Live Fish As Food - Nutritional Value & Concerns

MrHarris

Candiru
MFK Member
May 9, 2005
341
4
48
feeder tank
i feed my clown knife feeders. he wont get off of it and i had him for like 1.5 years. he grew from 3" to 22"
 

gabemills

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2006
5
0
0
ashland OR
I would like to hear some opinions on fresh water predators also. I've heard that goldfish are not very nutritious, but my lfs only has very small tropical feeders, and I don't want to have to feed 10 at a time. I have 2 needlefish (also called needlenose gars)
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
11,582
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0
confused, lost, and lonely
gabemills said:
I would like to hear some opinions on fresh water predators also. I've heard that goldfish are not very nutritious, but my lfs only has very small tropical feeders, and I don't want to have to feed 10 at a time. I have 2 needlefish (also called needlenose gars)
The warm water gravel pond's between Ashland and Medford are a great source for free gambusia and small (3-4") bluegill, Also some very nice LMB, I took a 5 1/2 lb. and 8 lb. LMB out of there plus lots of 9-10" ones. Quarantine the gambusia for 2 weeks in a storage tub with salted water 2 tsp/gallon before using, they are the size of large guppies but are free so feeding ten at a time is no problem. Use two tubs and start with 100 or so in each then rotate between them every 2 weeks.
 

mercury904

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2006
1,343
6
68
45
Philippines
My snakeheads and knifefishes doesnt it anything dead,I tried to starve them upto 3 days and gave them all sorts of branded food of all types..If you have any ideas msg me or email me
 

Oddball

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
MFK Member
Apr 27, 2005
22,350
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Bama
"I think for me this is a piece of crap"

GEEZ!! Don't hold back. Tell me what you really think.

Looks like you're judging before actually reading the post. Otherwise, you would have seen the part about gut-loading live feeders to provide a better balance of nutrients.

And, since the members who place these threads into the site do the research and take the time to do so for no pay, it's really nice to see the efforts are appreciated by members like yourself.
 

bane579

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Ok Now this thread was interesting but I still feel the need to ask, are fancy goldfish ok for my Aba Aba in portions of 1 every other day, also with live shrimp.

How is it best possible to ween the Aba Aba onto other foods with out him taking out any other tank mates.

D & V
 

elbeatch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 23, 2006
324
5
0
Ontario Canada
www.youtube.com
excellent info! thanks! I tend to gut load my feeders with nutrient rich food and algae disks, also similarly with frozen shrimp from the grocery store, they have no shell or guts so they're pretty much just meat, very few nutrients, I will soak these little shrimps for a awhile in food and algae, enriching the otherwise cheap and nutritionally lax shrimp. after observing, the clown knife and various polypterus will go for the home "enriched" food over plain shrimp. any thoughts?
 

elbeatch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 23, 2006
324
5
0
Ontario Canada
www.youtube.com
oh yeah with most fish i find always mixing up their diet will make them more inclined to try new things. I had a clown knife who would only eat feeders, but after I got him eating earthworms, he finally started trying frozen shrimp, dried food. now he will literally try to eat anything.
 

utom

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 8, 2007
7
1
0
New Jersey
wow, very informative. I've been trollin around the board for the last couple days and I'm very impressed with the knowledge of many posters.

This thread forced me to join the club!

I have a species tank that keeps a mantis shrimp (acrylic of course) and I feed him live freshwater fish (rosies, guppies, ghost shrimp and an occasional goldfish). Can the unsaturated fats in these baits have the same effect on the mantis shrimp as it would a fish?

My instincts tell me no, I would think a shrimp and a fish would process/metabolize fats much differently. I know their digestive systems are quite different from one another. If I remember bio 1 correctly, a shrimp doesnt even have a liver, more of a gizzard. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

So is Zorak going to be okay, or could live foods negatively effect crusteans in a different manner all together(other then fatty liver disease)?

Thanks for the input folks!
 
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