feeders

[crazystereo]

I have a question for you. How do you keep feeder fish (minnows and goldfish) alive long enough to get eaten? Here's what I have; 29gal tank, emperor bio-wheel filter, I forget the number but it's rated for a 50gal tank, ammo-carb ammonia remover, and air pump. My feeder tank is not grossly overstocked, but the *&$# things keep dying on me. Of all the fish I've ever kept, these are the hardest to keep. I've heard of other ppl having the same problem, so I don't feel too bad. I go through about 2-3 doz. fish every day, so I need something to work. Also, does anyone know how to get bulk delivery on gold fish? I get it with crickets, but no luck on fishies. thx!

 

[sleepyflight]

Whoa!!! You shouldn't really be using feeders that often period!! The nutrients level of feeders alone is not even close to what you need really. Number one, get those poor guys on some sort of decent protein/roughage(fiber) diet pellet, and use feeders as a once in a while or weekly treat for giggles. To get on to your real question, feeders should be able to live on flake like any other community fish and you should cycle the tank the same way. Goldfish produce almost twice as much waste as normal livebearers or rosies. But if you want to get a good feeder tank rolling I recommend just simply getting a tank cycled decently and as long as you keep the bio load somewhat constant you should be able to load the feeder tank out pretty well. Feeders shouldn't be primary food though!!! A lot of species tend to get HITH(hole in the head) more easily when on a stricly feeder fish diet. I wish I could live on steak alone but I can't But a feeder tank would probably be set up almost like any other comm. tank....obviously don't need to make it look pretty but.....

 

[beblondie]

Some points here well 3 anyways DO NOT USE FEEDER GOLDFISH
they are oily not very nutritious and constant feed of them causes faty deposits on the liver they also contain very high levels of Thiaminase a destroying hormone.-Anne
another issue with goldfish is the presence of a 'spine' in the anterior of the dorsal fin, this can prove problematic if the fish swallows the feeder the wrong way or further issues in the digestive system. goldfish are just not a good feeder (not that feeders in general are that great). if you have to feed feeders, as mentioned above, go with guppies or rosies. i prefer rosies since they seem to be a little less susceptible to ich and the like...although its good to quarantine feeders if you can.-Sol

 

[Phtstrat]

Sorry man, but feeder goldfish suck no matter how long they have been quarantined.

They have almost zero nutritional value and not even a very long quarantine period can rid them of all the diseases and parasites that they could potentially carry.

 

[piranha45]

crazystereo, it could be ammonia/nitrite/nitrate poisoning. consider doing multiple heavy waterchanges on the tank every week when its heavily stocked.

that said, i concur with the other statements. Use feeders sparingly-- as entertainment. Use http://www.kensfish.com 's floating/sinking pellets as a staple diet.

 

[netobeto]

when i used to have an oscar i fed him feeder goldfish and got sick(i dont of what) and died.

 

[crazystereo]

Si, Si, I know that feeders suck, especially goldfish. Itry to get more minnows than anything else. But I have strictly piscivorous (gars) and very large knifes. It's not feasible monetarily speaking, to feed them anything else regularly. I know my shovelnose and my lung fish don't care what the heck it is, but I have only been able to get my knifes and my barr. to eat frozen shrimp. I have also try "satiation" feeding, but they start looking at each other funny then. I mean it, they try to have each other for dinner. (Especially my shovelnose-greedy SOB) Maybe I have just raised a bunch of fat, spoiled fish.

 

[rayman45]

my sh only eats goldfish

if i feed him minnows he will eat like 1000 of them

 

[piranha45]

cuz you haven't starved him

 

[Wisdom16]

Si, Si, I know that feeders suck, especially goldfish. Itry to get more minnows than anything else. But I have strictly piscivorous (gars) and very large knifes. It's not feasible monetarily speaking, to feed them anything else regularly. I know my shovelnose and my lung fish don't care what the heck it is, but I have only been able to get my knifes and my barr. to eat frozen shrimp. I have also try "satiation" feeding, but they start looking at each other funny then. I mean it, they try to have each other for dinner. (Especially my shovelnose-greedy SOB) Maybe I have just raised a bunch of fat, spoiled fish.

The knives should eat frozen foods right now. Gars are a little tricky, but starve them and they'll eventually eat frozen foods. Try frozen silversides if you can. They are frozen marine minnows which are waaaaay better than goldfish. My African Pike was on live foods for a week or two and then when I threw in some silversides for my bichirs he ate them before the bichirs touched them. Give it a try You'll save money in the long run.