Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Tilapia and Peacock Bass

Has anyone in warm climates thought of trying to pull off something like this?

Maybe if you went with Blue Tilapia for the colder temp tolerance. (those are the right ones right rainman?)

Maybe if you made the pond real shallow to encourage lots of plant and algea growth to keep the tilapia fed, and then obviously the peacocks would take care of the tilapia. Plus tilapia are good eating if you need to cull alot.

Now I imagine that it would take a warm climate. I'm sure florida could handle it, but I wonder if it could be pulled off in southern California.

Thoughts?

Blues have total death at 45, other tilapias at 52-58. Tilapia grow so fast, you would need a wide range size of predators to control them if they could survive year round. An annual die-off is what makes the tilapia such a beneficial addition, otherwise they would easily take over most ponds and stunt everything.

So Cal might be able to? If it could, it's amazing they haven't tried it already... However, it would be interesting to check into. The question is, where do you source the fish for a California pond and is it legal?

So FL does have blue tilapia and butterfly peacock bass. With the mild winters FL has had the last few years, the peacock bass have spread much further north than the fisheries biologists ever expected. It seems almost all bodies of waters in that part of FL are interconnected by canals, so the peacocks found their way north using them. From what I hear, they're as far north as Lake Okeechobee. All it will take is one harsh winter and the fun will be over though. When I visited my aunt in FL a couple springs ago, I caught several small peacock bass, 9" or so. Some other oddities as well, Mayan cichlids, midas cichlids and oscars. I was fishing Lake Ida near Delray Beach... Good fishing for BG, RES and lots of Florida gar as well.

Butterfly peacock are the most cold tolerant, there are several other species but they die at much warmer water temps...

Hm... I have had this idea rolling around in my head for a bit now. I know they stocked them in a local reclaimed water pond. I imagine it was to control algea and man there was a lot of them. We were fishing with lines tied to sticks right off the edge (it was an immediate 3 foot drop) and they were hitting it every time.

What fishes then could be a good predator base for tilapia? Maybe some kind of other fish that would put a large dent in the smallest ones? GSF? HSB?

Some things that intrigue me about this idea are the high rate of birth/growth that tilapia have and my enjoyment of eating them.

Future pond plans put me at a high end of .25 acre pond with the low end at .10. I do however love to eat fish, so I was thinking with a fish that breeds that much, maybe it would be more possible to pull fish dinners out every week without wreaking havoc on the population.

I thought if I kept the water shallow, the sun would heat it better, as in So Cal we have sun most year round, even when it is colder, it is still sunny.

I wonder if there could even be a way to heat up the water in the winter if it started to get cold? Doesn't aeration the wrong way cause water to heat up? Could this be used to the advantage of the tilapia. Just spitballing here.

Peacock bass are more aggressive and pound for pound would take a LMB everytime IMO. That would be a lot of fun in a pond. Keep in mind they are a warm water fish and here in N florida it gets too cold for them. My brother lives near Miami, and they do well in canals there. Keep in mind Miami is a different country though

IIRC, Tilapia are legal south of the Tehachapi Mountains but not north of them. Santa Ana River Lakes (Aquaculturist in Anaheim) sells Tilapia hornorum, Tilapia mossambica and Tilapia zilli. I don't know anything about Tilapia (ask Rex). Tilapia are a favorite fish to catch in the Salton Sea, 3+ pounders have been caught there. Heck in the Palo Verde Canal a lady caught a record Tilapia at 3 pounds 8 ounces. Link to Tilapia Record. I'll bet that put up quite the fight.



I believe Peacock Bass are illegal in California, none of the "Registered Aquaculturists" sell them and that is a good clue.

You could do a Hybrid Stiped Bass/Tilapia pond in So Cal. That would be a blast to fish. (Santa Ana River Lakes also sells Hybrid Stiped Bass, I've never purchased from them because my place is in Northern CA so I cannot offer any personal testomy regarding them).

You ever fish the Salton Sea JHAP? It looks like a very interesting body of water... Blue tilapia, orangemouth corvina, sargo and gulf croaker. Unfortunately it seems it's best days are over.

I guess I would really have to look into temp requirements to get a good idea.

As far as the legality of peacock bass, I know a pet store nearby that sells them. Obviously this isnt the most economical way to go about it, but I was thinking, If i kept a tank inside with a small population of what was in the pond, even if the winter got too extreme and got the fish, maybe I could develop breeding pairs inside enough to re-establish?

I just saw online where someone said it was illegal, maybe that pet store didn't get the memo.

Doing some checking on the temp, It says the Peacocks die out at about 60, so even in the warm California winters, they might still get killed.

Do you think the HSB would be enough to control the tilapia?

Also, does anyone know about how nippy they are? I had cichlids in a tank before and i couldn't clean it without them trying to tear my hand off. And I would enjoy swimming in the pond.

MikeyBoy, most fish in pet stores are exempt from regulation due to the fact that aquariums are "closed" systems. I believe you will find it is illegal to release ANY aquarium fish into an open system, including an uncovered backyard ornamental pond.

Here is the text of a Liability Release form I have California and other "Illegal" state customers fill out and return before shipping to them.- That being said, I shipped over 4000 Tilapia to California this year---Most shipments were inspected and all were approve by the Califonia Dept. of Agriculture.



Hawaii Liability Release



I, _____________________, affirm that the Oreochromis Aurea (Blue Tilapia) that are received from R&S Ranch LLC will only be held in accordance with, and that I will abide by, any and all applicable Hawaii State and/or Federal laws, or regulations in effect. Further, I accept full responsibility and liability for the use, misuse, release, containment, and confinement of the fish received from R&S Ranch LLC upon shipment of said fish and will hold R&S Ranch LLC harmless for any misuse or release of said fish.


____________________________ ____/____/______
Name, Signed Date


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Name, Printed