Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Tilapia

So for sure ... I am not going to accuse the OP's supplier of selling blues as Moz Tilapia. I think I know who the supplier is. I figure ... even being as far north as he is that he made a choice to supply Moz TP over the other species of TP for good reasons. Just not going to venture how much ... if any ... other TP genes are in them. Anyways, I figure his choice to supply Moz TP was founded in the same reasons I would want to stock them for the purpose of forage. I think he did his research, much like I have. Google is a wonderful thing. As for whether no one has pure strains of Moz TP, I just don't know. Here in Texas, only pure strain Moz TP are allowed for stocking. Suppliers say they are selling pure strains. They do look different depending on supplier. The most beautiful? Overton's IMHO.

For anyone who believes that fish cannot regain RW when food is more plentiful, there is not much I can do to help you. We all form opinions and sometimes they get in the way of common sense and multitudes of evidence. Often these opinions when expressed in words don't make sense. When I hear/read them ... I just twist my head.

When my kids get to arguing about something ... I intervene with "Let's Google it!". We have at our disposal a virtual library. Not that one doesn't have to discriminate. Often the results have sources with economic interests to maintain. These references are far less reliable and one does have discriminate. But by and large, if one uses the library with an open yet discriminating mind he will learn a few things new. This isn't always the case ... sometimes ... people will immerse themselves only in information that will confirm their opinions. Ultimately, it's everyone's individual responsibility to be conscientious about what opinions he forms.

To that end, I'd recommend to anyone to do your own due diligence. If you don't believe that Blues and Niles grow faster than Moz TP ... just do your own research. There is lots of evidence out there. You will form a better opinion than making a choice among posts here. Use Google, satisfy yourself that the OPs Moz. TP should be growing as fast as Bill's Blues or Niles (which ever they might be). Really, that goes for everything. That little signature at the base of my posts? It's not there for other's benefit (even though everyone would be well served to be mindful of it). That little epithet is a reminder to me to be careful of what I post.

Anyways, I stand by what I posted. I take the OP's report that the species of TP is Moz TP at face value. When compared to studies on growth, (swingle's being one of sportfish application at stocking rates no higher than many initial stock of BG), the OP's growth falls not far from the tree. I don't think he needs to feel bad about the growth. They performed as I would expect Moz. TP to perform in his neck of the woods. If something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck ... maybe it is a duck. Likewise, if the OPs TP grew like MozTP, maybe just maybe, they are MozTP which the OP reported and his supplier claims they are.

If they weren't big enough, then he could seek a different species. Maybe a good place to start is where Bill sourced his fish. But frankly, I don't think his TP situation is broken. I personally prefer Moz. TP for forage because they grow slower and reach sexual maturity at younger ages and smaller sizes. They are consumable for longer periods of time ... and that is a good thing. Swingle reported they are significantly easier to catch than Niles. How they compare to blues? I don't know but I can tell you that I have caught blues and when one is in them, they didn't seem all that difficult to catch to me. Do blues give you more fecundity than Moz TP? It depends on how you look at it. A blue of greater weight can certainly have more eggs than a MozTP of lower weight. Generally, fecundity is enumerated as a range of egg numbers per unit weight of female fish. So if you stock the same weight of females, MozTP will have more eggs (according to sources I find reliable) ... at least at the time of stocking. Does the temperature at the onset breeding make a big difference? Of course not. Temperatures change in most ponds too fast to afford a time span long enough to get an extra spawn in. Now in Florida, perhaps where temps are more moderately changing. But in OH, MO, or OK, no. Doesn't seem reasonable to me because the expanse of time is insufficient to get an extra spawn in... I dissent.