I was almost in the midst of hijacking Bob Lusk's request for new topics for the upcoming Conference and realized that was a very bad idea...so I thought it best to begin a new thread.
I've been fascinated by the potential benefit Tilapia present to watershed managers - especially for Meisters like myself where water temps reach lethal levels annually and prevent establishing a permanent population.
I'd like to learn a lot more from anyone who has already attempted this - or ideas from any and all of you. These are TP benefits might be appealing to Meisters as I've learned from Condello and PB sources, and some ideas I'd like some evidence to back up:
1. Serve as good forage base - also high fecundity - accelerate gamefish growth rates
2. Helps relieve BG, YP, RES ect. from being relied upon as forage, accelerating their growth rates and population also?
3. Control vegetation far better than Grass Carp [?] - especially filamentous algae - which GC ignore[?]
4. Improve water clarity?
5. Self controlling population due to annual winter kill
6. Great table fare!!
7. No need to pellet feed - cheap to maintain
More important things to learn:
1. Ideal water temps, size, and quantity of TP for initial stocking
2. Multiple species exist - what are defining characteristics of each making them most suitable for different watersheds [cold tolerance, fecundity, size, etc.
3. Would it be a feasible idea to seine watersheds nearing the mid 50's to rescue some breeding pairs, over winter them in tanks, and have your own replenishing supply annually? Would they reproduce in an aquarium? At what age/size are they sexually mature?
I'm eager to learn as much as possible for a potential stocking attempt this Spring into my ponds. Seems like a miracle fish - or maybe I just have Condello-itus/Cabin Fever.
Thanks in advance for your patience, I hope this thread goes somewhere - I realize it's a little scatterbrained.
TJ
