Tilapia
Tilapia feed hard, until it turns cold.
Tilapia are mid-water and surface grazers, so a floating pellet is the standard format for them and is taken without any training. They are also the most temperature-sensitive fish most farmers here will stock — a crop that eats aggressively in September can be barely feeding by January, and a ration left unchanged through that is money into the pond.
The fastest crop you can run here
Tilapia reach 300–500 g in four to six months, which is short enough that two crops a year are possible where the season allows it. Published yields run 8–10 tonnes per hectare per crop. Against a carp pond that takes twelve months to a first harvest, that is a different kind of business — more turns of the capital, and a feed bill that arrives twice as often.
Because they graze at the surface, you get a clear reading of appetite at every feed. Use it. Feed only what clears in fifteen to twenty minutes, and treat a slowdown as information rather than as a bad day — it is usually the first visible sign of a temperature drop, low dissolved oxygen or an early health problem, and it shows up before anything else does.
Stocking and yield figures- Surface grazersNo training needed. A floating pellet is the standard format for tilapia and is taken straight away.
- 300–500 g in 4–6 monthsShort enough for two crops a year where the season allows.
- Appetite is a warning systemSlow feeding usually shows a temperature, oxygen or health problem before anything else does.
- Clear in 15–20 minutesAnything still floating after that is feed you have paid for and the pond has not eaten.
Feeding stage guide
Which grade, at which stage.
Tilapia run the full range. Published tilapia practice puts fry on a crumble at 40–45% protein, fingerlings of 1–30 g on 2–3 mm at 35–40%, and grow-out from 30 g on 3–6 mm at 28–32%. Our grades sit on those bands.
- Hatchery / fry Aqua Mash Mash
- Nursery Aqua Plus 0.5–0.6 mm · 10 kg
- Early fingerling Aqua Shakti 1 mm · 10 kg
- Fingerling Aqua Shakti 1 mm · 20 kg
- Grower Aqua Pro 2 mm · 35 kg
- Large fish / table size Aqua Grow 3 mm · 35 kg
Published tilapia grow-out runs 3–6 mm, so our 3 mm grade covers the lower part of that band and a 4 mm is in development for the last stretch to 500 g. Feeding rates for tilapia are published separately from the carp table: 3–5% of body weight a day for fingerlings of 1–30 g, falling to 1.5–2.5% for grow-out approaching harvest, fed two to three times a day and four to six times a day for fry.
What the cold season does to the ration
Tilapia feed best between roughly 25 and 30 °C. Below 20 °C intake falls away sharply, and at around 15 °C they effectively stop eating altogether. Above about 32 °C appetite drops again, and dissolved oxygen falls at the same time, so the fish is less able to use what it does eat.
The practical rule is to feed the thermometer, not the calendar. Cut the daily ration as the water cools, hold feed entirely while it sits near 15 °C, and bring it back gradually once the water has stayed above about 18 °C for a couple of days. Carp are far more tolerant of a cool spell than this — do not carry a tilapia schedule across to a carp pond, or the other way round.
This matters more in Assam and Tripura than the national advice suggests, because the cool months land in the middle of what would otherwise be a second crop. Plan the stocking date around the water temperature you can actually hold.
- 25–30 °CThe band where tilapia eat aggressively and convert feed well.
- Below 20 °CIntake drops sharply. Reduce the ration rather than leave it running.
- Around 15 °CFeeding effectively stops. Resume only once the water has held above about 18 °C.
- Above 32 °CAppetite falls and dissolved oxygen falls with it. Feed lighter, not heavier.
Before you stock
Tilapia farming in India is regulated.
This is not our rule and we have no part in enforcing it, but a farmer buying feed should know it before buying seed. The Department of Fisheries publishes guidelines for the responsible farming of tilapia in India, and state governments handle the monitoring and surveillance of hatcheries and farms.
- Approved species onlyNile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, and its recognised improved strains such as GIFT.
- Monosex or sterile stockFarming is permitted for monosex male or sterile stock, which is also what stops a pond breeding itself into stunting.
- Your state fisheries departmentPermission and monitoring sit with the state. Ask them before you stock, not after.
- Buy seed from a known hatcheryStrain and sexing are things you have to be able to trust, and a receipt is worth having.
Common questions
What tilapia farmers ask us.
Do I need to train tilapia onto floating feed?
No. Tilapia are mid-water and surface grazers, so an extruded floating pellet is the standard format for them and is taken immediately. That is the main difference from a rohu pond, where the fish naturally feeds lower in the column and the habit takes a few days to form.
How much should I feed, and how often?
Published tilapia practice is 3–5% of body weight a day for fingerlings of 1–30 g, falling to 1.5–2.5% for grow-out fish approaching harvest. Fry are fed four to six times a day, fingerlings and grow-out two to three times. Then correct all of it against what actually clears in fifteen to twenty minutes.
Should I keep feeding through the cold months?
Reduce, then stop. Intake falls sharply below 20 °C and effectively ceases around 15 °C, so feed offered at that point is not eaten and loads the pond instead. Resume gradually once the water has held above roughly 18 °C. This is tilapia-specific — carp are considerably more tolerant of a cool spell.
Do you guarantee a growth rate?
No, and we would not trust anyone who did. Pond conditions, stocking density, water quality and management all move the result. What we hold to is the specification: every batch is checked against it before release.