I don't think it is legal to sell tilapia to pond owners in MI. For those in MI wanting tilapia don't get your "hopes up". MI has some pretty strict rules about what fish are allowed in MI. More info is likely to follow on this topic.
Here is a little of my experience with tilapia. Not all tilapia are crated the same.
1. It is the babies or youngsters are the major consumers of the algae due primarily to their high numbers. If the young are falling prey to predators then algae consumption relies mainly on the larger tilapia adults. To get lots of algae consumed it takes lots of consumers. One fish can only eat so much each day.
2. Some tilapia species probably including the hybrids have different eating preferences. IMO some are better consumers of algae that others - similar to eating preferences of humans some don't prefer lettuce whereas other love lettuce.
3. Number and size of predators have a big influence on success of the algae consumption. If your stocked tilapia are food for bass then you obviously will not see good algae control. A dead tilapia eats nothing.
Example -last summer I put 10 mixed size pure blue tilapia into a 0.25ac pond that was developing a moderate FA algae problem and a developing blanket algae problem often called Lyngbya (Cyanobacteria) where the algae floats to the surface in dark colored gray green, cow patty shaped mats. Owner uses light dose of Aquashade. Three small patches of water lilies are present. This 13 yr old pond was newly fish renovated and restocked with just minnows. Lots of young tilapia survived. By the end of August this pond looked very clean almost like a swimming pool. No algae anywhere. I very rarely see a pond this old where the side rocks and bottom were so clean. Without predators of the baby tilapia practically all algae were consumed. The owner was very impressed. In early November when water temps dropped to 47-45F, I removed by hand around 3 gallons of small dead tilapia. Several of the original stocked tilapia were caught by anglers in October.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 04/23/14 11:29 AM.
