Feeding Feeders

[tcarswell]

If live food is your fish's natural diet then feed it live. I love how people get all worked up about people being cruel to fish by over stocking tanks and and keeping brackish fish in freshwater, and all that stuff. But when someone comes on here and says they feed there fish live foods they freak out and say that there is no reason to and that feeding live has no nutrition. And will then suggest starving a fish and forcing it to do something that goes totally against nature, and that is perfectly fine. -------------Well i got news for you if you were to take a dog or even a human and starve it and force it to eat something that was unnatural for it. You would be breaking the law and could be brought up on charges and possibly face jail time for doing so. But because these are fish and there are no laws guarding them people get to starve them and miss treat them daily with no repercussion. I don't feed my dogs leaves and grass and i don't feed my cats carrots and green beans. Some of you might but that seems wrong to me. And so does feeding a predator fish pellet foods--------------------------------------------------------You can't feed a fish there natural diet safely then you do not deserve to have that fish. A responsible fish keeper would make there tank and diet as close to nature as we can. And that means if your fish eats live foods naturally then set up a couple of large feeder tanks and make the feeders safe and disease free and then feed them. keep one tank for new feeders and treatments and the other for feeding from.

Could not have said it better myself. Needlefish will only eat live food.That is what I provide. I quarantine and treat with a broad spectrum medication. In time I get a 30 day old quarantined healthy gut loaded goldfish

 

[tcarswell]

Exactly why my cats are outside everyday. So they can hunt and act naturally. They only get fed cat food as a back up to when they can't get there fill on live caught foods. As for the dogs, well I can't really do much about the live deal as its against the law to let your dogs attack and kill live animals. But they do get raw meats a few times a week and a wild rabbit or squirrel when they are fast enough.

That is sweet. I want to get a Rhodesian ridgeback and we got like 30 acres across the street I cant wait to see him do that. My sphynx cat cannot leave the house because the neighborhood would do god only knows what to him most likely theft. But he still catches his share of mice in the garage. I specifically do not kill the garage mice for that reason and they cannot get in the house so it is win win. He is quite the sleek hunter.

 

[dbcb314]

I would feed feeders and other live food all the time if I could afford it. But I can't afford to medicate feeders from the LFS, I can't afford the tank space to breed my own, ect ect

feeding live food is awesome... watching fish hunt is awesome. its too bad LFS feeders are so freaking unhealthy.

 

[srikamaraja]

Tcarswell +1 on the gut-loading.
People who think feeders are lacking in nutrition are just not feeding their feeders well

 

[tcarswell]

my roommate would occasionally put feeders in my tank. that pissed me off. i'm sure that's how they got a fungal infection. my oscar lost an eye.

feeders are an unnecessary risk.

i feed my fish hikari cichlid gold, hikari cichlid bio gold, hikari sinking carnivore pellets, hikari freeze dried krill, and hikari frozen blood worms.

Isnt that an oscar eating a feeder in your avatar?

 

[tcarswell]

Tcarswell +1 on the gut-loading.
People who think feeders are lacking in nutrition are just not feeding their feeders well

yup. It matters. I learned this raising reptiles.

 

[SpJc11]

so feeders or no feeders that is the question

 

[tcarswell]

The consensus I derived from this thread is. Yes if you can properly quarantine them and get them from a reputable source to begin with. And the poll indicates that most people (Myself included) Are hesitant to just buy feeders and throw them in the tank.

Still wondering if that is an Oscar eating a goldfish in that guys Avatar.