Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,
I have a 100 gallon pond with about 32 Tilapia. One Tilapia specifically is the larges of all and it seemed pregnant.

Today we find it is swimming nose down in the water. Is that some kind of problem or not. Here is a photo before it started nose diving:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202634062305265&set=a.10200866680681829.1073741848.1008811009&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-frc3%2Ft1%2F1888473_10202634062305265_1557792260_n.jpg&size=960%2C720

I'm not sure what a pregnant Tilapia looks like, but generally I think swimming nose down and having a swollen belly and in live bearing fish can either mean pregnancy or swim bladder disease. Some live bearing fish will swim nose down before they give birth, but that usually coincides with other behavior too.

If it is swim bladder disease, you can sometimes remedy it by feeding the fish mushed up frozen peas (withhold regular food for a bit). Let a few peas defrost then take the skins off, and carefully break up the pea, but don't pulverize it.

Even if the fish is pregnant, it shouldn't do it any harm to try the peas and see how it goes. If it is it's swim bladder, holding their food underwater before releasing it can help stop the fish gulping air if they eat it off the surface.

Good luck.