Feeding Feeders

[I<3fish]

not pike pike but crenchila pike

Oh btw, did you read last months TFH entry about crenicichla? I thought it was interesting that their main diet is not fish, but insects and invertebrates. Just a suggestion that may be cheaper, healthier, and won't carry diseases to your fish

 

[gobucks1]

I used to feed live, but the old quarantine tank is now an ebjd grow-out tank. So i have nowhere to quarantine them.

Feeders can be a good addition to a fish's diet and it can help them show their natural behavior and give them exercise.

But, they should by no means be considered a fish's "staple" diet. They should always be quarantined and treated for 2+ weeks.

One should still give a pelleted staple diet.

 

[pcfriedrich]

Reason why to take feeders.
1. It is natural
2. It is nice seeing them do their natural behaviors
3. It gives them exercise.
4. It gives them something to do.
5. If you think it is cruel just look down on your plate during dinner time
6. Feeders don't cloud the water if uneaten

all of those are kinda valid, except...

1. scavenging for food is natural for humans (but often unhealthy, thank God for our agricultural gifts).

2. nothing is really "natural" in 99% of aquarium environments, no matter how hard we try.

3. I have cichlids, they get plenty of exercise interacting with eachother.

4. see #3.

5. Its not cruel, unless you want to consider the alternative of feeding a balanced, vitamin enriched diet as better for your fish. giving your dog raw meat might be alright from time to time (and closer to their natural diet), but a meal of fresh, high quality dog food will always be better for him.

6. you shouldn't overfeed your fish, and uneaten pellet food should be removed well before it clouds the water. I feed pellets, freeze dried and frozen food in small amounts often, never any more than will be eaten in more than a minute.

I grant that some fish won't eat much besides live food. needlenose, for example. I've never been able to get one to eat anything but live. if your fish will eat pellets, thats what you should feed them. vitamin enriched frozen and freeze dried food is better than live, too.

whatever, though. do with your pet what you like. this is kinda like a "should you add fertilizer to your plants or not" argument. your plants are better off with fertilizer, but its not a "natural" environment to raise them.

personal preference. I'm not gonna tell anyone to do anything they don't want to do.

I don't feed live.

 

[pcfriedrich]

There was a dirty job episode about this hikari use fish meal which the byproduct of fish packaging plant. This is usually the carcass(head bones of various fish) after rendering they have a deboner and then ship it out. omega one says they use salmon fillets but my bet it is chum salmon which is used for dog food in Alaska.
Also just noticed the organs are actually better and more nutrient rich than the fillets of the fish.

organs of any animal are more nutritious. liver is the best part (nutritionally, not taste wise) of an animal.

 

[srikamaraja]

Regarding the dietary habits of crenicichla, I've read in a couple of biological journals something to the effect that cichlids are 'specialized' to feed on arthropods, particularly crustaceans.

I haven't been able to afford TFH for a few months... damned money.

 

[I<3fish]

Regarding the dietary habits of crenicichla, I've read in a couple of biological journals something to the effect that cichlids are 'specialized' to feed on arthropods, particularly crustaceans.

I haven't been able to afford TFH for a few months... damned money.

Ah, that sucks. But yeah, of the creni's that were disected in their habitat I am pretty sure that almost 80% of their stomach content were crustaceans/insects.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

What about peacock bass? What about arowanas? What about thousands of other fish that breed in captivity? I guess those must not excite you either.

Nope, I once got a peacock just becasue I needed a dither to spread aggression. And I figured they may be able to take a little more then say a SD. As a whole cichlids do nothing for me. I recently bought some cons to breed for feeders, they are like rats of the fish world. You can get aro's and pbass at every lfs in my area. They are common, too common.

 

[uting]

but if you don't feed your fish live feeder at least try to feed them dead market fish or shrimp or blodworms

 

[K626]

Honestly, you could use silversides instead of feeders. I usually feed silversides, bloodworms, mysis, market shrimp, hikari pellets, massivore, sinking pellets (usually shrimp or bottom feeder), sometimes I find fish at the store that looks good and is cheap. I feed live crawfish to my oscars, but that's the only live food I feed other than the occasional treat of guppies or goldies (MAYBE once a month).

 

[srikamaraja]

+1. If you just shake the silverside around, make it move, most fish will go for it.

I'm in charge of feeding a lionfish however, no way in hell am I putting my hands in there. He gets live.