THE AMERICAN TILAPIA PROJECT is for the purpose of developing ways in which Tilapia can be produced in your own yard in clean, fresh water,  to insure that they are safe for human consumption.  The majority of Tilapia sold and consumed in the United States, currently, are imported.  This means that the consumer does not know what conditions the fish are grown in.

The goal of THE AMERICAN TILAPIA PROJECT is to produce a complete , detailed instruction manual for growing tilapia in a tank in their own yard.  The manual will include information on purchasing equipment, setting it up and using it.  It sill also include information on equipment sources and where to purchase Tilapia and fish food along with data about the environmental requirements for Tilapia.

Why Tilapia?  Good question!  Tilapia have excellent traits that make the species best for what we want to accomplish.  They don't have to have excellent water conditions.  They don't mind crowding.  They gain more weight on a pound of food than chickens do.  They grow very fast.   

My system will easily sustain up to 300 Tilapia.  The fish will reach up to a pound an a half in around ninety days.  Once in place, the system will be good for ten years or more.  It is designed to use very inexpensive air pumps and water pumps that use very little energy.

I have grown Tilapia in Arkansas and Oklahoma starting in 1997.  At that time hardly anyone in the United States had ever heard of Tilapia.  One day the idea came to me that it would be wonderful to be able to grow fish to eat in your own yard.  I started researching and discovered information about Tilapia from Mike Sipe of Florida.  I had never heard of Tilapia.  I bought breeding stock from Mike and began to raise Tilapia.

I have unique experience and have been very successful with the fish.  I also have over fifty years experience as a computer programmer/systems analyst.  My specialty was developing and implementing systems of various types.  I worked for the Osage Nation when we lived in Pawhuska.  I was the only Osage in the Osage Nation IT department at the time.

I started THE AMERICAN TILAPIA PROJECT to expand what I have learned by testing some new methods.  I plan to develop a step by step instruction manual and  make it available to the Osage people and to the public.

I produced Tilapia in Osage County, Oklahoma.  At that time , there was no place where you could purchase good seafood of any kind in the county. Most of the fish from Walmart was trash from China.  For the most part, this is probably still true.  Our Osage friends loved our Tilapia. 

In the process of growing Tilapia, a side benefit is the production of the best, all natural fertilizer there is.   When you use it, it is the same as what used to be termed as "river bottom farm land" before the land was depleted.   With this fertilizer, you can grow vegetables that will contain ten to a hundred times more healthy nutrients than the average vegetables that are being sold in stores today.  We used it in our garden in Pawhuska and produced plants that looked better than the pictures on the seed packets.

Years ago, congress made a study of the farm soil across America.  They found that the land was depleted to the point that it no longer produced the nutrients in food that are necessary to maintain good health.  That study was done in 1932.  Do you think that the land has gotten any better since then?

There is much talk of a future food shortage in America.  Growing Tilapia and using the tank water as fertilizer is a perfect way to insure having safe, healthful food that is much better than what can be bought in grocery stores today.   .

I am seeking grants to help fund the project.  The methods and data learned from the project will be made available to the public and educational centers.

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