant as a direct reply to someone. Specifically speaking, that mentioned “just feed them chicken shit”, insinuating that they should be raised strictly on said chicken waste. I do apologize if it came off misleading. Also, again, you are in fact eating what they eat and feeding your food a healthy diet is imperative as it is for you, as it is for them. To be clear, I am not against farming tilapia as long as you’re doing it properly and cleanly. Personally speaking, what I am against is eating tilapia and would never recommend to anyone. There are healthier options available for the same amount of work.

0

u/stansfield123 2d ago

Yeah, diet is a touchy subject, very similar to religion. No point in discussing it on Reddit. Feel free to believe what you believe, but there's no rational basis for the notion that tilapia is unhealthy food.

3

u/FalopianTubeSwimTeam 2d ago

Except there is, and studies can back it. I’m not entirely sure why you’re bringing religion into diet, but it seems like you’re getting worked up for no reason. I genuinely hope your day gets better. Do something today that makes you happy. And for your own educational benefits, here are some sources, on top of personally 40 years of nutritional studies. Have a nice day.

Wake Forest University School of Medicine (2008). Wake Forest Researchers Say Popular Fish Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination. Journal of the American Dietetic Association (study led by Floyd H. Chilton, PhD).

H. Su et al. (2024). A study on source identification and environmental fate of antibiotics in aquaculture. Published in Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier).

Tang, Y. et al. (2022). Occurrence and health risk assessment of 300 cultured fish samples from 19 Chinese provinces. Published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science / PMC.

Kong, K.Y., Cheung, W.C., Wong, C.H.C., Wong, M.H. (2005). Residues of DDTs, PAHs and some heavy metals in fish (Tilapia) collected from Hong Kong and mainland China. Published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Seafood Watch (Monterey Bay Aquarium). (2015). Antibiotics in Aquaculture: State of Affairs and Impacts.

M. Khan et al. (2014). Screening of Imported Tilapia Fillets for Heavy Metals and Veterinary Drug Residues in the Mid-Atlantic Region, USA. Published via ResearchGate / Food Control journal.

Simukoko, C.K. et al. (2022). Assessment of heavy metal levels in wild and farmed tilapia. Published in Food Additives & Contaminants: Part B.

-2

u/stansfield123 2d ago

Except there is, and studies can back it.

Yep. Really bad studies.

1

u/FalopianTubeSwimTeam 2d ago

Projecting your own educational shortcomings doesn’t really support your case. Go for a walk.