Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Tilapia

SO, I went to the park down the street from my house with the cast net and caught about a dozen nice tilpia. They all seem to be very tight-lipped, holding the mouths closed tightly. My thoughts are they are females and they are holding young in their mouths.
I am trying to get Tilapia started in my pond as a forage fish for large predators I have not stocked yet.

Any chance they are holding young? ....

ANY Thoughts.......

Yep Its confirmed, I saw a few little fry swimming in the cooler. On my way to stock them. Got a few more this morning...
Should speed things along stocking adults with a mouths full of babies...Instant reproduction....

Very cool...do they grow wild there I assume? Are they considered invasive and do they experience any die off during the Winter?

We had a 30 year record cold that killed native fish like snook few years ago...
there was a die off of some in the state. Plenty left, either the more cold tolerant ones or the smart ones able to find a warm spott.
These fish have been in this lake 20 years that I know of.....

I think one of them must have aborted the babies in the coler as I had a little school of them swimming around in the cooler. "Several houndred I would say". I scopped a dozon or so into a bucket and left it out to see if they will grow by eating the algea off the sides. If I had the set up I would have tried to save them all and transplanted later....

wow i did not know Tilapia could survive year-around anywhere in the US except maybe like in a desert. that's interesting Bobby. thanks

We had such a mild winter they survivied in piedmont of SC this year.

Tilapia survival in the more southern waters will unlikely be an issue since this winter was so uncommon, there is no spawning due to a short photoperiod, and the vast majority of water caused tilapia lethargy/predation or caused secondary infection mortality...surviving tilapia numbrs were likely small.

We always get a decent number of hold over if the water stays above 57 degrees. I see it has a plus..as it means I have some 4 - 5 lbers. that will be spawning as soon as the water reaches the mid to high 70's.

Rex,

Will you be coming through Oklahoma this year, or at least getting close by? If so do you happen to have some dates set so I can check my schedule?

Thanks

hey rex, i saw i missed your last trip through ohio, will you be coming through again any time soon?

thanks!

Tilapia for algae management were the topic of a newspaper Toledo Blade article from Northwest Ohio. PB Forum member Rex Rains was quoted in the article.
http://www.toledoblade.com/MattMarkey/2012/05/18/Blue-tilapia-stars-in-pond-algae-war.html

Keith, I am making at least 2 more tilapia runs in Ohio. Feel free to PM or phone me anytime.

thanks rex, i'm getting some perch this weekend from shelby fish farm so will get some of yours from them

So how have these tilapia done in the bucket, just wondering if you were able to keep them alive? Have you noticed any others spawning in your pond yet?

Funny you asked I was thinking of taking a picture of them. They really are tough little boogers. They seem to be growing and doing well. I literally have them in a bucket with out being aerated and no water changes, nothing. The water has turned green and I see no mosquito lava like I normally do in a bucket left unattended for that long. (Eating them I think)
It even is in full sun part of the day and gets a bit hot. I recently moved it as I though that might be an issue. I am thinking the green water is an algae bloom using the nutrients from them pooping and in turn they are eating the algae a pooping more. I’m sure as they start to get size on them the five gallon bucket will not be suitable. Ill try to take a picture of them this weekend.

I have not seen any spawning around the pond, I think they might have been at the end of spawning.

Some pics would be nice. How many did you end up stocking in the pond and do you plan on putting in any more?

I put about a dozen full grown adults in the pond, Half acre. I might put more , no real predators yet in the pond yet so Im hoping they will just reproduce quickly. I wish I had kept all the fry that got purged(It was several hundred). As easy as they are to keep I could have gotten them just big enough so the GAMs could not eat them and release them. Hoping a couple of the adults still had eggs or fry holding in their mouths.

I stocked a pond Tuesday and the owner called Wednesday to tell me he already has larger fish building/guarding nests.

That is just neat, what size were the larger fish if you recall? What size pond was it you stocked and how many fish did you stock?

Thanks

All were eggs on 12/17 and stocked as fry into the growout ponds...some were 1.75 pounds when seined on 5/1....most are in the 8-10 inch range...they grew faster than desired this year.

Maybe warmer water due to the milder winter?

Rainman, I have a friend that will not believe the growth rate of Blue Talipia. Does your grower or you have any pictures of month to month growth rates?

no, but I hauled a fish this spring that had been a leftover form last year topping 7 pounds...again, no pic.

Here are some pictures of my Tilapia if anyone can tell me what type they are and if they are male or female, I would appreciate it.

In one of the other threads that you asked about how to sex Tilapia, I replied with a link that told you how to do it. Have you looked at that link?

Chinese proverb:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post157117

Male/Female

Any idea on what type these may be?


Yes I did look at the link and I have not had much luck. Had it not been so late when we put these in the tank I would have tried to take some pictures like that and see if someone could help.

I still have much to learn on these fish and trying my best but just wanting to see if I indeed get both male and female fish as I was told. Or if I was lied to once again and received all males.

If for some reason I did get all males I do not think it would be on purpose, but maybe more of the fact how they may have separated in the tanks.

I guess with Tilapia, there really is not a way to tell them apart by color?

Rainman, stupid question but I have to ask...When tilapia get that big, are they still good to eat(tasty)?

One more thing... Your best picture is the one with your buddy in the drivers seat........

how well do tilapia survive in ks

How do tilapia do in ks. I am getting ready to build a pond and they sound great for keeping algae in check, but before looking at stocking I want to make sure they can survive here

Brandon the experts will chime in but I believe Tipapia will survive in Kansas roughly from May into Oct. They die when the water cools down. They need to be restocked every year. But they will as you say help control some kinds of aquatic vegetation, will fatten your bass, and are good to eat.

I believe it is a water temperatue of 46 or 49 F that the tilapia die out at. But I will leave it to the experts.

Brandon..Tilapia do well everywhere...various climates dictate the best suited species and stocking rates for each. Kansas has 1000's of ponds utilizing Tilapia As far as surviving..give up on that idea as tilapia survival would be the worst thing that could happen in your pond..they would overpopulate a pond in 2 seasons. Tilapia need to be thought of as a management tool rather than a primary stocked fish species (like bass or bluegill), the same way any chemical or feed are used for management.

In a new pond, tilapia could be used, but with nothing to consume tham before and at death, they revert back to nutrients in the same way chemicals only temporarily kill vegetation. I'd wait a year after your initial stocking of your intended apex predator.

Does anyone have an idea what type of Tilapia I have? I posted some pictures above.

I am just curious to see what all I was sold so I can get an idea if I will see any babies soon, or just growing out some food to eat.

Thanks

Still not sure what type I have but at least I did get both male and female fish as the pulled a spawn off in my 300 gallon tank. I will get some pictures up as soon as I can.

No idea

Mozambique Tilapia is what I got from Overton's and yours look like mine. If your males' tails start to turn red while nestig, I would bet you have the same type.

Here is a link to images from Google showing Mozambique Tilapia:

Google images of Mozambique Tilapia

Here are some pictures of my Tilapia fry.

Here are what the fry above look like now.

Does this help at all as determining the type of Tilapia I have?

.

OK, so from the original adult stockers I added from the begining of this thread, I saw a school of about a dozen cruz by me on the bank this morning that where 3-4 in lenth and appeared fat healthy and hungry....

The only ones I have seen in my pond are the ones I had stocked, and there were just 2. Each of them were on the bank on different sides of the pond.

As noted in the intitial post, mine were holding fry in thier mouths when stocked. I am pretty sure that is the source of the YOY I saw swimming. They might have spawned again but I dont think so.......

MRHELLO...yours looks like some form of a Wami hybrid

Rainman, what kind do you think Mine are.......they have been wild for years in that pond system...

Rex,

Never even heard of Wami, let alone a hybrid of one. Where in the world would someone have picked up some Wami tilapia and what would be the purpose of them?

What do you think the other half would be?

Do they wami happen to eat algae very well or at least reproduce to help feed the other fish?

I do have one fingerling that is a morph of some sort as it is a light orange color with a few black blemishes on it, but it may have come from a different adult fish.

The place I got them from said they have been using them for years now in there ponds and selling them to other pond owners as well. They do sell some of the smaller ones for people that want them for aquaponics.

Thanks

Any one know how often tilapia spawn in a summer, when I posted this thread in april it was the first spawn of the year as they had babies holding in thier mouths. I am hoping they would spawn again later in the summer.

Think they should spawn about every 5 weeks, and I am sure they do not all spawn the same time so depending on how many females you put in you may have some new fry on a weekly basis.

You have to think that most of them are probably being eaten as soon as they leave their mother, especially with the fish you have. Then again you may find out later this year how many you have when it cools off, assuming it gets cold enough to kill them off where you are.

I have yet to see any tilapia fry or fingerlings in my ponds, but since they are so turbid it would be hard to notice them. I figure if I happen to ever catch a tilapia that is smaller than the ones I stocked I will know they spawned and some survived.

I have even thought about setting out a trap to see if I can get in tilapia in it.

MRHELLO, use a minnow trap with some Aquamax wrapped in a small piece of netting. Just don't feed before you put the trap in. You should have some in your trap in the next couple hours or even sooner.

MRHELLO, my tilapia were caught wild in a pond in a local park. They have been living for many many years in ponds in the city. They should do fine over winter. If we get a real cold winter we do get some die off but it never seems to get them all. I am wondering if the more cold tolerant ones that survive each random cold winter we get a passing that gene one to the next generation.

I will be curious to see how many you do end up having by the end of this year when it cools off.

Plus come next year if you do have a large number of survivors you will have plenty to spawn next summer feeding your fish you have in there.

I like the variety of fish you have stocked and will be watching to see how they turn out.

Wami Tilapia were used in California and sold in some pet stores...

Bobby..You probably have Blue Tilapia (no pure strain have been caught in Fla for years)...in optimum conditions, spawning is every 21 days and more average is 4-6 wekks between spawns, especially late season...

I think the ones we have in extreme NE florida were stocked by the FWC many years ago for aquatic vegitation control. No further stocking has been done. I know south florida has infusions from lots of other sources....Just wondering if ours my be at least more pure than in south florida. Perhaps that is why they are a tad more cold tolerant...

Went to the pond at the park by my house way out to the pond yesterday after work and Tossed the cast net. I got "13" (2-3) pound tilapia and one big gizzard shad in one toss....

Filled my cooler and off to the pond I went...

The local city ponds are just loaded with big Tilapia.

Must be nice to catch some large ones like that. I think the Tilapia are one tasty fish, at least the ones I have raised and have raised and caught so far from my pond.

Did you just toss the net blind or did you see some sort of activity?

Just toss it blind....Off a little dock/pier thing at the park..

How long did you stay or cast the net? Did you just take the 2 fish quickly so they would not die?

Tossed a couple times and got some BG, third toss got 13 tilapia, dumped into my cooler with bubbler and left. In and Out....

It will be interesting to see how you pond does this winter depending on what kind of winter we have, and how it looks in the spring of next year.

You could have one crazy BOW.

Those tilapia have survived many winters in the pond I got them from, a shallow park pond. I think they will do fine in mine. I run the artesian well when its really cold to help out with the warmer well water just to be safe. I need to get some GC out to try to get more vegitation going and improve visability.