Live food?! Too Much?

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s1c

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 30, 2012
509
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Cichlids, America
My little cousins come over about every other week and they like to wacth my fish swim, and lip lock, and do fish stuff. xD. They love to wacth them eat live food, which insist of , comet goldfish, betta's, worms, crickets, dwarf frogs, and bugs my little cousins finds around the house. My fish are doing fine but is it too much because i am willing to put a stop to this, but its fun because my cousins ask me questions and are now talking to there mom about setting up a 40 gallon tank with 5 african cichlids. Its giving them something to do they are so interested in fish now. But then again Im worry for my fish and there health.

Tank One- Peacock bass 6"-65 gallons; has been fed live betta's and gold fish.

Tank two- Green Texas(8"), True Devil(7"), Jack Dempsey(8"), Jaguar(9"), Green Terror(8")-150g; has been fed comet gold fish, and bunch of worms.

Tank three- Freshwater Bass-50gallons; has been fed live betta's, and frogs.

Tank four-Arowana,peacock bass (juvenile tank)-50gallons- comet gold fish

Tank five-Dovii and Wild Oscar both 10"+-180 (Dads); has been fed live betta's, comet gold fish, worms, and random bugs that i do not know about.

Any concerns suggestions? Ideas? Should I stop live feeding?
 
assuming as long you keep up with your water changes, your water pirrameters are in check and your filtration is up to par i dont see any problems
 
s1c said:
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You will have to explain to your cousins that although it mght be fun to watch,it's not always good and healthy to feed the fish various bugs that are found around the house....Tell them that some of those bugs could have ingested some kind of poisons which could be passed on to the fish...It's good that you have played a part in getting them into fishkeeping and now you must steer and guide them so that they consider the well being of the fish over their entertainment.
 
I've heard gold fish nutritional value is equivalent to fast food. There's a thread on here that I'm failing to find that it contains lots of thiaminase and is bad for fish. I forget why? Not sure on the nutritional value of betta's. What I also be concerned with introducing diseases to your pets. I would quarantine if you insist on feeding live. The only problem I got with bugs is that you don't know if they have been exposed to insecticide or other chemical lurking around your house. You can try and culture red wiggles worms or dubia roach culture, this way you know there clean. Don't have personal experience with them but heard good things.
 
not unhealthy in moderation, id be most concerned with bugs as u dont know what may be harmful or what they have been exposed to. sure a lot of people will argue it isnt humane to feed ur fish bettas and stuff but i think its whatever. my rhom has been fed tons of cichlids and all kinda of stuff. i think it keeps up a wild hunter instinct and ive noticed fish seem to be much more agressive when fed live and frozen foods than prepared stuff
 
well you say they are over every other week right? i really dont see a problem with feeding live food, but change it up abit, lets say one weed you feed worms and crickets and the other a FEW feeders, but id stay away from gold fish do guppys or cons, but then again i would quarantine them first before feeding.
 
Are you raising the live food... keeping it in quarenteen for weeks before feeding it?.. Are you making sure it is safe because most feeders will perish from disease that are store bought....AND bugs around the house are exposed to pestisides and other chemicals......... live fish food is not as nutritional and can expose your fish to numerous diseases.... not a good practice since you won't have any idea how much damage may be happening until down the road you find a diseased fish..then another..then it is in your whole tank.. and very hard to get rid of.. parasites take along time to feed off their hosts... so unless you are raising your own feeders.. as a treat ..i would get off the live food and onto a nutritious pellet asap........
 
Im curious why Betta's I know Im not the only one on this site that has kept a Betta or two and is wondering why youd use them as feeders
 
no problem mate but watch out for goldfish cuz it has alot of grease so goldfish once a week is good
 
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