Tony:
In my pond, the Tilapia that are too large for the fish to eat are usually either eaten by turtles, or dragged out of the pond by raccoons or other mammals and eaten. I've never seen more than 5 tilapia dead in my pond a few days after they died off.
I can understand that....makes sense. I might still wonder about all the ones I didn't see though.
Maybe I need to conduct an experiment or two with Tilapia. I have no doubt that they consume algae, but I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that they are utilizing O2 that could other wise be used to support the primary fish species in the BOW, especially when the pond might be operating at max carrying capacity as it is. And all those yoy Tilapia might take the pressure off of yoy HBG that I need controlled.....not to mention that they would probably start feeding on AQ, thereby causing me to feed more, or risk impeding the growth of the target species...in this case, the HBG.
Not intending to discourage their use at all, I'm just a firm believer that there is no perfect solution for every situation. I think there are pros and cons to every algae control method, whether biological or chemical. I like to consider both sides of the story before deciding upon a course of action.
