Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Too many tilapia?

I have been having a lot of FA growth in my 3/8 acre pond lately, and could not figure out why. My neighbor, and I pulled out a blown over tree that had been in my pond since fall, and he told me that he had just 3 weeks ago fertilized his pasture where my run off comes from. So now I figure that this was my FA growth problem, and will settle down after a few good rains. But, before hand I have ordered 25 pounds of Tilapia to handle the FA problem, that I now my not have. I have wanted to experiment with some Tilapia here in Kentucky, just to see the results, so I am not regretting buying them. My question now is with a fish that is capable of producing 300 to 400 fry every few days at 3" length, have I ordered too many. Will I possibly have a major cleanup to do when the water gets to 55 degress and they start to die off? I know that my LMB will eat the Tilapia but can they handle this many reproducing so fast? I have a friend that owns a fish/pet store and we are going to try and raise some in a fish tank over the winter, but I feel like I now have ordered too many. I now feel that 10# would have been plenty for my size pond but I ordered in hast along with a friend that ordered 100# for his 10 acre pond.

You should have plenty of forage for your LMB, Donnie. I have plenty on my 3/4 acre pond by putting in 10# every spring. What else do you have in the pond?

What is the status of your LMB population , balanced , crowded , to few LMB ?

You could always not stock them all but instead find a neighbor or friend's pond that could use them. With permission , of course.

If you have FA it is not just because of your neighbors fertilizer. If he fertilized and 3 weeks later FA shows up at the surface of your pond some distance from his field, then FA was there on the bottom well before he fertilized. Ask him if he does the same thing every year. If he says yes then you will probably have the same FA as in prior years.

The pond was dug in Sept 05 and was completely filled by Dec 05. I stocked 500 BG, 25 Re, 50 CC, and 12 LMB spring of 06. I had around 150 BG die in 06. The pond has done good all last year with no major problems with FA until now. Naturally all species have now spawned, so I have no ideal how many LMB or any other species I have now. I feed the fish pellets so their growth is good, and when fishing for bass we catch small 6-10" and some of the larger ones that was adding with the stocking of 06. My neighbor has told me he fertilizers every spring. We have not havested any of the fish caught, just release them back to the pond.

What size tilapia are being delivered ?

According to my friend that is doing the ordering, they will be 2-4".

That sounds more like bait size than stocking size IMHO. The LMB should have a feast when the Tilapia are added. I would at least put minimum 4" or larger in the pond. Otherwise they might not get a chance to spawn.

I think you could put in what you ordered. If the FA is eaten then you could seine , trap or catch some out. The LMB and BG will eat a lot including yoy. You could also just tell your friend to keep 5 lbs of yours.

Thanks for all the information. I will put them all in and will leave the fatheads out that I was planning on putting in this spring. If all the Tilapia are small bait size, wonder how long they will last with LMB and BG eating them? 25 lbs of small 2-4" tilapia seem like a lot of fish, wonder how many tilapia that is?

Donnie,
You might consider putting some of them in the aquarium setting now, keeping some for release later this year and some for over winter. I stocked about 2000 small tilapia and I don't think they lasted a month.

I will have to do a research on raising them, anyone here know? I would like to raise some over the winter for next year. There seems to be plenty of info on the internet about Tilapia, but I haven't found any on what is needed and how to raise them. 2000 in less than a month, maybe I will add the fatheads later this year.

I believe Ryan Freeze has overwintered them for 2 years now, Meadowlark for 1.

I checked some of their post and did not find any info on raising them in fish tanks. I guess using a rubbermaid tub with a heater would work for the tank, and I saw how to make a filter that never needs cleaning. Heres the link to the filter if interested http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm But there are plenty of info that I still need to know to have a shot at raising them. Will try to pm them about their experience with them. Thanks

Donnie,
There is also info on cage raising and an article in the current Pond Boss on using a net to separate an area in your pond to raise fish allowing you to isolate them now. The tilapia will grow faster than your bass and in my experience the more protein the faster they grow, also in my experience they love pellets. I currently have about 100, all but 10 or so are under an inch, in an 8' x 12' x 12" unaerated, unfiltered pond. They are growing like weeds.

Bob over wintered them in a greenhouse with tanks.

Here are some links.

Bob
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=000003;p=1#000000

Ryan
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000269;p=13

http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000421;p=1

ML
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=003650;p=1

SRAC

Tilapia Production fact sheets

http://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm?catid=11

Thanks for the links, good information. I was thinking of using one of my garages with a 300 gal rubbermaid tub like the ones used for cattle. The section on feed was interesting. I have made two fish cages for the Tiplia that are coming. Will put some in the cages and grow to a larger size before releasing them into the pond. Will not have a long season to grow this outside (Kentucky) but will see how big they can get in about a months time in the cages, that should leave a few months left for releasing them in the pond. Then hopefully I will have something setup for overwintering them.

They will likely grow pretty fast if your water quality is good, temps are kept in the mid 80's, and are well fed. My overwintering failed this year due to reasons beyond my control. Last year I stocked my tilapia on April 21st. It was a bit risky stocking that early but I got lucky. The tilapia stocking coincided with the tadpole hatch.

Donnie FYI those that go in a gage (if the cage is off the bottom) will not successfully reproduce. Because they are mouth brooders they have to be able to pick up the eggs off the bottom. Using cages is one method used to grow out tilapia without reproduction caused stunting. See : http://srac.tamu.edu/tmppdfs/13452410-28...00cde556b257664

"Fish farming strategies that prevent overcrowding and stunting include: 1) cage farming where eggs fall through the mesh to the pond bottom before the female can collect
them for brooding; ... "

Donnie,

You can see a summary of my first seasons experience at the following link (page down)

http://www.meadowlarkponds.com/fish.htm

The biggest problem I had was fish waste and associated ammonia. It took about three or four weeks to get my recirculating system seasoned properly. After the bacteria established, then I didn't have any more ammonia problems until I reached the capacity of the system, which was one of the things I wanted to determine in this first year.

In three months, my Tilapia grew from 4 inch size to 8 to 10 inches and about .75 pounds. I started having severe ammonia problems at about 30 pounds of fish in my system. I removed half of them and within two weeks was having ammonia problems again....so they are all in the ponds at the present time. I have re-loaded with some 4 inch fish that I'd like to get up to over 1 pound for stocking next year.

I believe that folks generally stock Tilapia in open ponds too soon. Small Tilapia (less than about 5 inches) are easy prey for predators in cooler water. They may not die at water temps of 60 degrees, but they darn sure will be very vulnerable to LMB predation. The difference between a Tilapia at 60 degrees and one at 80 degrees is simply amazing...and I had to see it live in person to really understand the implications.

Feel free to e-mail me or PM me if I can help in any way. I checked out the link you posted on the filter that never needs cleaning....lets say I'm somewhat skeptical about the claims after seeing how much these fish can eat and waste that they can produce...but if it works for you, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Thanks.

The Tilapia that I ordered will not be here until the end of this month. I hope that is not too soon. When I get things rolling I am sure I will be contacting you. I am not concerned at the moment about them not reproducing in the cages, as my main concern is to let them grow a little more, so they are not LMB food.

Donnie just put a solid bottom on the cage like plywood or some 5 gal bucket tops (upside down) to act as nests.