John, first off, 99% of the tilapia spawned never make it to adult sizes before getting eaten in the pond throughtout the growing season. Second, when the temperatures get consistently cool, the tilapia get corralled into warm spots, becoming easier prey and reducing numbers of tilapia. Third, when the warmer pockets cool, and the tilapia become lethargic, all predator fish and even turtles will gorge. Fourth, when large tilapia eventually die, most sink and if not eaten by turtles and scavenger fish, they float and get consumed by terrestrial critters.
Any fish floating is when air and water temps are fairly cool, so rot and stench is slow to form allowing the terrestrial critters to do all the cleanup.
The thought of a mass die off making a pond unsightly is myth and just won't happen.
