How to prepare a pond for tilapia?

[TimFrance]

Can anyone point me towards the instructions for preparing an existing pond to breed/keep tilapia?

I have a fairly large pond (about 40 sq metres I guess) on a plot of land I have just bought, and wonder where/how to begin with preparing it for stocking with fish. There is a working drainage ditch running alongside the pond in case I need to drain it to treat the bottom.

Many thanks in advance for any suggested sources of information or guidance.

[ozzydom]

All you need is water,with such a small pond dont even think about breeding,just stock it with about 100 single sex Tilapia (all male) feed them and watch them grow.

[Farang Paul]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

[David48]

If you like a read ... have a look at this ... fish-farms-201

The opening post contains a lot of the subjects that have been written about.

But if you are keeping it simple ... ozzydom's suggestion above makes a lot of sense.

Also Farang Paul's comment about the nocturnal habits of the local, uninvited fisherman, bare heeding also.

.

[DonaldBattles]

I am convinced that I will never make any money fish farming but it keeps me away from The Longhorn Saloon. Having stocked a 1 Rai pond with catfish and pla suway I will offer poor farangs and their families the opportunity to fish (there is only one rich farang in Chiang Rai). The other pond contains fresh 1500 red tilapia. The place where I bought the monosex red tilapia said they were monosex but there might be a few females that got loose. The pla top tim is mostly for my wife and her slop shop friends to pig out on. They love to eat here because they never have to pay. Mia farang is always rich and feeds the multitudes to gain big face. God I love Chiang Rai. Where else could a young man like me have so much fun. I should have waited a little longer before I retired to a money losing life.

I am trying my best to follow Ozzy's direction and help. I think he has got it right.

[LeeThayer]

All you need is water,with such a small pond dont even think about breeding,just stock it with about 100 single sex Tilapia (all male) feed them and watch them grow.

Spot on, and they do get big as well. I have a abandonded fish farm near me, it has not worked as a fish farm in several years, rain keeps it pretty much full, plenty of Featherbacks, huge Tilapia, Snakehead, and Walking Catfish in it. I fish it all the time.

[ozzydom]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

Yep, poaching ,as many have discovered is an ongoing problem.

Originally I fitted 1000w Sodium lamps all round but found that the slow light up of ballasted lights allowed the perpetrators time to do a bunk.

Recently I considered CCTV but found the resultant footage of such a big area wou.ld not give good enough results for prosecution.

So now I have fitted 1500w halogen lamps coupled to timers.The timers can be set in 15 minute increments, etc so I have set them to come on randomly ie. on for 15minutes off for 45, on 15 minutes off 1 hour , on 15 minutes off 30 and so on.

The sequence starts at 9pm and it is a 5 second job to alter the timing so the would be thieves will not be able to work out when they may be floodlit.

Test run last night went off really well,a few neighbours commented on suddenly having their property lit up at odd times but were pretty supportive.

I also mounted an exterior CCTV camera housing on a high concrete power pole and am telling everybody that anybody caught in the lights will be filmed (a bit of bluff) and identified to the BiB.

Its a far cry from originally running barbed wire through the ponds.

[ozzydom]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

Yep, poaching ,as many have discovered is an ongoing problem.

Originally I fitted 1000w Sodium lamps all round but found that the slow light up of ballasted lights allowed the perpetrators time to do a bunk.

Recently I considered CCTV but found the resultant footage of such a big area wou.ld not give good enough results for prosecution.

So now I have fitted 1500w halogen lamps coupled to timers.The timers can be set in 15 minute increments, etc so I have set them to come on randomly ie. on for 15minutes off for 45, on 15 minutes off 1 hour , on 15 minutes off 30 and so on.

The sequence starts at 9pm and it is a 5 second job to alter the timing so the would be thieves will not be able to work out when they may be floodlit.

Test run last night went off really well,a few neighbours commented on suddenly having their property lit up at odd times but were pretty supportive.

I also mounted an exterior CCTV camera housing on a high concrete power pole and am telling everybody that anybody caught in the lights will be filmed (a bit of bluff) and identified to the BiB.

Its a far cry from originally running barbed wire through the ponds.

[maxisrael]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

If you feed them with hormones they will all become male, so they grow bigger tan a female , I have a 100 talang wah fish-pond but I have male and female ( for breeding as well) in the pond I have about 800 fish

[jazzgirl]

There is no need to feed with hormones. just buy all male sex-reversed tilapia fry (2-3cm) or fingerlings (4") from any hatchery near your farm. recommending namsai farm (prachinburi or nakhon pathom), po charoen (chachoengsao). or Aquatic Dev Farm in Chiangmai. Tilapia can feed on anything, so depending on your preference, budget, and objectives, you can give a range of feed from waste food & vegetables, rice bran, or feed pellets. A greenwater system will help to reduce your feed but this means you have to add fertilizer to the water before stocking as well as during culture to maintain algal bloom. You can choose organic or inorganic fertilizer, again depending on your preference and objectives i.e. some people do not want to use urea and TSP so they use EM. tilapia is easy to grow.

[DonaldBattles]

What is EN and where do I find it. I assume that this is a safer way to create agae. Is this correct?

I need to buy some hormones. Where do you buy them to convert the lady fish to lady boys?

[jazzgirl]

EM = Effective Microorganism. You can buy them in any agricultural shop but you can also get it free (I think) from your local Department of Fisheries office. Farmers will mix with waste food such as fruit peels and ferment them for a few days/weeks. The EM Is not only for producing plankton in the water but also helps in the overall balance in the pond. This is part of the more generic term "probiotics" but cheaper. The probiotics available in the market are much easier to apply but they are more expensive depending on the type of bacteria and the brand name and efficacy.

As for hormones, do you mean that you have a hatchery and want to produce all male tilapia? i think the sale of this hormone is controlled. this is administered only during the first 21 days so you must breed them and hatch the eggs by yourself so you can know exactly the age of your fry. this hormone is mixed with the feed (powdered form, grade A fishmeal + vit C). efficient hatchery techniques and management will ensure 99% + sex reversal which is your aim. lower than this the fish will still breed when stocked in grow out ponds.

Edited July 19, 2013 by jazzgirl

[Mudcrab]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

Yep, poaching ,as many have discovered is an ongoing problem.

Originally I fitted 1000w Sodium lamps all round but found that the slow light up of ballasted lights allowed the perpetrators time to do a bunk.

Recently I considered CCTV but found the resultant footage of such a big area wou.ld not give good enough results for prosecution.

So now I have fitted 1500w halogen lamps coupled to timers.The timers can be set in 15 minute increments, etc so I have set them to come on randomly ie. on for 15minutes off for 45, on 15 minutes off 1 hour , on 15 minutes off 30 and so on.

The sequence starts at 9pm and it is a 5 second job to alter the timing so the would be thieves will not be able to work out when they may be floodlit.

Test run last night went off really well,a few neighbours commented on suddenly having their property lit up at odd times but were pretty supportive.

I also mounted an exterior CCTV camera housing on a high concrete power pole and am telling everybody that anybody caught in the lights will be filmed (a bit of bluff) and identified to the BiB.

Its a far cry from originally running barbed wire through the ponds.

Worth having a look at LED's as they have come a long way these days. Just replaced a heap of HID 400w lamps with 146w LED's, added infra red movement sensors - - instant on when something moves. This is in a warehouse environment but the principle is the same and will save a lot of money over time. The HID's have a life of maybe 10-20,000 hours...the LED's are claimed to be 50,000 hours.

I installed a combination of Hi-bays and floodlights, both are pretty impressive.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Mudcrab

[ozzydom]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

Yep, poaching ,as many have discovered is an ongoing problem.

Originally I fitted 1000w Sodium lamps all round but found that the slow light up of ballasted lights allowed the perpetrators time to do a bunk.

Recently I considered CCTV but found the resultant footage of such a big area wou.ld not give good enough results for prosecution.

So now I have fitted 1500w halogen lamps coupled to timers.The timers can be set in 15 minute increments, etc so I have set them to come on randomly ie. on for 15minutes off for 45, on 15 minutes off 1 hour , on 15 minutes off 30 and so on.

The sequence starts at 9pm and it is a 5 second job to alter the timing so the would be thieves will not be able to work out when they may be floodlit.

Test run last night went off really well,a few neighbours commented on suddenly having their property lit up at odd times but were pretty supportive.

I also mounted an exterior CCTV camera housing on a high concrete power pole and am telling everybody that anybody caught in the lights will be filmed (a bit of bluff) and identified to the BiB.

Its a far cry from originally running barbed wire through the ponds.

Worth having a look at LED's as they have come a long way these days. Just replaced a heap of HID 400w lamps with 146w LED's, added infra red movement sensors - - instant on when something moves. This is in a warehouse environment but the principle is the same and will save a lot of money over time. The HID's have a life of maybe 10-20,000 hours...the LED's are claimed to be 50,000 hours.

I installed a combination of Hi-bays and floodlights, both are pretty impressive.

I looked at motion sensors before settling on timers,the problem was trying to cover a large area, the wide angle sensors only cover a relatively short distance and the narrow beam longer distance ones would mean fitting a great many to cover the whole area.

With people and dogs wandering the area all night long the lights would be more on than off.

[Pompey50]

I do have one question. Is a fish pond not counted as land? I thought Falang could not buy land, particularly agricultural.

[zeichen]

well the OP may have dual citizenship, or his wife bought the land.

[Mudcrab]

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

Yep, poaching ,as many have discovered is an ongoing problem.

Originally I fitted 1000w Sodium lamps all round but found that the slow light up of ballasted lights allowed the perpetrators time to do a bunk.

Recently I considered CCTV but found the resultant footage of such a big area wou.ld not give good enough results for prosecution.

So now I have fitted 1500w halogen lamps coupled to timers.The timers can be set in 15 minute increments, etc so I have set them to come on randomly ie. on for 15minutes off for 45, on 15 minutes off 1 hour , on 15 minutes off 30 and so on.

The sequence starts at 9pm and it is a 5 second job to alter the timing so the would be thieves will not be able to work out when they may be floodlit.

Test run last night went off really well,a few neighbours commented on suddenly having their property lit up at odd times but were pretty supportive.

I also mounted an exterior CCTV camera housing on a high concrete power pole and am telling everybody that anybody caught in the lights will be filmed (a bit of bluff) and identified to the BiB.

Its a far cry from originally running barbed wire through the ponds.

Worth having a look at LED's as they have come a long way these days. Just replaced a heap of HID 400w lamps with 146w LED's, added infra red movement sensors - - instant on when something moves. This is in a warehouse environment but the principle is the same and will save a lot of money over time. The HID's have a life of maybe 10-20,000 hours...the LED's are claimed to be 50,000 hours.

I installed a combination of Hi-bays and floodlights, both are pretty impressive.

I looked at motion sensors before settling on timers,the problem was trying to cover a large area, the wide angle sensors only cover a relatively short distance and the narrow beam longer distance ones would mean fitting a great many to cover the whole area.

With people and dogs wandering the area all night long the lights would be more on than off.

Could be worth looking at laser switches. These aim an invisible laser at a reflector or a receiver...if the beam is interrupted a switched output could turn on the lights. Not very expensive and have a long sensing range.

If the timers do the job.....all good.

the only issue with timers is that they can be "learnt" and thus compromised.

I've seen fake CCTV cameras advertised - basically an empty case with a visible flashing LED - does nothing but makes people think.

Edited July 20, 2013 by Mudcrab

[RedBullHorn]

EM = Effective Microorganism. You can buy them in any agricultural shop but you can also get it free (I think) from your local Department of Fisheries office. Farmers will mix with waste food such as fruit peels and ferment them for a few days/weeks. The EM Is not only for producing plankton in the water but also helps in the overall balance in the pond. This is part of the more generic term "probiotics" but cheaper. The probiotics available in the market are much easier to apply but they are more expensive depending on the type of bacteria and the brand name and efficacy.

As for hormones, do you mean that you have a hatchery and want to produce all male tilapia? i think the sale of this hormone is controlled. this is administered only during the first 21 days so you must breed them and hatch the eggs by yourself so you can know exactly the age of your fry. this hormone is mixed with the feed (powdered form, grade A fishmeal + vit C). efficient hatchery techniques and management will ensure 99% + sex reversal which is your aim. lower than this the fish will still breed when stocked in grow out ponds.

EM DO NOT PRODUCE PLANKTON IN THE WATER !

Where did you copy your theory from dude !?!!

Edited July 20, 2013 by RedBullHorn

[pigeonjake]

my pig wash water turns my water green,, well not my water,,lol, but the pond water,

jake

[zeichen]

I have never heard of EM being used to create green water for tilapia.

[ozzydom]

I have never heard of EM being used to create green water for tilapia.

Maybe because it does,nt.