Tilapia Breeding?

[T-Fox]

I am trying to breed Two Tilapia in a 55 gallon tank. The temperature of the water is 30 Degrees Centigrade, Disolved Oxygen is 8.4 ppm, and Ammonia in the tank is at about 1 ppm (I haven't checked this yet this week, I need to do that today.) These fish have been in the tank for about 1.5 - 2 weeks, and I have not seen any evidence of spawning taking place. The female has dug what seems to be a nest in the gravel in the bottom of the tank. (I can provide photos of the tank later.) Also, if it has any bearing, there are Rocks in the tank, placed to give the fish a place to hide, a Powerhead to circulate the water (Not sure if this should be in there.), a gravel bottom, and an Airstone. So, can anyone help me out here?

~T-Fox

[emc7]

filter? ammonia should be zero, or even if you get eggs, you will lose the fry.

[T-Fox]

Originally Posted by emc7

filter? ammonia should be zero, or even if you get eggs, you will lose the fry.

I'm currently using an Activated Carbon Whisper Filter. Ammonia is ALOT lower than I previously thought, it's at 0.3ppm. I'll keep working to lower that. I still can't get the fish to spawn though. And no matter where I look, online or otherwise, I can't find out what I'm doing wrong.

[fishbguy]

My guess is the amonia. It should be at 0. Any kind of ammonia is toxic to fish. Fry espacially.

Fish will only breed is their suroundings are perfect. They won't breed if they fear for the safty of their young. Because of the ammonia, they are likely not going to spawn.

What size tank is it? How big are the fish? What are you feeding them?

[T-Fox]

Originally Posted by fishbguy

My guess is the amonia. It should be at 0. Any kind of ammonia is toxic to fish. Fry espacially.

Fish will only breed is their suroundings are perfect. They won't breed if they fear for the safty of their young. Because of the ammonia, they are likely not going to spawn.

What size tank is it? How big are the fish? What are you feeding them?

It's a 55 gallon tank. The fish are large, I wanna say... about half a pound each? I'm feeding them about 5 of 6 Pellets per day, they do eat it all. I don't know a kind or brand or anything, I'm using someone else's feed. I do know it's specifically for tilapia though. (I do need to weigh them at some point. I can get pictures of the fish, probably sometime on monday.)

[Syndo]

How plump are the fish? They need to pack on extra calories to produce eggs. Feeding plenty of live or frozen foods is usually helpful for most cichlids.

[fishbguy]

feed them lots of live and frozen foods...espacially frozen. earthworms, blackworms, bloodworms, frozen fish, etc.

[emc7]

Do you have a species name or a pic? Most Tilapia breed easily like convicts, but some like sand, some rocks, etc. Also they come in many different sizes, so without knowing which one you have, its hard to know if they are adults yet. They are African and usually like pH > 7.5, but they come from many different places with different water chemistry. Feed them well and keep the water clean.

Since you already have an airpump, I would suggest adding a big (Hydor-sponge) sponge filter in place of the airstone. It would help with the ammonia issue (and the nitrite issue you will have the ammonia goes down) and small fry often graze them for food. Many Tilapia are like goldfish in that they are deep bodies and eat a lot of low-quality plant matter. My point is that they might need more water changes than you would expect them to.

[T-Fox]

I took a Photo of the tank, and the fish. Ammonia is down to .1 ppm, and Disolved Oxygen is still around 8 ppm.

http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/6504/nonamevh3.jpg

EDIT: I tested the pH, it's at 7.7. Also, this IS my own personal project, I'm just keeping the fish in my school's aquaculture Lab temporarily until I can clear a good spot at home. I don't know if the proximity to other fish may have something to do with it either.