Meat dept. fish as catfish food

Dabeyta3

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2014
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Temecula
I've been searching for a while and can't find much on this. Does anyone buy fresh fish from the meat department at the grocery store and feed it to their catfish. I was thinking of getting some, cutting it up into chunks and freezing it till it goes in the tank. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea and I'm sure if there's any possible issues with using saltwater or freshwater fish as food. My redtail and shovelnose are eating me out of house and home. Anyone have experience with this?
 

Chub_by

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2012
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Lots and lots of us do it. Just make sure you do the initial freezing at a very low temperature. You can turn it up a bit after the fish is frozen :)
 

Rivers2k

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2011
1,528
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Lots and lots of us do it. Just make sure you do the initial freezing at a very low temperature. You can turn it up a bit after the fish is frozen :)
Why is that? My fish don't require fish as food but I am just curious.
 

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
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You can use lots of the fish at local stores. You can use the raw shrimp, tilapia, swai, catfish,scallops, clams, seafood mix, smelt, mackerel you can pretty much feed anything really freezing also kills anything that may have hitched a ride with the incoming fish like parasites etc.

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rodger

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 29, 2008
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It kills parasites but not bacteria. Freezing simply stops their growth till thawed.
Our fish eat fish in the wild, so of course they eat fish from the market. They need quality prepared food as well for a balanced diet.
 

Dabeyta3

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2014
5
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Temecula
Thanks, I've been feeding mostly pellets (masivor delight) and some pe-mysis and silversides. I will still vary, but I just wanted a cheaper option from time to time. My main concern was feeding saltwater fish to a freshwater catfish, my lfs guy said it was bad (he thought?). But you know how lfs people are. Any other ideas for food that I'm missing, my cats don't like to swim up to the top?
 

Zeke

Banned
Jan 29, 2014
888
13
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chattavegas
When I freeze my fresh food ,I always put it in a Ziploc , then put water in with it to eliminate freezer burn. Use stuff caught in USA waters. The fish that people eat grown in third world countries,if they saw the water conditions it came from,I bet they wouldn't ever eat it again. Put world news tonight on that dirty water. Yuck!!!
 

Zeke

Banned
Jan 29, 2014
888
13
18
47
chattavegas
Tilapia are popular because they are TOUGH! They're easy to get&grow fast. And can live in a cesspool of need be ,until it's ready to eat baked,fried,grilled,broiled, ect... Just look at the wonderful juices! Yuck again! Sorry. I'll shut up now. Completely off topic. My apologies.
 

Dabeyta3

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 22, 2014
5
0
0
Temecula
Ok, got some US wild caught cod and dropped it in my tank. My red tail went for it, but my shovelnose won't touch it. Next I'm probably going to move towards a more fishy smelling type. I'm kind of glad anyways, I got a good lunch.
 
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