# Tilapia chilling



## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I hope my newly stocked tilapia make it through this cold snap.

No new floaters have been seen yet.

I knew they would die off once the water gets cold I just didn't think it would be in MAY!


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## Photog (Jun 18, 2010)

Why have you put them in? Completely honest question, I didn't know people put them in ponds.


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

Our temps are back in the 50's this week, right in the middle of our largemouth spawn. Hope your tilapia make it through.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Photog said:


> Why have you put them in? Completely honest question, I didn't know people put them in ponds.


Algae control

Bottom muck reduction

Food base for the predators


This is my first year at trying to see what I can do to manage the pond while reducing the chemical applications. 

I wanted to put them in last year and they were hard to obtain.

There has been very good reported success at stocking tilapia towards achieving the above stated objectives.

However they die when the water gets cold. The pond was 62 when we put them in a little over a week ago. If they can make it two more days without dying from the cold or being eaten because they are slow from the cold I think all will be good.

I just have to wait and see what happens


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Lundy, I'm sure your fish will be all right. It takes a while for your water to cool off enough to effect blue tilapia. My water temp was 59 last night but was about the same temp as yours (62) when we put them in. Remember these fish can survive a while when the water temps are in the mid 40's.

Also we have a warm up coming this weekend.

Let us know if you have any floaters.


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## [email protected] (Feb 29, 2008)

The intolerance of tilapia to low
temperatures is a serious constraint
for commercial culture in temperate
regions. The lower lethal temperature
for most species is 50 to 52o F
for a few days, but the Blue tilapia
tolerates temperatures to about
48o F.
Tilapia generally stop feeding when
water temperature falls below 63o F.
Disease-induced mortality after handling
seriously constrains sampling,
harvest and transport below 65o F.

-https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/event/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/53/


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## viper1 (Apr 13, 2004)

Better read more into it. Just read a artical how they are one of the worst invasive fish out there.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

viper1 said:


> Better read more into it. Just read a artical how they are one of the worst invasive fish out there.


Down south yes, up north no


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Lundy, I don't know if it was the wind mixing the water up but 2ft down my water was 62 degrees. Blue tilapia can deal with colder water better than any other tilapia. My thinking is your fish will be fine. After this weekend, the warmer the water gets...the more they eat. Also watch for the spawning beds when the water temp gets close to 80.

Good Luck with those algae eaters. And they do eat FA.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Shutting down your aerator will help keep some warmer water in the upper layer as well. It's hard to believe that I've gotten away with stocking them in late April...I got lucky.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

One of the red tilapia that was mixed with the blues was still doing well last night.

He hangs with my bluegills at feeding time and was there last night when my wife fed the fish. He does not eat the pellets, just hangs around. He is very easy to see he is orange.


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Lundy said:


> One of the red tilapia that was mixed with the blues was still doing well last night.
> 
> He hangs with my bluegills at feeding time and was there last night when my wife fed the fish. He does not eat the pellets, just hangs around. He is very easy to see he is orange.


Lundy If your red tilapia is doing well, your blues are doing better.


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Lundy, I'm curious.....Did any of your tilapia(s) die during that little cold snap? My pond is still a little muddy but I can see a few of them every once in a while. By the way,I started feeding my other fish again. The warmer the water gets, the harder they hit the pellets.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't think I lost any at least no floaters were seen.

I have not been seeing any of them at all anywhere. Even the red one has not been seen in a few days.

I have been feeding my gills for a week and they are happy again. A large percentage of the larger BG are on the beds spawning across the pond from where I feed. They are not there for feeding.

The algae was getting out of control and there was no way the tilapia would have been able to catch up so I sprayed with cutrine + last week. Now we'll see what the future holds.

My water has been pretty muddy for weeks. Just as it clears up to ft visibility we get more rain.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

The tilapia are very active in the pond, They seem to always be on the move in packs.

There has only been one that shows up trying to eat pellets when I feed my bluegill each evening.

After my spraying of the algae a few weeks ago I have had no more algae problems. Based upon years past and the amount of runoff I've gotten with the rain I should have had some pretty bad recurrences by now. I can only guess that the tilapia are doing their job.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Lundy, your experience is in line with mine for the most part. In a typical year, I think the plan of attack on the algae would be to treat it with an algaecide early in the season then stock the tilapia for maintenance. Cost wise, it works out about the same as multiple algae treatments plus you get the forage benefit. I did have that unusual year that the water warmed up and stayed warm very early where no algaecide treatments were required but I feel this is too risky due to temp mortality to stock them as early as this would require for full early season elimination.


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