Feeders

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ich, and hith can be downsides to feeder fish, those are the only ones ive experienced so far
 
yeah i feed my fish feeders.....THAT I BREED MYSELF. the problem isn't that your fish is eating feeders, it's that you can transfer disease into your tank. also, it's good to do a lil research on what type of feeders are good for your fish
 
Feeders usually carry ick along with many other types of fungus and parasites. Many people QT them but forge to QT them, then use carbon to get the meds outta the system, then gut load the fish, THEN feed. I never use feeders anymore. I have 12 midas cichlids 2 JB parrots, 2 OB peacocks, a 12" O, a 14" RTC, a 2" O, 4 x 2'' cichla, and 3 x 2" geos. They are all in diff tanks but even with all these I don't use feeders.
 
Gruff Master;4884895; said:
It's not always the amount of time that the feeders survive in your tank. It doesn't take long at all for any introduced fish to expose your tank to diseases. Even if all of your fish ate the feeders in five minutes, any parasites within the feeders would end up infecting your fish. You could quarantine your feeders or raise minnows or other small fish in healthy tanks and on a diet of nutritious foods. There are plenty of threads on this site that can tell you of the many risks posed by using feeders so I won't get into that. There are also many people that will tell you that feeders are okay. You will have to use your best judgment on this. Just make sure that it doesn't take the death of your prized fish to get your attention.

+1 Always quarantine!
 
10 gal + crayfish + feeder fish + healthy food + 1 week = Healthy Feeders
 
HOLE IN THE HEAD!!! I sometimes want to ask people, whats the point of giving feeders...(besides watching another fish get eaten)?

PLEASE do not say, its natural... its not a hunt, feeder fish can't run anywhere...so its basically doom.
 
I don't do live. But if I did quarantine how would this be done....? Garlic, Melafix, and salt in a separate tank? Scoop, drip, and feed?

(NLS and Ocean Nutrition with the occational nightcrawler)
 
Jay88;4886513; said:
HOLE IN THE HEAD!!! I sometimes want to ask people, whats the point of giving feeders...(besides watching another fish get eaten)?

PLEASE do not say, its natural... its not a hunt, feeder fish can't run anywhere...so its basically doom.


To answer your question.. Live feeders are sometimes the only foods some wild caught fish will take upon captivity. I have seen many fish starve in captivity due to owners simply refuseing to offer foods those fish will reconize instead of some man-made thing that they have no clue is actually food.

I can not count how many spiney eels would die to starvation from people trying to force a diet WE decided is best for them instead of offering them foods as close to what they would find naturally.

Live foods are NOT for every species, but to say No fish should be fed live foods because they are not healthy is ignorance. I would rather have to combat a bout of ick or other parasite. Then starve an animal to death because I was convinced live foods where utterly Bad.

Hole in the head is the result of a parasite... HLLE ( head and lateral line errosion) Has been linked with Thiamine deficency as linked already as well as a few other suspected imbalances in water quality. So the feeding of live fish to Cichlids should be carefully monitored and only done if absolutely neccisary ( ie bringing a fish back from starvation that refuses all other forms of foods)

But I will completely agree to your stance that it's not "Cool"... I feed live when it is neccisary for my pets well-being.. not to feed my ego or to impress the guys.
 
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