Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Tilapia

My fish guy near San Antonio , Texas can not get Tilapia. Does anyone know where you can get them here in central Texas for next spring? They sound like the perfect fish to stock each year for bass forage. And how important is it that they all die off each year? Does it hurt if they survive for more than one year? And also does their die-off have detrimental affects during the colder months, like oxygen depletion?

I'm near San Antonio and got mine from a place between SA and Houston. Here is their link

http://www.kennethhenneke.com/index.htm

You can pick up or they deliver. I picked up mine from him to save on the delivery charges. Worked well.

Gregg

Thx Gregg, I will check it out.

how old should the pond be/ or how big should the bass be first? how many per acre? how big are they when you buy them. is the advantage of them because they spawn every few weeks or so or what?

If you are still looking I found this on the Texas Parks and Wildlife site.

http://www.texasaquaculture.org/id86.htm

As far as the stocking or age of the pond. I don't know. My problem was a old pond with little to no forage. Along with other several measures I added 8+" Tilapia to get things going. It has helped greatly and hopefully won't lose all of them during the winter.

I got my Tilapia from Todd Overton at
http://www.overtonfisheries.com , close to Centerville between Houston and Dallas. He runs a really nice fish farm there. I just bought 20, to see if they make it through the winter. I am thinking about making an insulated box about a yard cube and using solar water heater to pump warm water in it during the day. But, the time is in short supply and there are more pressing projects before winter arrives...