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I have a 26- x 52-feet (8- x 16-meters) pond, with a depth of 1.5 meters, in which I intend to stock Tilapia. How many can such a pond accommodate?

The second one is 22- x 45-feet (7- x 14-meters) and I intend to stock it with Catfish. How many can such a pond accommodate?

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Disclamer I'm really no expert when it come to tilapia and catfish.

From a quick search, it seem stocking rules for tilapia are either 2-3 fish per square meter of surface or 1 kg of fish per 10 gallon of water (this seem quite a heavy population if you ask me) source and source. I would check against both rule and use the lower one. Using the surface rule, it give about 250-375 adult fish for your pond. It also depend on the specific race you grow since they seem to vary quite a bit from race to race (600g to 2.7kg)

Tilapia are cichlids so the population density need to be high enough to reduce aggression from dominant male on the others. The water must not be flowing and be sure to check your local regulation on them since they are considered a pest in nature because they reproduce quite fast and are hardy fish.

My quick research on catfish seem to show that they need much bigger pond. They were talking acre size so I would put that idea on the back burner. Maybe someone more experienced can prove me wrong.

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  • thanks Remi, actually I've been reading alot since i asked this question. My research says that tilapia should have constantly flowing water; i mean in and out of the pond so that toxic ammonia from their excretion don't cause them infections and death as well. your calculations are right. for the cat fish, they are said to behave like pigs though they recquire some good space too. not much is said about the level of water though.
    – Benson Okello
    Commented Jan 11, 2017 at 8:20
  • Having water overflowing from the pond is surely a good idea put if you have enough plants in the pond there should be no need. If you make the water flow don't forget that they like slow moving water so do not make this a river ;)
    – Rémi
    Commented Jan 11, 2017 at 13:59

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