Alternative to rosy red minnows?

[Blackpiranha44]

Does anyone know a good (cheap) alternative to rosy reds as feeders? I have a feeder tank but I would rather use a fish with higher nutritional value.

 

[kno4te]

Guppies and convicts come to mind.

 

[Pycnotic]

Convicts are great, I have 2 pairs that breed all the time and a 30g grow out, never run out of live food

 

[Blackpiranha44]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into those. I'm gonna explode some frozen options also.

 

[millerkid519]

Buy a minnow trap and go to the river. Fatten then up on pellets when you get them home

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I find white clouds easy to breed, a small 50ltr tank filled with moss and other fine leafed plants, up the temperature a few degrees and ta-da! Spawn. I've found that female to male ratio doesn't matter to much either, mine spawn whether theres 1m-2f, 2m-2f, or 2m-1f, although the last mix does tend to wear out the female a bit more. But they're small, don't take up much space, and breed like rabbits. Every time the temperature swings even a tiny bit, mine will spawn. And if well fed with lots of cover for fry, the parents should be able to be left in the fry tank without devouring to many of the fry - but take precaution with this, as every fish is different.

As far as nutritional value goes, live feeders aren't the most nutritious foods for fish, that's why a lot of people use a technique known as "gut loading" this is where the feeder fish are overfed a highly nutritional (usually commercial) diet before being fed to the bigger fish. I think Oddball has a post among the stickys regarding live feeders and the nutritional concerns that come with them. Not saying that live food is a bad thing, but there are better options as far as nutrition goes. I'll see if I can find the link and post it here for you.


Edit: Found it. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/live-fish-as-food-nutritional-value-concerns.12521/