Rbacchiega;1645230; said:
thanks...dont forget about solomon (E_Americanus). he's always a great help on here as well! there is def. a ton of great info on here as long as people are willing to at least take the advice into consideration.
Monster Eater!!!
- Thread starter downsouth
- Start date
thanks...dont forget about solomon (E_Americanus). he's always a great help on here as well! there is def. a ton of great info on here as long as people are willing to at least take the advice into consideration.
i dont know about you but i keep dogs domesticated over many generations...BTW when were you domesticated, or have you been?
i never demeritted these gar keepers as i'm sure they could raise a heathier more colorful gar than i. i meerly voiced my opinion about letting gars be gars. let them hunt for thier food.
jordan and solomon my thanks and congratulations for the difference in responces this last round. i never ment to piss off or discount any ones opinion or experience, just to add mine. you have to agree i was extremely flamed not just disagreed with. we can all agree that when someone is attack the natural responce is to retaliate, but lets move on now. thanks again.
my question is: what exactly do you consider preparred foods for the better health of gars in particular? i will begin to offer these to my gars, but will primarily offer live foods.
do you put together a recipe or are you just talking of 'cleaner' less dangerous foods?
rednhot;1652386; said:
good to see things are cooling down a bit...very little is gained from these heated discussions (other than all of us blowing some steam off).
as far as prepared foods go...i wouldnt say there is a recipe, it's more of a term refering to non-live foods. my gar love raw shrimp (w/ tails removed), pellets, silversides, smelt, krill, and various other raw fish fillets.
BTW...i am not against live foods. i will on occassion feed live foods that were raised by myself.
are you questioning the "conditioned response" part or the "brain washed" part...lol.xander13;1645329; said:
if your gonna join the debate use your own mind, dont stand on greater peoples shoulders.
i'd rather be shown the error of my ways than be praised for speaking someone elses words!
isnt it bad to feed saltwater species of feeders like smelt or krill due to the possible salt content in thier bodies. and what about the stiffnes of dried foods, i think someone mentioned they use them. wont that go down hard.demjor19;1652422; said:
i too will raise my own feeders, but i'm an advocate of feeding as varied a diet as possible of live foods.
rednhot;1652500; said:
feeding them saltwater species of food has no impact on them. as far as freeze dried foods go...i have never had any issues with the fish not being able to get them down or getting stuck. most of them will soften in the tank water and even if they dont most fish will do just fine with them.
i agree with any of the non-live foods jordan had listed earlier, and there really is no problem giving saltwater foods to freshwater fishes...in fact, especially when feeding marine fishes, it's considered a bit safer (at least if you were using live food) to give them freshwater feeders since the parasites generally don't transfer from fresh to salt. the reverse could theoretically be done with giving gars live SW feeders, although that would be much more expensive.
one of the main issues with giving live foods is the potential for parasites and infections, both of which are high in the cramped quarters feeder fish are given. another issue is that gars charging after a live feeder could feasibly break their backs depending on the size of the gar, feeder, and tank...species also plays a factor. another issue is that goldfish are usually the available feeder of choice here in the US, and they possess a thiaminase enzyme which is dangerous in the long-term to the fish (think of it as a diet of junk food or mcdonald's big macs eventually causing some serious health problems).
all that being said, if you give the occasional feeder it would likely be ok, i would just go with a fish other than goldfish, and would suggest gut-loading them and quarantining them for a while before feeding. there are a lot of livebearers you could raise on your own, or even (better
) cichlids...and therefore provide a good supplement of live food to your fish.
hope that helps--
--solomon
one of the main issues with giving live foods is the potential for parasites and infections, both of which are high in the cramped quarters feeder fish are given. another issue is that gars charging after a live feeder could feasibly break their backs depending on the size of the gar, feeder, and tank...species also plays a factor. another issue is that goldfish are usually the available feeder of choice here in the US, and they possess a thiaminase enzyme which is dangerous in the long-term to the fish (think of it as a diet of junk food or mcdonald's big macs eventually causing some serious health problems).
all that being said, if you give the occasional feeder it would likely be ok, i would just go with a fish other than goldfish, and would suggest gut-loading them and quarantining them for a while before feeding. there are a lot of livebearers you could raise on your own, or even (better
) cichlids...and therefore provide a good supplement of live food to your fish.hope that helps--
--solomon
i'm ok with the thawed frozen foods, i just can't see giving hard dried pellets or freeze dried foods to gars.
LMB or peacok bass or fish that dont hold their prey with teeth seems less dangerous.
fish with wide mouths have hard raspy surfaces in thier mouths to mash up the food before swallowing.
gars rely on thier teeth piercing the prey to hold on to it and pass it. if they chomp on a hard food wont it damage the teeth?
...and gut loading is the most important thing i've heard so far. you cant gut load a dead food.
can you agree that frozen, cooked, or freeze dried cant have the same nutritional value as a live food source...safer yes, but the processing has to have some effect to it. this is even true with people food, has to be the same for fish food.
if you can find different live foods the gar would benifit from a varied diet. not everybody has the time to do this, but it should be encouraged. examine the would-be prey for general good health and obvious possible ailments before tossing it in too.
LMB or peacok bass or fish that dont hold their prey with teeth seems less dangerous.
fish with wide mouths have hard raspy surfaces in thier mouths to mash up the food before swallowing.
gars rely on thier teeth piercing the prey to hold on to it and pass it. if they chomp on a hard food wont it damage the teeth?
...and gut loading is the most important thing i've heard so far. you cant gut load a dead food.
can you agree that frozen, cooked, or freeze dried cant have the same nutritional value as a live food source...safer yes, but the processing has to have some effect to it. this is even true with people food, has to be the same for fish food.
if you can find different live foods the gar would benifit from a varied diet. not everybody has the time to do this, but it should be encouraged. examine the would-be prey for general good health and obvious possible ailments before tossing it in too.
