Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations the beach clean-up and Lake Georgetopia

Oh my Brian....Leave It To Beaver isn't what it used to be.

Tannerite time?

Mark, I've still got a 10 pound load in a one gallon pickle jar if Brian decides to become a real ace.

Good hearing is just a luxury anyway.

Okay This post is a great one!!!

I had a lot of help seining the Topias yesterday and we found these!!!! They are truly a blessing as I did a lot of it wrong as usual. Mother nature is tenacious!!



They are the spawn of my yet to be "know as" LMB I got last year from Todd. The average length was over 5 and a half inches and some were over 6 and a half inches. In all we found around 40 of this years spawn with one pull through Extratopia.

Here are a few average pictures!!



This one shows the side coloration.



Here is a bottom up picture to show how well they are eating!!



This picture shows the average spot patterns.



This one had good girth!



This one was just above average for this group.



And this was one of the biggest we got on film.



I selected the biggest and best and moved them to Georgetopia. That is the brood pond with the most food, and the best water. Now I have more work to do!!!

Nice report!!!

Those are some great soon to be monsters. Congrats the hard work is paying off.

Congrats Brian, those are healthy looking for sure. The next 6 months should see some incredible growth.

Well its time to freshen up the Topias. Truth be told, It is time to expand them as well. I have been looking around and now I have found the excavator I need to get the job done.

I have learned so much about brood ponds and now I know I want six of them to have options. I figure one for fingerling bass, two for tilapia, two for CNBG, and one for anything else I want. I'm going to get started by clearing the area needed for the three new topias and get them started. I am hoping to get them built early in March. I hope to seine the current topias and sort the fish I want in the new topias in April. Finally I an going to "move" the old topias uphill to be able to use them the way I want.

I'll add drains to all the new topias and I will have the ability to add big pond water to them as needed.

I am planning on the depth to be just under four feet.

Any thought? Anything you would do differently.

Sounds like a fun new project Brian. What's the reasoning behind making them so shallow? I would think 6 feet would keep that extra water in there during those hot texas summers. Maybe even add potted Lilly pads to give cover to the fish and reduce water temps. Lilly's could help keeping your water quality better if you plan on heavy stocking. Pull them out when seining. Just a thought.

I believe he said part of the reasoning is walking
with a seine net in 4 foot water is more practical.

SB,

Mark is mostly right, a four foot depth is easy to work with. I have learned a lot about solar and will have both AC and DC power available out at the Topias so I can move water far more easily. This give me advantages in seining and setup. I currently use more time than I would like to get things done because of the current depths. But now at only four feet, I can use my seine far more practically and if need be, I can seine solo. I am also setting the Topias up to be a little narrower and longer. This should make it easier to work them.

About plants, I ha not thought about potted plants. They might be something to look into. I like using nature to get things done, so I am intrigued. I do not plan on loading the Topias as high as I have in the past. I would like to see if I can find the right balance.

Finally, I intend to install drain pipes to allow extra water to drain into the big pond. They do not need to be big pipes, but just having them should protect the newer ponds from rains and fills.

Well it began,
This past week we got the excavator out and started the process of clearing the area for the Topia expansion. First thing that came out was all of the old useless fence, posts and all. What would have been a week long project turned into a half a day. I got to go fishing that afternoon!!

Then we removed a few scrub trees that would allow us to start setting the boundaries.

When finished, we should have six brood ponds. As we get going, I'll post more.

And yes, they all have names.

Keeping them around the same size?

???

I think Larry, Curly, and Moetopia have a very pleasant ring to them, but what do I know?

Brian, I see that you have pictured your new Toy Boy O Boy, I would like to have one of those. My whole property would be different ponds with different fishes lol

Tracy

Don't leave out the 4th Stooge - Shemp.

Now that is a name - Shemptopia !

I did drop the ball on Shemp. Brian, you need to add 4 more ponds, not 3.

Feel free to skip the 2 Joes. They didn't have enough tenure to get a Topia anyway.

Eric wins!

The last Topia will hence forth be formally known as Shemptopia.

So here are the names.

Georgetopia, Moretopia, Extratopia, Quatratopia, Megatopia, and Shemptopia.

Georgetopia and Moretopia will be for OTS CNBG.

Extratopia and Quatratopia are for Tilapia production.

Megatopia is for LMB (Legacy).

And Shemptopia will be for knucklehead ideas.

Tracy, the new toy does great work! Get yourself one.

SB, the pond sizes are going to be 40 feet wide, 110 feet long, and 4 feet deep. That makes seining easy and simple. It also gives me the ability to "cut" one in half with a blocking net if need be for special projects.

If you ever get another tilapia growout pond, Tilapatopia has a catchy ring to it too

CC,

Tilapitopia is the overwinter setup I use for the Tilapia in the barn. I am about to update that thread if you want to read up on it, version 3 is the current version.

Here is the link to that thread:

Tilapitopia 3.0

Shemptopia is an apt name for knucklehead ideas. I am expecting great things !

Eric,
I'll be happy for good things. Please don't set the bar too high

Just looking for creative ideas - no results . Go for it - no regrets !

Okay we have a plan.

Here is a pic of the plan.



I hope to start moving dirt and brush this weekend, weather permitting.

Brian. Not showing anything in your link for me.

SB,

I'll see what I can do to make it work.

G+ is not working the way it worked in the past and I don't know why.