# Tilapia Delivery



## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

We got our tilapia delivery from Jones Fish yesterday. The tilapia ranged from 3.5" to 7 inches. The delivery guy pulled out a couple and they had eggs in there mouth. I figure the big ones are male and the smaller female. 

The catfish were barely 9" and the redears ran from 3-5 inches. 

The algae is thinning out. I sprayed some last weekend, and the duck weed is taking over. The duck weed seems to dominate the string algae by shading it out. From what I've read, the tilapia eat that duck weed like popcorn and it is high in protein. 

With eggs already in some of the females mouths, I figure the delivery of fry very soon, sooner than I expected.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Sounds great. Get some photos to document the effects and please post.


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

Do tilapia feed at night? I saw 8 tonight right by the bank. The duckweed was blowing in a stream right over them. One end of the pond has a fairly wide layer along the shore. It is not horrible by any means. 

I am very resistant to using chemicals in the pond. No way I'm spraying sonar and such if I don't absolutely have to. Even with filamentous algae I mechanically remove it as much as possible, I use Cutrine- Plus on a very limited basis, spraying only where I can't rake. We now have tilapia that are said to eat the duckweed and watermeal heavily, let them do their thing.

We have a kids fishing derby on the 16th. The parents will, as in the past, complain about the duck weed. The kids are fishing with bobbers and bait and that thin layer makes no difference. Last year we had a good bit, but I got the kids to fish right through it while some parents took their kids to the clear end of the pond. The most fish, and the biggest, came from under that duckweed.

I really shouldn't help them like that, it's kind of cheating. I put it together and I know it better than anyone. Unfair advantage. I take three or four kids that don't have dads with them and help them, and they win. Last year there was a boy, about 8, and his sister of about 12. He fished but she seemed to find it silly. we got her to try and she caught the biggest gill and a nice young bass. She won, and got a new rod and reel as a prize. Hope they are there this year.

For me much of this whole endeavor is about the kids. I have no kids of my own and I take great pleasure in seeing families by the pond fishing and cooking out.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I don't know if they eat at night or not. They eat a lot though. My guess is they eat all the time more or less. They tend to stay where the water is warmest and there is food. They definitely like it hotter than our native fish do. When our cool water fish become lethargic due to the heat, they'll be at full throttle. I've never had duckweed/watermeal and I can't say for sure what they prefer to eat first....other than pellets. There are charts available if you can find them. It will be interesting to see what they select at the club pond. Keep us posted on your observations.

Here's some light reading for you: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/OAS/oas_pdf/v64/p14_16.pdf


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Garryc, Remember these fish were raised on pellets. So if you are feeding your other fish pellets, hold off for a week or so the tilapia can change their feeding habits.


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

hang_loose said:


> Garryc, Remember these fish were raised on pellets. So if you are feeding your other fish pellets, hold off for a week or so the tilapia can change their feeding habits.


We do not feed yet. I have the feeders and want to feed but I can't seem to get our guy with fabrication ability to make the hangers. I've been asking for over a year. I want to put them on some swing out arms about 6 feet long that I can lock. That will prevent theft, or at least make it vastly more difficult. They would have to have bolt cutters and the feeders will be within the area that our security cameras cover.


Pond:

If you look up the words tilapia and duckweed you'll find that they do eat it. They eat is at a lower rate because it is so high in protein. The conversion rate is about 1.2 when mixed with feed and about 1.68 by itself.. What I discovered is that the deliberate growing of duckweed in shallow ponds fertilized with animal waste for use as feed is a growing trend. Aquacultureists and those engaged in aquaponics are doing this on a widening scale. It is considered the perfect plant for maximum tilapia growth, far better than algae.

A conversion factor of 1.68, that's 1/1.68, the tilapia will grow fast on that. Typical fish like bluegill and bass are about 1/10. That is the reason tilapia have been raised in aquaculture for 5000 years I'd say, an amazing fish for that purpose.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Garry, I'm pretty familiar with tilapia but I haven't dealt with them and duckweed. There's a lot of conflicting information of what their preferred foods are. Lots of papers say they prefer algae. I'm really wondering what they'll eat first in the club pond. This may be useful because if someone has a watermeal/duckweed problem along with filamentous algae may want to treat the algae first so the tilapia can focus on the tougher to kill plants. Or did you're spot treatments pretty much take care of the filamentous algae already?


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

The filamentous algae is mostly gone, some fine stuff mixed with the duckweed. We pulled a bunch out and I sprayed some. Mostly I think its due to the duckweed shading it out. Then again it could be due to the aeration. We turn the water over pretty quick. That may have brought the nutrients up so the algae flourished. When we pulled it out we got rid of the nutrient load with it. 


I don't know, but its pretty much gone. Of course we never got any spring rains to bring new nutrients in. The farmer next door stoned his field last year (Limestone) and planted corn this year. I imagine that if any significant rain does come we are in for a load of nutrients. While that source is less than optimal it is the only one we have.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I have about 9 acres of cornfield surface drainage with two 30' grassy swales feeding my pond. I also have a curtain drain around my septic system, the sump pump and all my downspouts dumping into my pond. I've never had any trouble from the runoff outside of some collidial clay that wouldn't settle but solved that problem with Alum several years ago. 

Aeration, occasional mechanical removal of weeds, and 20 or so acres of watershed per acre of pond for some flushing have kept things in good shape. Tilapia help to turn some of those nutrients tied up in plants into fish too. 

Fertility grows fish, the more fertile the water the more fish it can support. Some of those pristine crystal clear lakes in Canada can only support 8lbs of fish per acre. There are fish farms with ridiculous fertility levels supporting a few thousand lbs per acre. The tricky part is growing planktonic algae and then zooplankton and not higher plants like cattails, pondweeds and filamentous algae. I can't tell you how to do this other than to keep these higher weeds in check as they have limited value to putting pounds on fish. The other thing you've got to watch (as I know you're aware) is high planktonic algae densities can result in oxygen drops due to weather or lack of light. Fish farms with super high nutrient levels get away with it because they often use surface agitator high O2 transfer type aerators in very shallow ponds or have the capability to replace some water if needed.


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## garryc (Jan 21, 2006)

Our big issue was the massive 48 year build up of a detritus layer. Also the great number of leaves that fall in the pond every year. That is well on its way to being over, the aeration seems to handle the build up and the new input of leaves. The decay of that detritus puts a good bit of nutrients into the water. There is not a great deal of water exchange here, we go long periods where evaporation exceeds input. 

I'd like to feed Aquamax 500, but I can't seem to get that facilitated. I'd like to see the day when a small amount of fertilization would be needed, but don't think I will. A pond can be too clean, we haven't approached that mark yet.


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