I've had a school of needlenoses before and they only ate feeders. Between the five of them they got a little expensive to feed. O just picked up a Florida gar and he's already trained on prepared foods, though so far I've only seen him eat a feeder. Because they're expensive and not that healthy, I dont want to keep the gar on feeders. So what are the cheapest food alternatives that would be good for gars?
Cheapest food for gars
- Thread starter tonyis
- Start date
ive never kept one in a tank but i know they like any type of raw fish and chicken livers because every time i go out fishin i catch one lol
Agree with jay, and also definitely do not agree with chicken liver.
A good cheap source will be seafood. Market shrimp is widely used, but needs to be varied. I personally go with market shrimp, carnivore pellets and whole fish from the market
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
A good cheap source will be seafood. Market shrimp is widely used, but needs to be varied. I personally go with market shrimp, carnivore pellets and whole fish from the market
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
pellets and feeders for mine. and frozen krill. mine where raised on feeders alone until they hit 10" then pellets where readily taken. properly QTing feeders = less issues with disease/parasites. from my own experiances and most others I've read reguarding floridas live fish based diets ='d the healthiest gars. On the up side.. they don't consume anywhere near as much as my needlemose use too.
mammal based proteins in any moderate/large amount is generally considered bad for fish, as it's not processed well. as for poultry... I imagine it's along the same line.
as for "market shrimp" and the like. I try to stick with freshwater invert/fish when browsing the fish case at the grocery store or fish market. I figure if my gars ingredient list is mostly not likely to be found in the wild, bets to feed small amounts or avoid it altogether.
So to answer the question in a nutshell.. buy pellets on sale ect. they can last for a long time if properly stored, and buy in bulk if possible.
"cheap" and "healthy" rarely go hand in hand.. but you can save alot by being a bargain shopper.
mammal based proteins in any moderate/large amount is generally considered bad for fish, as it's not processed well. as for poultry... I imagine it's along the same line.
as for "market shrimp" and the like. I try to stick with freshwater invert/fish when browsing the fish case at the grocery store or fish market. I figure if my gars ingredient list is mostly not likely to be found in the wild, bets to feed small amounts or avoid it altogether.
So to answer the question in a nutshell.. buy pellets on sale ect. they can last for a long time if properly stored, and buy in bulk if possible.
"cheap" and "healthy" rarely go hand in hand.. but you can save alot by being a bargain shopper.
xander;4991511; said:
this^ i also use tilapia like crazy. i cut it up then pack it full of pellets. works great!
See if you can get "fresh" fish and seafood (non-frozen) that is a day or two past its sell by date from a local supermarket. They might give it to you for next to nothing or even free if you explain that it's for a fish rather than for personal consumption. The gar isn't going to care if it's not super fresh, and you generally have one week after the sell-by date to eat the fish and seafood, so it shouldn't hurt it (someone please correct me if this is incorrect).
Thanks for the tips everyone.
I just went to a seafood shop nearby and the guy gave me a bag salmon heads and tails that should give me alot of meat for free, so I'm pretty happy for that idea now.
I just went to a seafood shop nearby and the guy gave me a bag salmon heads and tails that should give me alot of meat for free, so I'm pretty happy for that idea now.
tonyis;4992953; said:
salmon has lots of oils and will make a mess of water. be prepared for lotsa water changes