Just a couple notes for myself, or anyone who may try this in the future.........

1) Even though my fish seemed to feed a bit more aggressively this year, I believe I lost the feeding of about 25% of my TM in the feed training process because I started feeding too large of pieces of tilapia too soon in the process. I pulled up the cage the other day and 25% obviously had horrible body condition and hadn't eaten in a very long time. I released them into my yard pond that is overloaded with FHM in hopes that they can survive. So that may lead to a learning experience of how large numbers of TM do in a small 2/3 acre pond.

2) Earlier this year I released 6 TM into my 1100 sq ft. grow out pond just to see what type of response I'd get. As far as I can tell, I believe I have one left. The one that is left has remained filet trained on tilapia strips. The other five disappeared without a trace BUT my suspicion is that they have succumb to avian predators. Small TM seem to like to hover at or near the surface in low light conditions. And with a lined pond I have very little vegetative growth to protect them. So if I go about a similar process in the future I may try to remedy that by getting a decent amount of water hyacinth around the edge or submerging structure.

Just a few notes to help myself or anyone else that attempts this in the future.


Just a Pond Boss 'sponge'