Hi All,

I would like to setup a small business to rear Tilapia. I have done some research and am interested to use tank culture to rear them on land. Using some sort of a self improvised RAS system. i would like to seek your advice on this venture and what are the things that I need to take note of. At the same time, I would like to know the current market price for the fish. Appreciate all your advise

Dear Michael J.,

Thanks for the valuable input. So would you suggest to rear them in ponds instead of tanks? As for training courses, I am currently looking out for suitable courses to attend.

Interestingly, I am also looking at the pallets that they are feeding on as I know that it will affect the quality and overall cost of the fish. However, there are not much information with regards to the pallets that are being sold in Malaysia. Do you happen to know about the pallets that are generally used in Malaysia for farming Tilapia?

Dear Michael J.,

Many thanks for the information. I have linked up with Marble Goby Enterprise to do a cost evaluation of setting up a small time tank culture tilapia farming. Just awaiting some results.

The reason why my partner and I are doing it on a small scale is because this is a new industry that we are venturing into and we do not know anything about rearing fishes. All we did was to read up on the various methods and essential points to rear fishes. We are also very worried about the marketing of the fishes in the local market if we produce such large quantity. Since we do not have much contacts locally, we feel that it would be wise to start it up small to test the market.

We are also looking at value adding by processing the fishes but our general idea is to start it up first to do a sample of the market size before deciding which plan should we adopt to move the business forward.

After researching on the various methods, I agree that tank culture if done on a large scale will really be more value for money. However, as I mentioned above, I am just afraid that our contacts locally are not sufficient enough to take in large loads.

Dear Michael J.,

I totally agree with your analysis that prawn is a guaranteed market. I have done my research on prawns as well. My first idea was to farm prawns instead of fishes. Personally, there are a number of factors currently restricting the farming of prawns successfully.

Firstly, prawns (correct me if I am mistaken) uses pond culture to grow out and it most definitly is unsuitable for tank culture. Thus we are unable to CONTROL like what ParaOpticaL has mentioned.

Secondly, prawns are very susceptible to disease and very sensitive to the environment. They are easily wiped out if any of the two conditions deteriorate. Thus losing all your investments.

Lastly, the high amount of capital needed to begin the venture for someone who does not have much industry knowledge or expertise does really put you off from trying it out.

Dear Michael J,

Thanks for the valuable insight. It really will be nice to see the new technology that have been brought in to Malaysia. One more reason that I did not consider prawn farming is also due to the limited lands available or suitable for a large scale project. As you might know RAS system can easily be deployed on land. I have just concluded a deal to rent a piece of land for my business. As such, to convert it into a pond might not be feasible for me as I would need to literally dig up most part of the land which my landlord would not be agreeable to. Therefore there lies my only option which is through RAS. Well, instead of saying that it is RAS system. I would consider it as canvas culture which is somewhat unique to Malaysia. I came to understand that a lot of farmers in Malaysia are using canvas instead of tanks to save cost on materials. I am liaising with Marble Goby Enterprise regarding the use of this technology for farming Tilapia and apparently they informed me that it is quite feasible.

Would like to ask for your opinion on using canvas to farm tilapia?

Dear ParaOpticaL,

Apologies for the late response as I was busy. The land that I rented is in Pahang near Pekan. I am liaising with Marble Goby to design the layout of the farm as well as the piping and other logistics. I agree that the worrying issue is the durability of the canvas. According to the consultant, we will have to change the canvas every two years. At one point I was considering to purchase the fiber glass tanks but the cost of one fiber glass tank is too much.