Attend the Tilapia 101 Workshop, ($5) held on the first Saturday of every month, for complete instructions.
You will need a 55-gallon drum, two test kits, air pump, aquarium heater, pool thermometer, three buckets, and vitamin C to build your own MyBFF backyard fish farm for an approximate cost of $150. Other things are useful, but optional. MyBFF can support 12 pounds of tilapia, or approximately 12 full size fish. -Tilapia Mama
1. MyBFF starts with a used 55-Gallon food grade barrel.
Do not cut the barrel. Alternative: Buy a new barrel.
(Sources: hydroponics store, craigslist.com. In San Diego, Brit Cool is a dealer on craigslist.com for 55 gallon barrels and 275 gallon totes).
For more information on how to put MyBFF together and the protocol for how to use it: Attend Tilapia 101 Workshop on the first Saturday of every month, from 3 to 5 pm. Barrel must NEVER have had any soap in it.
Alternative: Next, get the following essential items:
Petco
2. Air pump, rated for 36" deep - Petco brand
3. Ammonia Test Kit
4. Aquarium heater, 300 watt
Costco (or any drugstore)
5. Vitamin C (for organic dechlorination)
Home Depot
6. Chlorine Test Kit (or get it at a pool supply store)
7. Five-gallon buckets (2)
8. Two-gallon bucket (1)
9. Pool Thermometer
San Diego Pet Supply (15th and Island Ave, downtown San Diego)
10. Twelve (12) of Tilapia Mama's fingerlings from San Diego Pet Supply, open 7 days a week. Capacity for the MyBFF backyard fish farm is 12 full grown 1-pound tilapia, so start with 12 fingerlings.
MyBFF Optional Items
These items are useful, but optional:
Target
Optional: Net Laundry Basket (for keeping the small fingerlings together in the MyBFF barrel)
Optional: Kiddie pool (for growing duckweed)
Office Depot
Optional: Large Binder Clips to to(to attach the net laundry basket and for the hoop greenhouse) Item # 963439
Petco
Optional: Dip nets (for handling fish and duckweed)
Home Depot
Optional: Hot water heater insulation (to help keep the barrel warm)
Optional: Canvas drop cloth (to cover the insulation for a more durable covering)
Optional: Plumbers hand pump (effective for transferring water by hand)
Optional: 1/2 inch PVC (for hoop greenhouse over to cover MyBFF backyard fish farm)
San Diego Pet Supply (15th and Island Ave, downtown San Diego)
Optional: Pellet food to supplement duckweed. Tilapia food must be safe for human consumption.
Optional: Dip nets (for handling fish and duckweed)
Hydroponic Plants
See Cornell University Method for Hydroponic Lettuce
Resource: Cornell Lettuce Handbook
For more information on how to do it: Attend Tilapia 101 Workshop.
Home Depot (for Cornell University Method Hydroponics)
.6 mil plastic for bed liner
1/2 inch PVC for hoops
3/8" rebar
hole saw
4 x 8 rigid insulation for rafts
mixing tub (to raise duckweed)
Nursery or Garden Supply
pH test kit
128 cell trays
Peat Moss/Vermiculite/Dolomite Lime
Epsom Salt
Resource: Cornell Lettuce Handbook
