Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations My Tilapia are still alive!

I was at the property today and was surprised to see quite a few Tilapia still alive. The ones I saw were packed in pretty tight in very shallow water soaking up the sun. It's been dipping into the high thirties for 7 of the last 8 nights. They probably don't have much time left.

Be curious what the water temp is. Any way to measure it?

Mozambiques or Blues?

I put blues in ice water to euthanize them for cleaning after harvesting from one of my RAS', and they did not die right away. I was surprised.

My Mozambique's are still alive or so it seams. I have seen no floaters and checking every day. Surface water temps was 54 yesterday. I have caught about 8 around the pond by throwing a cast net, biggest being about 5" and they did not seam to be slow moving when released back to the pond. So, We'll see what happens, I hope.

Tracy

I haven't seen any floaters yet either....

I know a fellow taxidermist in Michigan that swears up and down he caught a piranha through the ice someone apparently had dropped into a public lake. I wonder if there are an piranhas species in extreme southern South America that may be cold tolerant that ended up in the aquarium trade?

This guy seems reliable?

Probably a red bellied Pacu. They look identical except for the dentures

Are they adaptable to cold water?

Mark, that's cool. I haven't seen one come to feed in a few weeks, but I'll know more in a week or two after we seine and drain the brood pond. We're definitely in tilapia overtime right now.

Cecil they are not cold tolerant but I don't know what temp they can stay alive.

Pacus.....
I know a guy here in N FL that tried to raise them for meat. they made it through one winter and lost them the second winter to the cold.

Al...the temps the next few days are "Tilapia Friendly".

Mark,

I found a few Tilapia still alive in moretopia, they were slower than normal, but still kicking!!

My Tilapia are not still alive.

When I arrived at the pond yesterday I noticed small
flocks of some type of vultures around the shoreline.

The vultures were gorging on dead Tilapia.

The vultures seemed as happy as customers feasting at Red Lobster.

I've noticed both turkey buzzards and crows reall like dead fish. I've seen them fight over them. And feral cats.

Cecil is that what those are? They definitely had a turkey look to them. I had never seen these birds around the pond in years past. There were lots of them. Some in the trees watching the feast. A few hawks mixed in. In a group of turkey buzzards two would eat a Tilapia and 6 others others would eagerly watch. And yes a few disagreements ensued over who got to eat.

There are tons of TBs and Crows down here. Every once in awhile there is an outbreak of red algae(Bill Cody could tell ya what kind) and it usually produces a fish kill. When that happens ya should see the MMA that goes on along secluded sections of the beach.

Zep, yesterday is saw a Bald eagle feeding on the Tp that swam on the surface. And when the eagle left, the Cormorants showed up (7 of them) they don't stay there when the eagle feeds. And then the Turkey Vultures and crows are all around. I am hoping the Tp are the only fish the birds are feeding on.

Tracy

If you see vultures flying with white tips on their wings, those are black vultures.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Vulture/id

In the link, pay attention to the color of the wings when the birds are flying. See how the Turkey Vulture has a different pattern than the Black Vulture? Foe me, that is the easiest way to tell them apart.

Ugg......wait till the buzzards roost on your dock.

What a mess!!!

I don't have a dock, but I can only imagine.

Tracy I was worried about that too, but every fish I zoomed in on with binoculars was a tilapia.

Well, I don't care about the birds eating the dying Tp, but I found a TFS floating at the bank. There was a cut or slice along its side. DAMM BIRDS

Tracy

Trace how do you know if the TFS are there? Do they feed on surface? I had added some but like the shiners, no sign of them. I dipped one tilapia out two days ago and haven't seen any more....

Pat, one of the problems I have discovered in pond mgt is not being able to see below the waters surface. But I watch closely, as I know u do also. So, I know I added a large number of TFS, some added a yr ago last fall and a much larger stocking this past spring. The floater I found is the first floater I found since stocking. I figured they had to be there, no reason for them not to be there, since large numbers were stocked. 10,000 TFS is a lot of shad in a 3.5 acre pond, I think

Tracy

I've seen that on smaller fish from cormorants, on larger fish from Great Blue Herons.