At $18/lb, you are getting a food fish Hybrid Tilapia...Possibly even mostly male fish. Results will be very spotty at best, require they be stocked in warmer water, plus they die earlier. Mine are a little more per pound, but can be stocked at 62 degrees and live to 45 degrees, are ungraded, 5-10", so they are not pricey bass snacks and are very consistent on stocking rates for algae control/forage production. You could end up buying more than twice as many of the "cheap" fish to gain the same results. No savings there at all when the numbers are crunched.
I strongly suggest ungraded fish because of 2 reasons...Graded fish can result in a majority of a single sex rather than a good mix....Second, a few small fish may distract predators from the rest to allow a faster pond acclimation, plus the few small ones sacrificed weigh/cost very little. (I personally stock a pound or two extra to cover any loss)
Rex, you are the tilapia expert and highly regarded on the forum for folks in northern waters but info misleading for us Texas folks. We have been using Mozambique tilapia successfully for many years.
Our stocking numbers are much lower as well as cost, except when high numbers are required in extreme cases.
Most years I stock less than 15bs/acre but last year was an exceptionally bad FA and upped the numbers.
Depends on supplier as to where the tilapia come from - mine this year were mostly female and full of eggs - excellent crop.
Cheers,
George
