irredescent shark feeding question

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freshwaterz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2008
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chicago
i have 5 ID sharks that i've had for about a year now. when i first got them they were 3-4inches long. now they range from 10-16 inches long. 2 are males and the other 3 are females. they are currently in a 350 gallon tank but within the year, they will be in a 16ftx16ftx4ft aquarium that i am building in my garage. i originally had them in a 150 gallon tank, then in my 220 then to the 350. I was new to fish keeping when i first got them and did'nt understand the true scope of the size they could acheive, but i can't bring myself to get rid of them. they are part of my family and i love the reaction i get from people when they see them. i will do whatever it takes to accomidate them.
now to my question...kind of.
thus far i have raised them on a combination of shrimp pellets, night crawlers, actual shrimp the we would eat, and different fruits and veggies such as peas, broccoli, cucumber, and apples.
these things may or may not be the best things to feed them but seem to like what i give them and they have always been healthy.
the problem that i am running into now is, the bigger they get the more they want to eat. its getting pretty expensive to feed them and some of the things i feed them are not good for the water quality, such as the shrimp. basically, if i eed them shrimp too often, my water starts to sour and cloud which necessitates more frequent water changes.
so, back to the question.
What do you guys recommend i feed them that is cost effective and healthy for their size, growth, and well being. any help or coments would be greatly appreciated. thanks
 
try freeze dried krill it comes in a red can with a black lid its pretty cheap. check your filters for the black cloudiness and net out the shrimp they don't eat
 
Yea, the majority of answers you will get is "Big fish come with big appetites" So really there isn't a whole lot you can do, they're catfish, fatties.

I know what you mean with the reaction, my friends would be like "Woaaah" when they saw my old TSN. But he got too big :(
 
sikoko;3656408; said:
try freeze dried krill it comes in a red can with a black lid its pretty cheap. check your filters for the black cloudiness and net out the shrimp they don't eat
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i hand feed them so there is no left overs in the tank. im not sure of what you're talking about with black cloudiness but i do keep my filters in pristine condition. the juice from the shrimp coauses my water to sour but thats if i feed them shrimp 3 or more times a week. betwen the 5 of them, they'll eat about a half pound....but my fire eel and tire track eel also help out with that.
i have tried the freeze dried krill and my problems with that is that they will eat the can in 2 days. same thing with the shrimp pellets. ive tried cichlid pellets but they wont eat that cuz it floats at the top and they are accustomed to me hand feeding them. they wont eat anything they dont directly pluck from my hand.
 
Kensfish has some large inexpensive catfish pellets that I use with good success. I'm not clear on why shrimp fouls your water quality so much. I feed shrimp 1-2 times daily to a large mbu without an issue.
 
KNH;3656584; said:
Kensfish has some large inexpensive catfish pellets that I use with good success. I'm not clear on why shrimp fouls your water quality so much. I feed shrimp 1-2 times daily to a large mbu without an issue.
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what are the pellets called or what brand are they? i think its because i feed the so much. my water will even start smelling really fishy. i thought it was my charcoal at first but i change it every month. do you feed them regular sized shrimp? how much do you feed them each feeding? i think i may be over feeding them.
 
Go to kensfish.com and look up the 9.5mm sinking pellets. They do not soften in the water for a long time and iridescents love to swallow them whole. I don't use any charcoal. Maybe you are keeping your filters too pristine and not allowing enough good bacteria.

The shrimp I feed are jumbo shell-on from the grocery store and I feed between 3 and 8 daily depending on what else I'm feeding. I, like you, overfeed without a doubt so I do a lot of water changes.
 
Well, one problem you're running into, is that they being fed a lot. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, better over fed then under fed, just more waste, but maybe that one was just feeling fat one day, but if you feed them as much as the one in the 2nd pic, you can skip a day or two of feeding, or just feed smaller amounts every day.

But yes, I bought 5lbs of catfish food off Kensfish.com for really cheap.
 
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