Hello folks, in the very limited time I have owned a pond and been on this forum, I have benefited in ways I never thought I would. I have eradicated and removed a bad cattail problem, I raised the pond dam, I have a path forward on the removal of FA, I have tested the water and started the proper steps to make it healthier for my fish, I have now stocked Talipia and look forward to reaping the benefit of their rewards. None of this I feel would have been possible without the folks here helping me along!! There are still many things to come in my pond management plan so I thought I'd start documenting the process on video. Here is a link to the first of what is hopefully many video's to come. A history of the pond, a look at a few of the Bass and the stocking of the Talapia...

Thanks to Bob Lusk, the mods, and the fine members of this forum, and also thanks for watching!!

snide, I didn't get to watch the whole video, but thanks for producing that! Nice work. Beautiful place!

Great plug for Pond Boss, and how do you get to the dock?

Sunil,

We have had a BUNCH of rain and the water is up right now, and since we raised the spillway and overflow just a bit, it floods out the original dock putting the water just above it...The 8 inch overflow is catching up, tonight I can clearly walk out on the dock without getting wet. However, there will be a new dock construction video in the upcoming months ahead...lol

Thanks

Most of the bass you caught looked underweight. Don't worry the tilapia will help your bass get bigger. Tilapia are great forage species for bass.

Very pretty surroundings. Looking forward to watching your sucess.

Thanks; I enjoyed it.

I appreciated the u-tube video, good job. Do Tilapia survive the Indiana winters? I live in East central IN near Winchester and had thought about Tilapia as an algae eater that wouldn't muddy the pond.

The only way that they would survive the winter was if somehow you could heat the water so it never got below 45 to 55 degrees depending on what species was stocked.

Nice video man.. Rex looked good and refreshed I usually catch up with him at the end of the season when he's beat down and ran ragged and it's usually around midnight lol keep up the good work Rex and keep the vids coming snide

Great video snide! Can't wait to hear updates on algae reduction. Rex stocked some tilapia for me a couple of years ago, he's a good man.

Next time you catch any of those stunted bass, consider not throwing it back. The rest of your bass will benefit greatly.

John, one of the hardest things I have to overcome in stocking tilapia is that people think of them as any other fish stocked in a pond...You have to think of tilapia as a tool...they are stocked instead of using chemicals and stocked instead of using feed...They are a tool for the pond and the tilapia NOT surviving is the biggest benefit the other fish in a pond, If you put pen to paper, even at the most conservative estimates, stocking tilapia costs far less per acre to control vegetation chemically and WAAAY less than buying an equivalent amount of feed would to equal the amount of forage tilapia reproduction creates...What other product can also boast reducing muck other than aeration and bacteria along with improving the water quality or carrying capacity in a pond. NO other fish or product can do all that, except tilapia.

I raise and in more northern waters, stock only pure strain Blue Tilapia which are the most cold tolerant of all species and hybrids. I will be in Indiana again on a large tilapia run to area distributors early next week. If interested, contact either myself or esshup.

Rex, there are more folks around me interested, I will put them in touch with you...At this rate you will have a Indiana only run (lol)..Thanks again!

John, you are (according to MSN Maps) 150 miles from me and snide is 200 miles. If you want some, and Rex can't fit you in the schedule, I have a couple of 4' square cages that I can drop in the pond to hold the fish for ya. I've transported them about that distance in a 120 qt. igloo cooler before and it worked.

Amazing job with your pond. I really do appreciate the video. I own a pond myself and have encountered many different problems with it. But now I have a great pond filled with Tilapia and Bangus.

jsmith7, welcome to Pond Boss.

What is Bangus?

http://www.bar.gov.ph/Agritech/Fisheries/Bangus/bangus_description.htm

Thanks for the replies folks!

jsmith7, welcome to PB. I believe you are our first poster from Ireland. Can you tell us more about the pond and it's environment?

Just a quick update for those interested, did another short video...Video #2

Thanks

Snide,

When will we see a new video from you?

You may try this the next time you spray the cattails. Just put a little squirt of dish washing detergent in the pump sprayer. The soap acts as a spreader sticker. It holds on to the plant and helps kill it faster. With water it flows off faster. I have 3 pump sprayers. One for weeds, one for bugs and one for round up. I learned this from a farmer. With the bug pump sprayer think of this. Do you like soap in your mouth? Bugs don't either.