Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Tilapia in Central Ohio ?

Lowell, I question at least part of their rationale. I think a lot of these fish raisers are recirculating fish farmers and they are not well experienced with open pond ecology. I wonder how much real ecological experience they have with tilapia in outside ponds. I think the tilapia are worth a try and I would not be afraid to stock them when water gets to 67-68F which for your area should always be in early to mid May. By 3rd week in May in northern Ohio my water temps are always in high 60's or low 70. I have around twenty years of water temperature records for my ponds. Currently my water temps have been above 60F for 10 days and tilapia die off usually starts at temps around 55F. Your temps should be one week warmer than those in my area. Third week in May should be quite safe for tilapia stocking with proper tempertature adjustment for stocked fish.

If tilapia eat FA like ML says 50 to 80 fish in a 1/2 acre pond should be able to make a big dent in a typical FA problem. Every pound of FA eaten is less to worry about. One might then be able to manually remove any excess. Once you catch up with the growth the tilapia may be able to keep pond fairly clean the rest of the summer (late June, Jul and Aug). Then have a tilapia fish fry party in September.

We will not know for sure unless a few pondowners make a few test stockings. It would be good to know what genus of algae each test pond has present and the approximate FA amounts when tilapia are stocked. I will volunteer my services to identify FA for the tilapia test situations.