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Sometimes tilapia swallow detritus—decomposing organic particles that may include fecal material—but that is not the same as showing they seek out or routinely eat poop. Their natural diets include algae, plankton, small invertebrates and detritus. In pond food webs, microorganisms growing on organic particles can provide much of their food value.
What tilapia eat in the wild and in ponds
Tilapia diets vary with species and habitat. FAO describes Nile tilapia in natural conditions as principally herbivorous, with phytoplankton prominent in the natural-diet description. Its aquaculture guidance also discusses Nile tilapia growing well in highly stocked, organically fertilized ponds where detritus pathways matter. In that setting, FAO says the main nutritive value comes not from the detritus itself but from microorganisms covering the particles. FAO: Cage and Pen Fish Farming — Species and Diet
A separate FAO account describes tilapias browsing on detritus, phytoplankton and zooplankton, algae, and small invertebrates they can swallow. It also characterizes natural feeding as continuous during daylight. FAO: Selected Aspects of Warmwater Fish Culture
Detritus is not automatically poop
Detritus means decomposing organic matter and particles. It is a broad food-web category, not a synonym for feces. Particles can carry bacteria and other microorganisms, which may be the nutritionally important food. So evidence that tilapia consume detritus does not, on its own, show that they identify and deliberately eat feces.
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One location-specific example comes from observations of Nile tilapia in Laguna de Bay, Philippines. Fish there ate supplemental feed as well as natural food; stomach contents were mostly the blue-green alga Anabaena spiroides in May, while natural food consisted principally of detritus in August. Those observations describe a particular lake and sampling period, not all tilapia or all ponds. SEAFDEC repository abstract: Nile tilapia feeding in Laguna de Bay
What is known about feces in pond food webs
FAO describes excreta-fed pond food chains that may include bacterial decomposition, phytoplankton, zooplankton and invertebrate detritivores. It notes that some fish species feed directly on fecal solids, but that general statement does not establish that tilapia do so. The cited material does not quantify how often tilapia consume identifiable feces across species or pond conditions. FAO also cautions against using raw sewage or fresh nightsoil as pond influent for health reasons. FAO: Wastewater Use in Aquaculture — Biota in Aquaculture Ponds
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Tilapia produce feces as part of digestion
Like other fish, tilapia excrete feces after digesting food. A 2004 study of Nile tilapia tested digestibility and feces recovery under experimental diets; it reported recovery ranging from 6.8% to 11.2%, with no significant effect from the diets tested. That is a study-specific feces-recovery measure—not the proportion of feces fish eat. Schneider et al., 2004, Aquaculture Research
A 2020 study comparing feces from tilapia and other fish fed a commercial diet likewise treats fecal output as a measurable part of digestion and aquaculture waste. Singsee et al., 2020, Thai Journal of Agricultural Science
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