Discussion: Preying on the Weak and Sick

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benzjamin13

benzjamin13

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Sep 12, 2005
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The theory of the wild preying on the weak and the sick seem to have some proof behind it. If so, what's wrong with feeding feeders (since they're known for being sick) to your predators if their wild counterparts are feeding on the weak and the sick which is the worry of most fishkeepers?
 
I take it personally when on of my fish are getting picked on. As soon as I notice that behavior I separate the weak fish, they don't die from stress or weakness it's the aggression of the healther fish. Ok, I know it's that way in the wild but I can't bear to watch it.
 
2004exrider;2939499; said:
Because the disease that feeders carry are often transferrable.

Jimmy
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So you don't think that when a predatory fish eats a diseased wild fish (feeder) isn't transferable?
 
I think most generalize feeders as being goldfish or other common feeder fish with low nutritional value. The low nutritional value of most feeder fish as well as their susceptablility to disease makes most people look down on using feeders.

I personally have no problem with feeders. I just prefer to use fish that are more nutritional and fish that I feel have no disease.
 
It might also be the "feeder" found in that predator's environment isn't the same as the one's it is being offered. I'm not against feeders and hell I do it too, but if you could, I would pick feeders that are generally found within the same area of the fish I'm feeding it to.
 
I have been housing preds for 15yrs now and i can tell you from experience that any true predator will not eat a really sick feeder. A scavenger will eat a sick feeder in a heart beat. And they will eat dead feeders as well. A predator will never touch a dead feeder with out alot of starvation or other tricks. So I just wanted to separate those out. Alot of people think fish are preds just because they will eat live foods,when they are scavengers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------But back to your original statement. i think it is very cruel to train a fish to eat what is not natural to it. i would not starve my dog to try to get it to eat dirt. Nor would i starve a kid to try to get them to eat worms. And if someone did this they would be breaking several federal laws here in the US. But fish have no laws protecting them, so people can starve them and do all sorts of cruel things and think it is perfectly OK to so. All it takes is a responsible fish keeper to quarantine and cull feeders to get them Ok for feeding. Alot of fish keepers are to lazy for this so they starve there fish onto a easier food source and make there predators into something they were never meant to be. It irks me to no end to see a person house a big toothy predator and make them eat pellets.:irked:
 
i agree that you shouldnt be feeding an arrowana algae pellets, however, i feed mine silversides and shrimp. in fact, once i started giving him those, he stopped eating the live food i was giving him.

you will find that in the wild, almost all predators are in fact scavengers. how many times have you seen a lion or hyena steal another animals kill? or saw a shark tear into another sharks kill? or a hawk eating road kill? animals hunt because they have to. there are no supermarkets. but if they can find free meat, they take it.

on the other hand, most predators have an almost supernatural ability to tell if the meat is diseased, and can smell if it is rotting. they dont eat that.
 
hybridtheoryd16;2939621; said:
I have been housing preds for 15yrs now and i can tell you from experience that any true predator will not eat a really sick feeder. A scavenger will eat a sick feeder in a heart beat. And they will eat dead feeders as well. A predator will never touch a dead feeder with out alot of starvation or other tricks. So I just wanted to separate those out. Alot of people think fish are preds just because they will eat live foods,when they are scavengers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------But back to your original statement. i think it is very cruel to train a fish to eat what is not natural to it. i would not starve my dog to try to get it to eat dirt. Nor would i starve a kid to try to get them to eat worms. And if someone did this they would be breaking several federal laws here in the US. But fish have no laws protecting them, so people can starve them and do all sorts of cruel things and think it is perfectly OK to so. All it takes is a responsible fish keeper to quarantine and cull feeders to get them Ok for feeding. Alot of fish keepers are to lazy for this so they starve there fish onto a easier food source and make there predators into something they were never meant to be. It irks me to no end to see a person house a big toothy predator and make them eat pellets.:irked:
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i've never used the starvation method and yet most of my fish convert to pellets naturally with them being offered, do you feel that is cruel or not? just curious of your thinkings. in addition, what kind of fish do you classify as big toothy predators? i don't think the big fish i keep fall into that category, but i could be wrong. (aro,fire eel, lsn,giraffe cat)
 
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