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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 2,247 Likes: 548
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OP
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 2,247 Likes: 548 |
I've been watching my BG and RES as the spawning season progresses and the last 2 days I noticed a couple of large Tilapia have taken up residence in the BG/RES spawning dishes. I talked to Cody briefly about this and am going to try and get some pics tomorrow (today) and post. I've set and watched a large male fight with male BG on the nest and quickly fan out the nest after pushing the BG out. These are not small BG, I'd say 10-13" males. I see several Tilapia now slowly cruising over the beds and it looks to me as though the TP have pushed all but about 4-5 out. Not sure that I am happy with this.. I'll do my best to get some good pics of these.
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,902 Likes: 281
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Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,902 Likes: 281 |
Not sure if I'd be happy about it either. A 13" BG is my holy grail. Hope you catch one of them.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 534 Likes: 76
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Joined: Jan 2011
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Fascinating. I'll be following this for sure.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33 |
Do you have any thoughts about how you may prevent this in the future?
This is an interesting development in the BG/Tilapia forage fish saga.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,383 Likes: 606
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,383 Likes: 606 |
Do you have any thoughts about how you may prevent this in the future? Surely highflyer has an armed drone that Snipe's BG can hire for overwatch duties. I agree that this is an interesting development. I assume that tilapia eat BG fry and therefore want the BG to spawn. I also assume that larger BG compete for some of the same forage as the tilapia. Therefore, the tilapia DO NOT want the BG to spawn. I assume that at least one of my assumptions above is incorrect. But I don't know which one!
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,146 Likes: 488
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 15,146 Likes: 488 |
I am thinking the male BG with the spawning urges will move to a different area and build another nest for egg laying. They should be able to find a nest site somewhere in the next 6 weeks.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
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Joined: Oct 2018
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OP
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 2,247 Likes: 548 |
I hope you are correct Bill.. I've only found 1 other place there is visible activity and it's quite small, but that may be a good thing.
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,864 Likes: 298
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,864 Likes: 298 |
I wonder if TP become more aggressive when they guard nesting area, thus more vulnerable to angling.
By the way, Bob Lusk said that the one thing he sees when TP are stocked is increased survival of YOY BG.
Last edited by anthropic; 06/29/22 12:22 PM.
7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,752 Likes: 33 |
I asked Bob about this in Facebook Live last night. He said while tilapia may take over some BG nests, tilapia do not seem to limit BG spawning.
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2 members like this:
FishinRod, anthropic |
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 477 Likes: 27
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Joined: Apr 2002
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I would not put Tilapia in my pond - problem solved
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Joined: Oct 2018
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OP
Joined: Oct 2018
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This is the 3rd year I've had them Tim, and every batch acts different. Normally, I catch some advanced fry in the fall and keep them in aquarium over winter, generally 3-5" by the time I can get them out. This year I ran across some adults I went and picked up, these are quite a bit bigger than what I normally grow-probably 8-14" so I may have started the problem without even realizing what I had done.
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Joined: Nov 2007
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 3,383 Likes: 606 |
This year I ran across some adults I went and picked up, these are quite a bit bigger than what I normally grow-probably 8-14" so I may have started the problem without even realizing what I had done. I certainly enjoy reading about your "experiments". The good thing about having a bad outcome from your tilapia experiment this year, is that the problem will solve itself this winter. I wish many of our OTHER pond problems could be solved just by waiting for the inevitable change in the seasons!
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,312 Likes: 300
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Joined: Feb 2011
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The RW of my LMB was always higher after electroshocking/tilapia years. The CNBG fingerlings the next spring were more abundant also. I stocked tilapia once, and told T Overton that my only requirement was that the tilapia couldn't be eaten. He met that, but the number of tilapia was very low because of their size. I don't think they would be enough to damage the CNBG beds.
AL
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