feeding questions

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phillydog1958;3790644; said:
in reference to your question about how long a box of tilapia lasts, it depends on the size, species and number of fish one has. plus, i love to eat tilapia myself. i eat out of the box, too. i can tell you this: one tilapia fillet will last me several days and i feed 3 tanks with various types and sizes of fish, including a foot-long silver arowana, a foot-long tire track eel and an 8-inch tire track, 2 florida gars of about 9 inches, a couple of mid-sized oscars, a few knife fish of 4-6 inches, 6 tinfoils of 3-5 inches, one blue lobster crayfish and one 8 inch senegal bichir and a smaller one of about 6 inches. and a few others. Keep in mind that i also feed pellets, krill, night crawlers, bloodworm, silversides, freeze-dried tubifex worms, etc . . . i mix it up and try to keep them healthy. also, the conversion from live to frozen takes time, especially with florida gar. the secret to teaching my gar was to allow them to learn from their more aggresive-eating tank mates. my gar took 2-3 weeks to eat anything. i don't like the starving method, but that's all i had as an option. they're timd eater. but now, they are doing well. i also suggest that you use a bbq skewer if you notice that some of your fish are not getting their fair share. just place the food one the end of the skewer and place it near the targeted fish. i use this method to feed my gar and bottom feeders like the senegals. my arowana and oscars are aggressive eaters and i have to make sure all fish are eating. the bbq skewer helps.

here's a sidebar: your fish are younger and smaller, so one box of tilapia will last you awhile. i'd guess that one fillet will last you 5 days. tilapia is a heavy, course, meaty fish, with much density to fill your fish's bellies. you can chop it up into small pieces and feed as needed. as your fish grow, your fillets will last a shorter time, but as i stated before, tilapia last me awhile and all of my fish are bigger and greedy.

so your saying one box has 22 fillets and one fillet should last me 5 days? .. for 13 bucks. so it should be like every few months that id need to re-stock. is this what you mean? or did you mean 2 fillets? seems pretty cheap. so if i picked them up some tilipia and pellets and maybe one other thing and get them eating those three healthily i should be fine? once they get on pellets is it fine to only feed them pellets with an occasional treat (live etc?) or should i still be mixing it all up?
 
Acura_RSX;3790708; said:
so your saying one box has 22 fillets and one fillet should last me 5 days? .. for 13 bucks. so it should be like every few months that id need to re-stock. is this what you mean? or did you mean 2 fillets? seems pretty cheap. so if i picked them up some tilipia and pellets and maybe one other thing and get them eating those three healthily i should be fine? once they get on pellets is it fine to only feed them pellets with an occasional treat (live etc?) or should i still be mixing it all up?

try the tilapia and try pellets and a few other things. as you said, 3 different foods would be good. give them a little nutritional variety. and, yes, the box of tilapia should last you several months, with your current stock and the combination of feeding 2 other foods. in reference to your other question about feeding pellets only, keep in mind that pellets are nutritionally balanced and are conidered to be a valid staple diet. your fish would do fine on pellets alone, but i prefer to mix in other foods to give my fish a nutritional buffet. you can always compare the nutrient profiles for pellets and other foods. just read the bags/box. look at the levels of fat, protein, fiber, minerals, carbs, etc . . .
 
yeah i figured that pellets were created to be a helthy diet alone but i'd deffinatly like to have frozen fish etc that i can feed them often and is inexpensive. plus ill be breeding guppies or something also which will make them happy while they are small. but so first when i pick them up i should try pellets (what exact kind would be best?) for a few days and hope the aro takes it so everything else will follow? .. if not then start trying frozen food like tipila or shrimp while i try to convert them to pellets?
 
bump. would like to have this figured out so i know exactly what to pick up when i get these new fish. i just ran out of pellets today anyways, oscar took the rest (they were cichlid pellets anyways, so what type of pellets should i try and what else should i pick up?)
 
You'll probably get quicker responses if you ask in the fish's respective forum.
 
Citrinellus;3799571; said:
You'll probably get quicker responses if you ask in the fish's respective forum.

thats 4 different forums .. seems unnecessary. i already have ideas of what they will eat thrown out there id just like a quick answer of what exactly i should pick up when i pick them up .. what type of pellets? and what other thing should i get for them while transferring them to pellets?
 
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