Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Can talapia be raised above ground swimming pools?

So how are the fish doing now?

Considering the average temps in death valley this time of year, if they are not heated in some way, they're dead.

Youtube - My Tilapia Rock

Here is my above ground swimming pool used for overwintering tilapia. It is 5000 gallon capacity with good filtration and a wood-fired boiler for heat, which currently is keeping my water at 70F while 25F outside. It can handle 1500-2000lbs of fish. We started playing music for them this year, they love rock and roll.

thats awesome!

So Surfsteve any alive?

I haven't checked on them in a couple of weeks. I was thinking I was going to take off the cover in mid February which is only a week away. I took the cover off a week ago and there were three dead ones floating that I removed but. The water was actually looking a little cleaner than before but still too dirty to see the bottom.

What are you doing for mechanical and biofiltration Todd? Is that a stand pipe screen in the middle?

BTW we have a few know-it-alls up here that are pooh poohing using tilapia for algae control in ponds. Never mind they've never tried it or know anyone that does.

I took the cover off the pool and all of the fish left were alive. Looks like I have about 25 or 30 fish left out of the original 100. I honestly expected I'd probably find them all dead. Looks like I may have had some bluegills after all!

I probably took the cover off too soon. I didn't loose any fish the last few weeks when it was cold but it warmed up like spring and I lost 9 fish in the last few days. Honestly since it got warm I thought I was home free from loosing any fish. Why did so many wait till it got warm to die?

Cecil I use settling tanks for mechanical filtration that drop into a biofilter sump with aerated corrugated biofilter material and pumped back to the pool. The circular motion in the pool pulls solids to the middle very effectively. We use a wood-fired boiler to inject a steady low volume supply of 110-120F water to keep them warm.

SS, without seeing your particular situation, my first good guess for the deaths would be the warmer temps causing a rapid decay and breakdown of fish and food waste which resulted in a rapid ammonia level increase coupled with a low temperature induced supressed immune system in your fish. Your beneficial bacterias as well as harmful bacterias are not as active in cooler temps. The higher water temps allow the bacteria to rapidly grow and reproduce causing harmful bacteria to infect weakened fish, decay rates increase rapidly and your beneficial bacteria and the fish immune systems are always a step behind in growing as they are reactionary to the byproducts of the more hamful bacteria.

Is there anything I can do besides water change? I thought about adding a little peroxide in the water. It works great for plants and septic systems. I'm going to try a little this morning and probably more if you recommend it.

Update: I googled peroxide and fish and it looks like a lot of people recommend it for algae. I'm sure it will also increase the ratio of friendly oxygen loving bacteria to the anaerobic ones. It also looks like I can add quite a lot but for now I'm going to stick with just a little and see how it goes.

Just found this article

http://fish.bakerweb.biz/peroxide.html

If I'm reading this correctly this guy uses 15ppm of peroxide with no harm to his fish.

Steve, water changes are stressful also. You are raising tilapia and algae is not only a favorite food, it is also a substrate for beneficial bacteria. Algae needs light to grow and if the fish are covered, are you sure it is alage and not a bacterial, mold or mildew colony? When it comes to water changes, do complete ones not partial.

I would not add hydrogen peroxide...try sodium percarbonate "Green Clean", but I wouldn't kill the fish food (algae)

I'm not trying to kill the algae, only the anaerobic bacteria. I read one link that says peroxide kills the black algae and is not so good on the green algae that my fish like to eat. I use it regularly on my septic tank and even brush my teeth with it. I noticed when I used it on the septic tank that it went from being clogged up to being almost spotless. I probably should do a water change but I'm going to give the peroxide a few days and see what it does. After I re read the article I decided to dump the whole quart of 3% peroxide in my 1800 gallon pool. I think I'm only at 5ppm. Being the pool is in full sun I don't think it will hurt my production of algae that much. I'll let you guys know what happens.

Steve, I guees I'm not understanding what your goals are then....a septic tank is in no way related to a fish ecosystem...also, what we do and like can be deadly to the fish...are the tank goals for your benefit or for the benefit of the fish....they seem to be polar opposite.

A prime example of what many people commonly do when it comes to fish is when people that love filtered, soft (filtered reverse osmosis) water think it is great for fish also...for fresh water fish though soft, filtered water it is as bad as it can possibly get for them to live in...

If you have anaerobic bacteria in your tank, you have far more serious problems than the bacteria needing to be addressed...namely and first off, very low oxygen levels...tilapia will eat anaerobic bacteria...there should never be any anaerobic bacteria growth possible in a recirculating system. The second problem, also related to/causing the low oxygen issues, is the need to remove solid waste and the stagnant areas they settle out in.

Why should you do complete changes and not partial?

Also does replacing any water that evaporated from your tanks hurt the fish as well?

I have had mine for about 6 months now and want to make sure I can keep them alive another 2 so I can either put them outside in a tank or release them in a pond.

What would be some main recommendations to keep them healthy for the remainder of the time in the house?

Hi all. I still have several fish that made it through the winter.

I put some koi brand calcium bentonite clay I got from ebay in the water a few days ago after changing it and it seems to help keep it clean. I never have to change the water for my goldfish but the tilapia water gets filthy and I have to eventually give in. This last time, a couple days ago, I pumped it down as far as my sump pump would take it down and it was still filthy after I refilled it till I put in the koi clay. I noticed by the next day that it had dissolved all the brown scum around the pool.

I only put a few tablespoons in my goldfish water and it's sparkly clean. My filter pump quit working on my pool so it will be interesting to see what the clay will do. I put a whole pound in the other pool since it was still filthy even after the water change and the white color from the clay still hasn't settled out. But the fish sure seem to be happy and are even eating though I'm hardly feeding them till I can get the water cleanliness situation under control. You were right about the peroxide. It didn't do anything. It only took a day for the goldfish water to clear from the clay. I wonder how much longer it will take for all the clay I dumped in the pool. Has anyone ever used calcium bentonite clay? It's not the same stuff as the sodium bentonite they use to seal the bottoms of fish ponds. It seems to help a lot in keeping the water clear. I don't know if it will be enough for the tilapia though.

I've never used the stuff.

Just remember just because the water is clear it doesn't meant it's perfect.

I just finished changing the water and gave the last dozen or so Tilapia to my neighbor a few minutes ago and he said they were going to have a fish fry for dinner. I'm filling it back up and am going to try and get the water clean enough to raise goldfish. Right now there is about a 1/8 inch layer of brown goo all over everything. 'm trying to decide between waiting to see if it greens up on it's own or putting in a handful of fertilizer and waiting a few weeks.

I threw a very small handful of Ammonium Sulfate in the pool yesterday. For some reason there is no algae growing in the pool. I think it's because of the calcium bentonite clay. I remember last year when I threw in fertilizer. The pool greened up within hours! I've read that the clay prevents algae but I never would have believed how well.

Does anybody have any good ideas for stocking my pool with some plants? I am at least a two hour drive from the nearest lake. I wouldn't mind getting some seaweed from there and seeing if I can get it to grow.

Is there anything I can start by seed maybe?

Surfsteve I love water plants but many look at them as mostly bad. My most favorite plant of all is the yellow water iris. It grows around the edges of your pond in a foot or so of water and on land a couple of feet from the water. It is tough yet beautiful. Given enough years it will invade cattails and start crowding them out. I like spiker rush that grows around the edges of a pond in a foot of water. With these plants you can fish from the bank of you pond and not get hung up. Other plants depend of what you are after. Fishing, looking, experimenting as a laboratory, providing oxygen into your water and food. I have planted the worst plant you could plant in most peoples eyes. Eurasian Milfoil. But the fish, bugs, frogs, turtles and birds loved it. Contrary to what you read that fish won't swim into thick foliage I watched my big fish from high on my deck have a choice of swimming in the clear water or going through the jungle of Eurasian Milfoil and they would choose the milfoil. It grew so thick that when I tried to row a boat I could barely lift the oars because milfoil was hanging on them. My grass carp eliminated the milfoil in 4 years but it was all fun to watch. I also like water lilies a lot. But that’s just me.

I got a swimming pool so there is no bank to grow things. Perhaps the best thing to do is throw in a few scrap tree branches next time I prune. At least till I can get some real plants started. I would kill for some duckweed or some real plants. I just found out that the local petshop about thirty miles away closed down so it's going to be a 2 hour drive to langcaster or Walmart for fish. It's looking more and more like Walmart when I go to restock.

On a brighter note I'm getting a little algae growing on the bottom.