Dilemma feeding live food

[badukang]

i have a 3" dovii and i only feed my dovii pellets, and one time i saw a tiny lizard, i caught it, and then when it's time to feed it to the dovii, i look in to it and i feel guilty on feeding it, and thats when i release the lizard.

guys, how do you feed your fish live foods without feeling guilty?

right now i have a breeding cutteri that im planning to feed to dovii once the egg hatches and free swim, i might end up with a bunch of cutteri, haha.

also its not really a problem its just that i want to know other people feel about it.

 

[Hendre]

I only feed live insects to my fish

 

[badukang]

hmm, yea cockroach.

 

[skjl47]

i feel guilty on feeding it, and thats when i release the lizard.

how do you feed your fish live foods without feeling guilty?

i want to know other people feel about it.

Hello; I guess you are either the sort of person who feels guilty or the sort who does not. Not sure there is a way to change how you feel.

I can give arguments on both sides. On the pro live foods there is the " fish eat live foods in nature" argument. It has the advantage of being true. Some fish take only live foods well but this is not your case.

On the con side there is the live foods can damage our fish argument. There can be physical damage from the prey fighting back. There can be parasites, toxins and pathogens with live foods.

I have tried live foods a few times. I have feed the minnows purchased for fishing and have also caught small fish out of creeks. With these there is the potential for the parasites and disease.
I once collected some frog eggs and fed the newly hatched tadpoles. I got lucky in that these did not kill my fish but some amphibians have toxins as do some insects.

I tried earthworms which were taken well but have a gut full of dirt (soil). One member has posted a solution to this. I think they keep the worms on wet paper towels for a day or so which must allow the dirt in the gut to pass out. (I have not tried this.)

 

[Oddball]

Moved from Fishing forum to General Aquarium forum.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

If the fish is a type that gulf down the prey as soon it hit the water like wolf fish (Curupira, Aimara...etc) then its fine to me. I do feel guilty to feed live to fish species that love to tear their prey a part like ATF, Piranha...etc.

 

[skjl47]

hello; Two of the safer live foods I have used for adult fish are drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) and rams horn snails.
The fruit flies I have used can not fly. Their wings do not develop. I first saw them back in the 1960's as part of a undergraduate genetics study. Seems some normal flies were exposed to radiation and some their offspring had stunted (vestigial) wings. This altered trait did breed true so that many generations of these vestigial winged fruit flies have been raised over the decades.
I was already keeping tropical fish and tried feeding a few. Has worked out fine many times over the decades. A starter culture can be had from biological supply companies. Carolina Biological Supply comes to mind but there are others. Places that supply schools.

Hundreds of flies can be raised in small plastic vials. They are bite sized for the small fish such as bettas. They cannot fly so do not become a problem if they get free.
They can be raised on fruit but I use the powdered dry food you mix with water as it smells better.

Ramshorn snails sometimes grow too numerous. I keep a pair of pliers handy to crush the shells. (Learned the hard way to not use fingers). Fish like the snail meat. The advantage being the snails grow in your own tanks. I figure any disease or parasites they may have, if any, is already in the tank so nothing added.

 

[fisheatfish]

I used to love watching my fish (arowanas, dovii, jags, oscars) devour their live food...mainly feeders and also insects, spiders, lizards and mice. Life took over and it became such a chore in having to frequently pickup or keeping their food alive. Now, whatever doesn't eat fish food has to go...even those delicate discus that has to have live worms.

 

[Drstrangelove]

guys, how do you feed your fish live foods without feeling guilty?

also its not really a problem its just that i want to know other people feel about it.

I feed live food because it's good for them, not because I take enjoyment out of killing things or watching them get eaten. I actually only don't do much watching.

Have you not eaten far more intelligent animals than lizards? Were you filled with guilt and have you now changed your diet?

 

[DN328]

The only food I've fed to my fish that was actually still alive were crickets, super and meal worms. Every thing else were dead and frozen or various forms of pellets/sticks. Definitely don't feel any guilt.

Haven't tried things like mice, lizard or fish that are alive.