klchong:

Put it this way, tilapia production is the second largest freshwater fish production in the world. There are many buyers, and the trend, especially in the US is increasing, since tilapia is considered by many to be a sustainable fish species. Compared to pangasius (aka patin), acceptance of tilapia by the food production industry is generally good over there.

However, in Malaysia, there's still a lot of stigma associated with the fish. Many Malaysians consider tilapia a trash fish, and even a "poor man's fish". At one point, red tilapia was doing very well, being sold as "cherry snapper", until that advertisement came up informing people that cherry snapper is actually red tilapia. Pangasius on the other hand is extremely popular (sutchi, basa, "dory", etc.).

My suggestion is that you go get fries of the new hybrid variety, which is >95% male. Male tilapia grow a lot faster than females, and a lot more uniform. In addition, monosex culture tend to produce larger fish. Mixed sex cultures tend to result in over-crowding and competition for food, and therefore smaller fish. Remember, tilapia reach sexual maturity very fast, so having females in the pond is not such a great idea.

Alternatively, if you could, try sourcing pure Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and Wami tilapia (Oreochromis urolepis hornorum); cross breeding the female of the former with the male of latter will produce a >95% male population in the F1. The tedious part, however, is maintaining the pure lines of those two, in order to ensure that you have stock to recreate the F1 generations. Or you could also cross Mozambique tilapia with Blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus). Note that having Mozambique tilapia genetics allows the hybrid to tolerate salt water conditions, and more bioaccumulation of minerals.

I guess it is alright in having the tilapia in your pond, but if you want to improve your existing stock, then I would suggest that you take our only selected broodstock; the simplest selection method is to single out the largest males by size, weight, and health, and choose mid-sized to large females of good health. Develop a breeding system, where a sample size of the offspring of each specific cross is monitored. That way you can keep improving your existing broodstock.

That saying, the next hurdle is actually marketing the fish. As I said before, local stigma of the fish inhibits marketing to quite some extent. However, a key world you should have with you at all times is this: Value-Add.

Fresh fish is without a doubt much preferred by Malaysians, but so are many fish-products. You may explore processing your larger tilapia fish for fillets, and the smaller ones for fish paste, fish ball, etc. By products, such as bones, scales, gut material etc. can be treated with softening agents (eg. papain) and processed into animal feed additives. The liquid by product from the entire process could also be further processed either as a liquid feed culture for hydroponics, or fertilizer.

On a side note, I'm personally not in favor of raising fish in earthen ponds, unless you have a separate cement/poly purging pond. One is due to groundwater leaching; there's always the danger of toxic aluminate leaching, which may not lead to fish kill, but could result in the fish flesh accumulating toxins. Second, is due to general hygiene; you wouldn't want nematodes etc. present in your fish flesh.

happy_gal:

Not to pour cold water, but I would like to clarify: is it "breed" or "grow"? Sometimes many people use these terms interchangeably, but usually what they mean is to get fingerlings and grow them to market size.

Nonetheless, any way one looks at it, entering into a business will always carry some risks of failure. Again, not to pour cold water, but even with best technical knowledge, the chances of failing is still relatively high, due to a combination of factors.

Yet, I will give this to your bf: he's got guts. Personally, I feel that if he has done all the required study, and has weighed the consequences (positive and negative) of doing this, then there really isn't any thing to keep him back from pursuing this venture. However, if his motivation and reasons for doing his own business is misplaced, then I would be cautious. Some of these misplaced beliefs are that doing ones own business will "make more money than a salaried job", and the second is "I get to do things my way".

*************
This is my personal observation, after analyzing various economies: There are only 3 sectors that can be deemed to be relatively recession proof. These are: (i) Education (ii) Healthcare (iii) Food production. Just take some time to observe and make your own assessments. Now please take note I said "relatively recession proof", which does not mean they will not be affected by a recession completely; it just means they are better able to withstand the effects of a recession than most other sectors.

ai.. can die very fast ar... yeah he mentioned before.. thats why i owiz wonder if really like what he say can make big bucks then why are ppl not doing it..

man, money is a real constraint u know.. he oni have that amount of money.. 50k.. and if really the fish die, money flies away i also dunno how to get married d.. every dream that we have is on this..

bt then currently there is NOBODY who succeded in rearing soon hock fish in ponds ar?.. was told that soon hock is river fish.. nobody?? not 1??...

---

Added on February 13, 2011, 11:50 amparaoptical.. u've been thru it meaning u also tried to rear that soon hock ar?.. how did it come up??... u made it?.. how long u take to realize that u wont be making it big by rearing soon hock ??

and now he's having startup capital problem so he say he want to breed fish 1st.. want to breed the "soon hok" fish in his pond wor.. he told me its risky because usually soon hok is found in rivers and not many ppl can breed in ponds geh wor.. so i asked him what makes u think u can be successful if ppl already try and failed... i jz dont want him to fail ...

he says that he has all the notes and theory portion done.. nw jz the practical part nia.. i feel its a bit too risky lor.. so worried lah...

yes ur rite cashflow is important bt his plan is to stop his current full time job and work on this business... and within these months of startup, he wont have a fixed income.. jz living off his savings... sumore all those fish food, water bill for the fish.. all also need money 1.. i also dunno is this really a feasible option to start with...

100n:

I've a contact that's involved with Jade Perch in Malaysia, located in Sepang. You might know him. And yes, I also think it is overpriced despite having good levels of Omega-3 precursors.

happy_gal :

well i like i said earlier rearing soon hock really really needs to becareful. make sure you have someone who reared it before assisting off and on.

i tried doing grow out in RAS but the result after 1 year = DISMAL.

Water quality bad = Die
Electricity outage = Die
Less Feed = Cannibalism = Die
Less Feed = they dont grow efficiently

seriously with RM 50k he better rethink his strategy. Would you or him mind to send me via PM or email what's you strategy or action plan be rather than just jumping in? so i can get some other views for your rather than posting your information here since you are venturing into a business.

Not to say that nobody had succeeded but even if they do they seldom tell people the trick of the trade as its lucrative.

BTW if rearing in ponds please ensure that you have some lining on the side or on the bottom because these buggers like to hide...haha

hmm.. he never tell me exactly what is his plan or action item.. jz told me that he want to breed this fish lor..

last sat we went over to talk to a fish farmer who is also a breeder.. he also said that breeding soon hock is really diff.. he's in the breeding industry for 20yrs liao and he took 3 years to breed.. can breed and some of it was successful bt the death rate is freaking high and it cant grow big..

like he mentioned those fish grow very slowly.. those mosquito larvae, water insects which got in can easily grow faster and bigger and in the end the soon hock fries become their food o.. i also told him eh u serious bout this ar? so many ppl already mentioned that its so diff... why cant u start with something more simpler like tilapia??

get the money turning d then oni go and do ur research and breeding on this soon hock lah.. he damn stubborn still say wan to do it.. walao.. and then so stubborn dun wan ppl to guide him..

what happens when the fish like to hide??

It's surprised to know that, agriculture can make money. I am currently studying agribusiness. So i guess i should just cancel the idea of course switching.