Tilapia--A very viable fish source

I love to eat fish, all sorts of fish. I love it raw, fried, baked, grilled or seared. I like it on it's own or mixed into a dish. That being said I also realize that I am far from the only one who enjoys seafood. For years I have been aware of the devastating effect overfishing, pollution and loss of various ecosystems, etc., etc. has had on our finned delicacies. I try to be aware of the type of fish I eat, where it comes from, this and that. So recently when I found out about aquaponics (the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.) I was more than a little intrigued.

I want to and will go into much more detail in regards to the workings of such systems. I have not started my hydroponic set up yet, still doing some research. But since I came across a local source for some non-genetically modified tilapia, I decided to at least get the ball rolling in regards to the fish, as it would take several months for them to reach good eatin' size.



This is not one of our fish, but is an example of a grown one that I was going to filet and make into fish tacos. Only problem is I haven't scaled and cleaned a fish before and I decided to learn how at around 2 o'clock in the morning, the day I was going to host the inaugural "Backyard Buddies" (more on that later). Well I scaled the thing and then when I started pulling out its guts and trimming away gills and fins, with the minutes heading quickly toward early hours as opposed to late ones, I realized that a few fish tacos just weren't worth the effort and ending up scrapping the effort.

After much Googling, I thought I was going to have to make another trip down to San Diego. (That's where I picked up my collection of super hot chili plants as well as the local of the bunny convention which led to 2 southern journeys and of course 2 giant rabbits.) That's when I came across some tilapia on Craigslist.

The Craiglist acquisition deserves its own story and hopefully I'll be able to recount that soon enough. But I wanted to get out some pics of my little fellas, cause so many people have been asking about them.




The 180 gallon horse trough serves as an inexpensive tank for around 30 little tilapia.



Daisy found the new acquisitions very entertaining.




Future fish tacos.



Don't worry fellows, I was just kidding about the tacos.