Bill:

This isn't in regards to BJ Nick's pond re: Tilapia, but to others that might be reading this thread that have a pond that hasn't been taken care of and have an overabundance of FA in their pond. We have found out a number of things over the years.
1) Stocking Tilapia at the rate of 40# per surface acre is needed in those ponds.
2) Stocking Tilapia that are 5"-9" in length work the best, stocking 10"-12" fish more then likely are food grade fish and they most likely won't have the reproduction that is needed in the pond.
3) If the Tilapia that were stocked are "food fish" meaning they were treated at egg fertilization to be 99% male, then even at 40#/surface acre they won't do a good job. (your statement that the army of hatched in the pond Tilapia do the majority of the work eating the algae is absolutely 100% correct)
4) If the algae in the pond isn't treated with some sort of algaecide close to stocking the Tilapia (we use 5 days pre/post as an example) then usually the Tilapia cannot consume the algae that is already in the pond AND consume the newly growing algae. Not even if they are stocked at over double the recommended stocking rate.
5) If a pond owner is using Tilapia for the first time, and for whatever reason the Tilapia do NOT control their algae that year, they usually will not give them a try again in the future; they will go back to the chemical route of controlling the algae.



In regards to the clean water, all of the hatcheries that I have been at in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wisconsin use well water and a flow through system to hold their fish. You are correct in that the smaller secondary ones do not. At this point in time, we as a secondary supplier do not - we use pond water to hold the fish during the late Spring/Summer/Early Fall. We use oxygenated well water to hold fish over the winter. The long term plan is to build flow through holding tanks inside a building and use oxygenated well water like the bigger guys do. Until the bank account gets built up, it will have to be that way. I estimate that it will run somewhere North of $200,000.00 to build a large enough holding facility to hold the different species and sizes of fish in well water.

The way the laws are set up in regards to interstate fish sales, it would take a whole new thread to explain the intricacies of the regulations, and that thread would have to be updated every year because the laws change from year to year depending on what state you are talking about.

Some states just require the fish to be health tested and certified. Other states require that in addition to the fish being health tested and certified, they also require the fish farm to have their water tested to ensure that there are no "nasties" that are unseen but still in the water, i.e. Zebra Mussel veligers etc. None that I know of test for any type of algae or Starry Stonewort. Some states require the fish health test and certificate to be re-done if the fish tough ANY water that was generated in a Great Lake State, even well water. Now when testing requires that 60 fish of a certain size and species be killed for the test, and that a specially trained veterinarian collect the species, and that the testing has to be done every 6 months or every year. that can really add to the hatcheries bottom line of expenditures. When the bill runs between $600 and $1,000.00 just for the test for one fish species and size of fish, (not including the cost of the fish) and a hatchery has 10+ different species of fish, that adds up pretty durn quick.

What we as fish suppliers and stockers do to minimize any transfer of nasties is to use buckets to transfer fish from the tank to the pond. The bucket that dips water out of the tank never is used to bring fish to the pond. The nets that are used to get the fish out of the tanks are never put in the pond. The buckets are either allowed to dry out between stops, or they are sprayed with Hydrogen Peroxide and then let dry. Unfortunately there is no good way to inexpensively and quickly sterilize equipment between deliveries that is 100% foolproof. Then at the end of the delivery day everything is sterilized before starting the next delivery cycle. Transport tanks, nets, buckets, etc., etc. We can use more aggressive sterilizers back at the farm. We have never had to get water while on the road from another source other than the hatchery that the fish came from.