Scott, I'm sure there is an ultimate max somewhere. Used in a fishing pond, I doubt adding Tilapia could come close to that maximum point though. Again, in practice, and in the YOUR pond, tilapia will improve the numbers and weight of your standing crop. Not just by the nutrients consumed, but by many other factors as well. Factors such as water quality improvement, toxin reductions, increased DO, etc. These results have been seen time and time again. Unfortunately, Reports and studies still defer to what the diets consumed by tilapia are and state (factually) that tilapia are a competitor and <I believe wrongly, declare it as an invasive species. These reports sometimes state, but usually ignore that the actual use of tilapia contradicts what most of these studies say SHOULD happen. These reports choose to ignore the fact that the species that SHOULD be harmed by adding tilapia are actually improved in nearly every single situation I am aware of.
The actual use of tilapia as a supplemental food source and a pond management tool is in it's infancy, but the results being attained are nothing short of amazing in the vast, vast majority of the ponds where they have been stocked. I and many others are still trying to fine tune stocking rates, but anything over 5 pounds and up is producing positive results, if not the specific goal desired. In the 3 short years I have dealt with tilapia, I have yet to hear a single report where stocking mixed sex tilapia was detrimental to the pond that we are concerned with here on Pond Boss.
The point I was originally trying to make sure you were clear on and trying to make. Was to think of adding tilapia as you should by feeding a commercial feed supplement. If it has been done long enough and stopped suddenly, fish will starve because any given BOW was never able to be that fertile on it's own.
Last edited by Rainman; 01/31/10 09:13 PM.
