Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait Stocking Tilapia - please weigh in

Here are some facts I've learned about tilapia in ponds:

Don't stock them until water temps stabilize in the 70s. For us in east/central Texas this is late April/early May. Two years ago it snowed on Easter and I know of several pondmeisters who had already stocked tilapia in the area. Doesn't make much sense to me to stock them before spawning temps. Higher temps = higher metabolism = faster tilapia, and so tilapia stocking success may hinge on a high temp advantage when being stocked in a predator-heavy pond.

Stocking tilapia for algae control is most effective if you control the vegetation first before stocking tilapia, then stock tilapia at a rate of 30lbs per acre.

The ideal stocking size for existing ponds with predator pressure is 1/4lb fish, give or take, but not size graded. Grading the small fish off a batch of tilapia likely results in a male-heavy stock, when in fact, you'll get better reproduction out of female-heavy stocks.

The existence of a plankton bloom when stocking tilapia will greatly improve your probability of success.

In my experience the small 1"-3" tilapia eat more detritus than adults. You can watch them along the shoreline, flashing as they munch plankton and detritus from a pond bottom.

The daily Dissolved Oxygen curve for tilapia production ponds seems to be more stable, with less severe spikes and depletions than other productive ponds.

We raised 4000+ lbs of tilapia in a 1/2 acre production pond, starting with 20 lbs of broodstock, without having to aerate a single time during the 2008 season. Please note that we do check our oxygen daily and we don't advise this biomass load for rec ponds.

Tilapia are the most efficient agent available (possible 1-1 feed conversion ratio in ponds plus planktonic in nature) for channeling nutrients from their basic form all the way to the top of the food chain, almost guaranteed (due to low cold tolerance), within a single season.

I've had 2 bald eagles and an osprey for the past 3 years on my farm for winter tilapia clean-up.