Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain When should I stock my tilapia?

I bought 30 1inch tilapia online a couple weeks ago since I couldn't find any larger ones available nearby so I've been raising them in my fish tank until they're larger as I have an established pond. The tilapia have about doubled in size in the past 2 weeks. Does anyone have any recommendations on how big to get them before releasing into my pond ? The algae is starting to spread in my pond and id like to get the tilapia in there as soon as possible but don't want to throw them in there too early just to get eaten immediately.

Size of tilapia to stock into a pond is dependent on how big of fish the predators can eat. How big are your bass?

There's a few bass in there 16 in+. I was thinking of waiting till the tilapia were around 4inches to release them. I know a bass that size would have no problem eating them, but would they have a decent chance since my pond has a ton of cover?

Freg, the advice I've heard is to stock 20 lbs of TP per acre for algae control.

Tilapia at 4" and with 16" LMB expect 25% or more to get eaten depending on how many other food items are available to the LMB. IMO you would be better to wait another two weeks and feed tilapia all they can eat so they grow to 5"+ then release.

Or feed them behind a blocking net so they are habituated to predators before release.

Thanks for the responses. Any thoughts on whether there would be a significant difference in growth rate if I kept them in the 80 degree aquarium vs putting them in a cage in the pond which is currently around 60 degrees?

All other things being equal (water quality , space , etc.) they will grow much faster at 80 than 60.

ewest is very correct. Increase the temperature in the aquarium to 80F-84F and growth will be 3X faster than at 60F. Keep them in the aquarium until pond is 70+F. Feed them all they will eat and watch the water quality - clarity. Cloudy aquarium or tank water indicates bacteria bloom and do a water change.

Freg,

An aquarium isn't much space to grow TP to large lengths needed to survive predation in your main pond. Maybe a kid pool(s) could allow more growth with more space? To grow many, you need to have a way to maintain water quality through water exchanges. Anyways good luck!

I knew they'd grow faster at 80 than 60 degree but didn't realize it'd be that much faster. I'll try to keep them in my tank as long I can but they'll likely start getting crowded as they start approaching 4 inches( using a tank divider with other fish). Hopefully pond temps will be at least 70 degrees by then and I can transfer them into a cage. I only got 30 fish as my pond is only about an 1/8 acre and I figured that'd be around 2-3lbs which I've read is the recommend stocking rate by the time I release them.

If Niles, at 5" they will weigh just under ~3.8 and so 30 lbs/acre for the 1/8 acre BOW. Keep us posted.

I made a large cage on wheels.That rolled in and out of the pond to put them in till they got big enough to put in the pond.