Quote Originally Posted by Edward Blizz
Any increase of pollutant levels up from zero ppm is added stress for fish. Stressed fish are not happy fish. I don't want to eat unhappy fish.
Gee, I dunno Edward. My tilapia were wild caught - captured from a farm pond where they were prey for racoons, otters, eagles, ospreys, herons, egrets, seagulls, pelicans, gators, and big toothy spotted gar. They dealt with near lethal cool water temperatures in the winter, dramatic temperature fluctuations in the summer, near suffocation when the pond dried to a virtual puddle and dissolved oxygen levels plummeted during dry, hot weather and dramatic pH and chemical fluctuations when rain washed mud and organic matter into their environment.

Now, they live in a temperature controlled environment with zero ammonia and nitrites, plenty of dissolved oxygen, no predators to worry about, and all the food they can possibly want to eat. They are even able to have sex whenever and with whatever other amenable fish partner they choose.

Yes, perhaps their dissolved nitrates are higher than in that farm pond they came from (but perhaps not too! - No ag chems, or cow poop and cow urine to deal with now). Regardless, they are a lot less "stressed" than living in their wild environment. They nearly jump for joy when I lean over the tank to observe them or feed them. They seem pretty freakin' happy to me! When their time comes, I'll happily consume them!