How do you feed monster fish?

[Too Many Choices]

Just wondering what kind of dietary requirements MONSTER fish have. What kind of volume of food is needed to sustain large fish (ATF's, RTC'S, Aro's etc)? How regularly are they fed and how to do you make sure they're getting all nutritional requirements met?

I hear a lot about Hikari Massivore, for small fish, pellets are great, but for monster fish I can see that becoming a very expensive endeavour!

How did you figure out your particular fishes diet? Have you owned a rare fish with very little literature about how/what to feed it?

 

[MonsterMinis]

You learn as you go... and tbh each fish at least in my growing collection has it's own diet tailored to it's individual needs. I try to stick to the same ideas I do with feeding my family... lots of "raw" foods adding pellets ( vitamins ) to help give any missed dietary nutrition... I poured over the internet for hours...for days... ( not much to do when your 8 1/2 monthes pregnant) asked questions of other owners.. and continually try to improve on the basic diets of my fish and compare it to what they would eat in the wild, what available to me, and cost effectiveness.

the older the fish ime the less it needs to be fed like any other animal... some of my fish however are needing to be fed 2-3 times daily while others eat 1x a week or longer.

Our community tanks inhabitants oddly enough need the most feeding... teteras,clown loaches, corycats... most your bread and butter fish require daily foods even when adult. While my gar and catfish eat daily their first yr-2 and then taper off to weekly feeding. It also all depends on how fat/skinny they are..

There are so many variables.

But I do buy frozen foods in bulk as well as pellets, this saves alot of money long-term. same with water conditioner... my "staples" are all just bought in larger amounts since it will always been needed and the bigger the fish and tank them more they consume.. and the more water that needs to be changed.

Also depends alot on what you as the keeper believe... some believe pellets can and should make up 100% of their pets diet.. but since there isn't a magic pill to meet all my dietary needs.. I don't believe there is one for my fish. Could they live long lives on pellets alone? possibly... but just like the rest of the family I try to feed the best.. for me its a priority. So I mix it up alot.. and that extra no doubts adds to my bottom line.

 

[Anchovie]

Rule of thumb, predatory fish don't need to be fed as often as grazers. If an arowana catches a bird in the wild, it may not eat again for up to 2 weeks, due to the massive amount of protein it just inhaled. Where as vegetarian fish will graze all day and need to be fed a veg pellet diet every day. For predatory fish, I supplement pellets with raw shrimp or filets, with veg eaters, you can give peas, lettuce, spinach, and most other leafy greens, with their pellets. Just do a quick search on your fish to see what they eat in the wild, and get as close as you can without breaking the bank. And even with strict meat eaters, don't feed beef or goldfish.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Anchovie]

If we are talking about a catfish, all bets are off. They'll take anything and everything.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[bassfisher91]

I have a few large catfish and I feed what I think they would eat in the wild which I assume would be whole smaller fish. Seems to be working so far.

 

[Thelatinofishlover]

If we are talking about a catfish, all bets are off. They'll take anything and everything.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

^this

 

[Too Many Choices]

Thanks for the responses!

What volume of food does it take to feed fish like this every week? For example, how much does a 24" RTC actually eat?

 

[bassfisher91]

Thanks for the responses!

What volume of food does it take to feed fish like this every week? For example, how much does a 24" RTC actually eat?

It is hard for me to quantify the amount of fish I feed but I have fed hotdogs once in a blue moon and a 2 ft rtc can eat 2 or 3 hot dogs without much trouble. They have big appetites.

 

[Chicxulub]

I feed/fed my big toothy characins and arowana Hikari Jumbo Carnisticks, they're essentially floating Massivore.

I feed my catfish fillets.

 

[Rafini]

Just wondering what kind of dietary requirements MONSTER fish have. What kind of volume of food is needed to sustain large fish (ATF's, RTC'S, Aro's etc)? How regularly are they fed and how to do you make sure they're getting all nutritional requirements met?

I hear a lot about Hikari Massivore, for small fish, pellets are great, but for monster fish I can see that becoming a very expensive endeavour!

How did you figure out your particular fishes diet? Have you owned a rare fish with very little literature about how/what to feed it?

You have too many choices!