IF... IF... You had to feed live, would you use feeders or guppies? For those who have monster fish dwarf frogs or crawfish?
Feeders or Guppies?
- Thread starter MizzoSoFresh
- Start date
If you mean feeders as in goldfish, I would go with guppies. I live feed very sparingly and will also include some inverts like cherry shrimp or very tiny crayfish, both very easy to raise.
What about buying ghost shrimp? I have to look into raising shrimp. I have a 8 mo old Flowerhorn to feed, lol
Definitely guppies. Get a 20-40 gallon tank just for them and they will multiply like crazy. Get the biggest females you can find and save a few females from each batch and you will have a lot to feed and sell. Keep 2-3 females per male. Males can get scrappy. I have mine in with mollies and corries. I feed the babies to my cichlids about once a month as a treat and they go bonkers.
Never use goldfish, the thiaminase in their meat can lead to vitamin deficiencies in your big guys. Same with turtles too.
Oh if you have enough cash you can also feed tilapia chunks. Make sure there is no additives though, the cheaper stuff usually has some type of preservative.
Never use goldfish, the thiaminase in their meat can lead to vitamin deficiencies in your big guys. Same with turtles too.
Oh if you have enough cash you can also feed tilapia chunks. Make sure there is no additives though, the cheaper stuff usually has some type of preservative.
That a lot! Your info was very helpful. I may setup a cherry shrimp & guppy tank to keep around for my FH
Ghost shrimp are restricted in my state but they are typically sold as feeders... My problem with buying them is the quarantine they require and they may well have been treated with chemicals. Easier to raise yourself.
My most productive shrimp tanks receive natural sunlight. Without natural light, you still can produce some shrimp but seems like some gaps in the food chain are created. IDK, just an observation.
When predatory fish eat fish, they usually eat the entire fish (bones, organs, scales, and what's in the digestive tract), along with all the variety and consumables they graze on in nature. By feeding chunks of muscle (tilapia pieces) you are leaving out much of those nutrient sources provide. Not much different than feeding inferior goldfish feeders, which usually come with diseases, parasites and other things you don't want in your tank.
If you breed the guppies yourself, you are eliminating some of the risk, and feeding all the other stuff inside the fish, but pellets designed to supply total fish nutrition are still far superior.
If you breed the guppies yourself, you are eliminating some of the risk, and feeding all the other stuff inside the fish, but pellets designed to supply total fish nutrition are still far superior.