The link provides an interesting article by an outdoor columnist with a small pond in northern Ohio that used blue tilapia to help control filamentous algae. Rex Rains aka Rainman 'rounded up' and delivered the tilapia. As the author noted, those that also provided some extra pond maintenance of occasional raking and microbial enhancements saw the best results of algae control. Another interesting fact is he mentioned that a 5" tilapia produced as much meat as a 7"-8" BG. Tilapia were caught angling using kernels of canned corn. Berkley Gulp!baits were added to spice up the corn offerings.

http://www.toledoblade.com/article/20101003/COLUMNIST22/10020419

Hmmm, I'm now an Alabama supplier?

Bill, how are your tilapia experiments going?

Guy also took all the credit for coming up with the idea. Can't even get all their facts correct. Bias as usual.
Tilapia seem to be doing well. As usual each pond has slightly differrent results but overall things seem to be working okay. I think results would have been better if tilapia were stocked in late May or early June. I've got several owners that want to try and overwinter young ones. Some have small ones in an inside tank already and are happy with growth and the how they keep tank clean.

I e-mailed the columnist and gave him the correct facts and Rex's contact information.

Scot, I kind of wish you hadn't, but no matter. I had sent him an email which included my info and simply offered to provide him with any additional information he may want and that the "Alabama" source were my contracted growers.

I was never looking for the credit in any way since IBN wants to become a nothern distributer and he has several ponds on his bacteria/microbe programs.

All in all, I was very pleased he had excellent results and plenty of praise for the program overall, considering due to IBN's excessive delay that cost me a fortune, and delayed stocking by over a month.

I won't ever let THAT happen again!

Rex:

I don't think what I sent him is what you are thinking I sent him. I'll send you a copy of it. Check your e-mail (hotmail account).

I look forward to trying it again in the spring. I just wish I could catch one of them. My BG are too fast to the hook no matter where I throw it.

Great article, thanks for posting. I wished they
allowed the dreaded & feared Blue Tilapias in Texas,
but the Mozambique Tilapia must be the next best thing.
I think I will try some next spring.

Seems the Blade added more and mostly corrected info in another article...

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101008/COLUMNIST22/101009611/0/COLUMNIST

Looks like the e-mails worked!

I thought it rather humorous that he was corrected on guppies being a live-bearer. I suppose you could argue mouth brooding tilapia are live bearers also...The eggs have hatched before the Live fish are relesed....just a different end.