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Joined: Dec 2017
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Introduced nine tilapia to the pond yesterday after work. Six were 1.25lb and three were small quater pounders.
We have a tilapia farm local so I just bought $15 worth.

They will eat duckweed and just look cool.
They are non-tactical as hell.
Bright silver and orange.
They practically glow.

It took about an hour to acclimate them to the pond water/temp but they were swimming happily when I left. Water was 79 degrees,
. I was surprised how sensitive they were to the pond water. Much more so than bass, cats or brim. I'm glad I brought the bait bucket aerator to use with them.

They won't survive past 55degrees, so I don't expect them to winter over.
(Although I have heard stories of them surviving NC winters)

On a side note, if you shoot a snapping turtle in the head with a 75gr 5.56 handload, it sinks. (That's the good news)

Bad news is it comes back in a few days. The smell of a rotting snapping turtle is hard to explain. It's unforgettable.


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

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My exp with Tp in a pond without predators, they will multiply like crazy where a hundred pounds of them came from a 5lb stocking within 6 months from stocking date.


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Do you think CC, BG & LMB will keep the Talapia fry in check? I have a heavy population of all three.
I also intentionally have minimal cover for fry.

I guess that brings up the inevitable question...are Talapia a viable choice for forage in a LMB/CC/BG pond?
I could easily re-stock each spring to replace winter kill and Talapia are easily sexed according to my supplier.

I (ass)umed that the NC winter temps would not allow them to winter over.
My BOW skims over with ice several times each winter.
My research shows that 55 degrees is max for talapia before mortality.

Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 06/13/18 06:51 AM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

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Wow, what a wealth of info on Talapia as a forage fish!!


http://sepond.com/fish-stocking/tilapia


A female tilapia weighing 200g (0.4 lb) can produce up to 500 fry every 3 to 5 weeks until the water temperature cools in the fall.

Tilapia are native to tropical habitats and die when water temperature drops below 50-52 degrees for several days. However, tilapia are more tolerant of high water temperature, high salinity, low dissolved oxygen, and high ammonia concentrations than other freshwater forage species.
The high rate of reproduction, coupled with the high fry survival and fast growth, make tilapia an excellent supplemental forage for largemouth bass. Tilapia are often stocked in tandem with threadfin shad to offer bass a constant supply of high-quality forage.
Juvenile tilapia are especially easy bass food when they become sluggish in the fall; usually when the water temperature drops to 60 degrees. And large bass will gorge on the larger tilapia as they become lethargic. This allows bass of all sizes to enter the winter in excellent condition. However, tilapia are well-suited for bass/bluegill ponds for several other reasons. Tilapia also feed on detritus and are especially effective at reducing organic waste that causes odors in small, highly fertile ponds. Historically, tilapia have been stocked in ponds for aquatic vegetation control.


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

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@GOPACK

Do we have the tag user feature?


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

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Originally Posted By: Clay N' Pray
On a side note, if you shoot a snapping turtle in the head with a 75gr 5.56 handload, it sinks. (That's the good news)

Bad news is it comes back in a few days. The smell of a rotting snapping turtle is hard to explain. It's unforgettable.

And you thought they smelled bad when alive!


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I set 4 or 5 conibears this past spring to clear out a couple of rats. I missed retrieving one of the traps once I was done.
Fast forward to about 4 weeks ago. I was weed whipping the edge/perimeter when I noticed something floating below the surface about 5 feet out. It looked like something wide with two swollen feet sticking upward. Oh yeah, that's where I set that last conibear!
I put on the tall rubber boots and waded out to collect the last rat that I missed. As I pulled it up, it started falling apart like good bbq ribs fall off the bone. The stink hit me about the same time that I saw the snapper shell.

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Brettski,
First off, use tomato juice, it get rid of all kinds of smells!

Secondly, warn us before making us laugh that hard....Please


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Should have let sleeping dogs lie - until the snapper was finished.

Clorox is probably cheaper than Bloody Mary mix.
















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Headed to pond Tommorow AM.
Really looking forward to seeing how the new tilapia are doing after 3 days.
My water chemistry and temps say they should be fine.
Predation may be my biggest worry.
The good news is they are very inexpensive to buy so easily replaced.

Best case is they clean the alge and detritus, spawn and then feed my bass.

I'm hoping they are not pellet hogs, but based on everything I'm reading, they are.
I may need to increase feed levels to keep my CC on the growth schedule I have in mind.

Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 06/15/18 09:05 AM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

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Originally Posted By: ewest
Should have let sleeping dogs lie - until the snapper was finished.

Clorox is probably cheaper than Bloody Mary mix.


The snapper was finished. That's what was fermenting in the conibear. Yeowzer! sick

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I was able to spot four of The nine recently stocked tilapia yesterday.
I saw a smaller one in the shallows building/protecting a nest.

Hard to believe but it's true.
4 days in, already spawning.

The tilapia are not taking pellets.
I'm not worried, the pond is loaded with alge and detritis.

Water is 81 degrees.


Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 06/17/18 05:41 AM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
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Oddly, the Talapia have not taken any pellets yet.
Granted, the CC are very aggressive feeders but the Talapia are decent sized.

The Talapia were raised in a tank for meat, so the whole multi fish, wild West pond may take some time to get accustomed to.
I'm actually happy they are not eating pellets. In theory, they eat detritus and weeds.


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.


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