That is funny. The tilapia I raise are grass eaters like a cow. They live in the shallows and eat the green sprouts.
I do not know where you people are getting your information from but maybe yawl need to do a little research what wild tilapia will feed on and not ones use for hydroponic applications.
Kind of of got a chuckle following this thread. Wild Talapia are primarily vegeterians, under farming conditions that might be different. We put them in several of our ponds on the ranch to keep the vegetation down. Taken from the ponds they are great eating. Everybody worried about what fish eat might not want to look at what your average non farmed catfish eats, which is anything it can fit in it’s mouth. Dead birds, rotted fish and any other critter that might end up in the water. My favorite bait for channel cat’s is five to six inch day old shiners laid out in the sun. The worse they smell the better!