More tilapia tales
It was interesting to read Adam Henson’s article on tilapia in the November issue. I keep a small number of tilapia in an aquaponics set-up for teaching purposes. Two main points that were missing from this article that ought to have been mentioned, although I appreciate space may be limiting. Firstly, fish farming generally is not very sustainable as it takes 3kg of feed from fish origin to grow 1kg of fish. Fortunately, tilapia are omnivorous and I feed mine with a plant-based pelleted food source. Secondly, if thinking of raising tilapia in the UK, bear in mind their African origin; I lost a couple last winter despite a heated environment. They do not survive in temperatures below 10°C. Andrew Walker-Brown, via email