So this came about due to a thread I was reading earlier https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...-baby-piraiba-with-live-small-shrimps.726434/ and the topic of nutrition came up. It came up that shrimp shouldn't be staple due to its lack in vitamins, so I decided to message
thebiggerthebetter
on the matter since I didn't wanna derail that thread. After a few messages he suggested I make a thread, my question is what is the best frozen foods you can feed to your fish ranging from (6-12in.)
Here was our messages
TBTB: Shrimp is high in thiaminase and generally shouldn't account for more than 10%-20% of the diet, unless one specifically makes sure their fish is getting enough vitamin B1 or the fish is a specialist in crustaceans. Shrimp and tilapia filet are poor in supplying crucial nutrients and are usually just good protein sources. Even wholesome feed such as whole frozen fish do not appear to be a foolproof feed for our pet predators. So the two safer bets are to get a fish to also take an all-in-one pellet and/or soak the feed in Vita-Chem. I do both. With smaller fish it is easier to vary the diet as many smaller feeds are available, both dry, frozen, and fresh. With large fish varying a diet like that becomes impossible so many even resort to making their own feed as the commercially available choices are 100x narrower than with small fish.
RA:Hm, alrighty I understand, since I'd personally I'd prefer to feed frozen, what frozen foods would you recommend? she's about 12cm now and will probably top at 25-30cm. I would also like to thank you for the detailed response, I appreciate it greatly.
TBTB: I buy whole frozen fish from bait wholesalers (small, 2"-6", from Bionic Bait of Pompano Beach, FL and arger, 6"-24" from Aylesworth's Fish and Bait of Tampa, FL) or people can find them at retail bait shops. The best would be a whole fish that your catfish can swallow, or it can be cut into appropriate size pieces. I buy frozen marine bait fish. I am not sure f/w can be found, I've never tried to search for it and never came across an offering, except larger fish in the 1'+ range such as gizzard shad.
I have come to the realization that whole frozen marine fish diet may not be a good long term diet and may eventually lead to some nutritional deficiencies. Hence for those of our fish that take only that frozen-thawed diet I either stuff pellets inside or pour VitaChem over them and soak.
thebiggerthebetter
on the matter since I didn't wanna derail that thread. After a few messages he suggested I make a thread, my question is what is the best frozen foods you can feed to your fish ranging from (6-12in.)Here was our messages
TBTB: Shrimp is high in thiaminase and generally shouldn't account for more than 10%-20% of the diet, unless one specifically makes sure their fish is getting enough vitamin B1 or the fish is a specialist in crustaceans. Shrimp and tilapia filet are poor in supplying crucial nutrients and are usually just good protein sources. Even wholesome feed such as whole frozen fish do not appear to be a foolproof feed for our pet predators. So the two safer bets are to get a fish to also take an all-in-one pellet and/or soak the feed in Vita-Chem. I do both. With smaller fish it is easier to vary the diet as many smaller feeds are available, both dry, frozen, and fresh. With large fish varying a diet like that becomes impossible so many even resort to making their own feed as the commercially available choices are 100x narrower than with small fish.
RA:Hm, alrighty I understand, since I'd personally I'd prefer to feed frozen, what frozen foods would you recommend? she's about 12cm now and will probably top at 25-30cm. I would also like to thank you for the detailed response, I appreciate it greatly.
TBTB: I buy whole frozen fish from bait wholesalers (small, 2"-6", from Bionic Bait of Pompano Beach, FL and arger, 6"-24" from Aylesworth's Fish and Bait of Tampa, FL) or people can find them at retail bait shops. The best would be a whole fish that your catfish can swallow, or it can be cut into appropriate size pieces. I buy frozen marine bait fish. I am not sure f/w can be found, I've never tried to search for it and never came across an offering, except larger fish in the 1'+ range such as gizzard shad.
I have come to the realization that whole frozen marine fish diet may not be a good long term diet and may eventually lead to some nutritional deficiencies. Hence for those of our fish that take only that frozen-thawed diet I either stuff pellets inside or pour VitaChem over them and soak.
