Operation: Dinner Table Tilapia

Today’s mission: harvest mature puddle blue tilapia for dinner. Naturally, this is a multi-step operation.

It all started one year ago, when I bought 70 tiny tilapia fry basically fish dust with ambition. Fast forward to today, and they’ve multiplied into roughly 300 juveniles to mature tilapia, plus we have all the koi, cichlids and plecos who now believe they own the pond.

First, I set up a proper holding tank with clean water and plenty of oxygen a temporary fish waiting room where everyone is calm and blissfully unaware.

 Next, I drain about 4,800 gallons of water into the canal, shrinking the pond down to just enough space for the fish to

breathe, swim, and rethink their trust in me.

Then comes the real work: sorting and harvesting the big ones. After netting all the fish one at a time and playing aquatic lacrosse  with Lisa for a bit , I pulled 12 solid tilapia worthy of the freezer. The rest live to splash another day.

Somewhere in the chaos, I do quick health checks because tilapia grow fast, eat algae, keep koi ponds clean, support filtration systems… and eventually support dinner.

Pond maintenance, population control, and meal planning puddle style.

Eric and Lisa