Gut feeding or no?

[jeep07]

Yo. this concept I found online after reading and reading information on clownknives before I set up the tank. Im curious....does loading up your feeders with beefheart, bloodworms, or some flake food help make the feeder more nurtient dense? I think it does but I want more opinions on this matter. I know I read dont rely on feeders but I dont want to starve my fish for like a week. Im also not to crazy about leaving food in the tank due to increase ammonia levels. So, if anyone can tell me if im stupid or im overthinking this, by all means go ahead lol.

 

[fhawk362]

I've heard about it myself, seems to make sense to me, maybe we can get someone with an experienced opinion though

 

[fishmanbob87]

i would think it has to work, for example the great barracuda can or cannot be a toxic fish for human consumption. it is all do to what that specific barracuda has eaten. their meat becomes toxic from certain fish they eat off of reefs that eat certain toxic corals.

 

[Fat Homer]

I used to gut load my shrimp that i feed my puffers to make sure they get the greens they otherwise wouldn't get from their usual meaty diet...

So i guess to answer your question, it works the same with gut loading feeders (fish) with things your predator might need and doesn't get from the foods it normally eats... although with that being said, if you get a high enough quality food, you shouldn't really have to worry about this too much and can avoid feeders all together...

Since lets be honest, unless your breeding your own feeders there is a chance they could be carrying un-wanted parasites which could cause even more problems later down the line...

 

[jeep07]

Thats true, That was my next question. If the feeders are nutrionally balanced with the food I feed them, arent they less likely to have diseases? Im not concerened about the parasites becasue I handle the fish from the moment I open up their bags from shipment all the way through untill the day we sell them. I take good care of the fish and havent had water or parasite problems in a long time

 

[Fat Homer]

Not sure about the disease question being related to what they eat exactly??? the reason i say this is; just because a fish is well fed doesn't mean its necessarily disease free (if that makes sense)... either way, if you must go the live route i'd suggest making sure they go through quarantine and be treated with the correct meds just to be on the safe side, since Last thing you want is for your prized fish to succumb to some disease which you didn't know the feeders had...

Anyway here's just one pic i always like to refer back to when people talk about feeding feeders...

(Pic of parasite pulled out of feeder fish)

 

[jeep07]

WTF is that!! I've never seen that before. When the fish was alive do you know if it was visible or not?

 

[Fat Homer]

Thats the problem with Internal Parasites is a lot of the time its not noticeable from the outside unless they are extremely sick and emancipated (in which case you may guess its sick with something), or you see them "pooping" un-usual stuff so to speak, such as long white stringy stuff...

in any case though, its always hard to tell (just by looking) if fish has IP's since there are a quite a few different types out there, and if you kept them really well fed it may make it even harder...

I know a lot of my puffers when i brought them home may look healthy and fat (as if nothing was wrong with them) just to later find realize they had some form of IPs in them... Which is why i always say its better to be safe than sorry, especially with feeders...

 

[aclockworkorange]

There's really no reason to feed live food in most cases... a clown knife should be fine on frozen food, and may eventually accept high quality pellets, which are more nutritious in almost all cases. There are plenty of reasons not to feed live food, as shown by the (rather gross) picture above.