have a question here. Everyone says that feeders have little to no nutritional value, but isnt that what they eat in the wild? little minows or basicall anything that fits in their mouths. Or is it just fish like rosy reds and goldfish that lack nutrition? I know i feed my dovii a couple goldfish from my pond everytime they spawn to keep their numbers down.
Nutritional value of feeders
- Thread starter jagster
- Start date
I think it's only with goldfish. Since they are high in fat and lack nutrition.
I like to feed my dovii convict feeders, gut-load the convict fry with veggies.
I like to feed my dovii convict feeders, gut-load the convict fry with veggies.
The difference in the wild is prey fish basically harvest and store nutrients from the natural environment/food chain that is then harvested by their predators. Also a potential difference between a natural prey fish that is adapted to provide the nutrient profile a predator fish is adapted to live on compared to cheaply raised feeder goldfish or guppies with an inferior or unbalanced nutritional profile.
If it's your own feeders raised in a clean environment and on quality foods it's one thing, but store feeders raised in an overcrowded tank with the cheapest food is another.
If it's your own feeders raised in a clean environment and on quality foods it's one thing, but store feeders raised in an overcrowded tank with the cheapest food is another.
Because most cichlids (except those few strict piscivores) are omnivores, feeding a large diet of fish, is not feeding a balanced diet.
When I snorkel and observe cichlids in nature, although they may occasionally strike at prey that surrounds them, most strikes are unsuccessful, and they seem to need to resort to feeding on detritus, algae and other available items.
And when I use word"resort" anthropomorphically , in reality, those other items may be providing other very necessary components, such as the nutrients and fiber that the cichlid has evolved to use to survive.
I also agree with Neutrino and RD, wild prey is much different than the goldfish or rosy minnows raised in generally substandard situations that due to overcrowding, and/or economics allow for disease, and parasites to run rampant, and actual nutritional value to be suspect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8OVy3JKxcw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3v0VJTg5c
When I snorkel and observe cichlids in nature, although they may occasionally strike at prey that surrounds them, most strikes are unsuccessful, and they seem to need to resort to feeding on detritus, algae and other available items.
And when I use word"resort" anthropomorphically , in reality, those other items may be providing other very necessary components, such as the nutrients and fiber that the cichlid has evolved to use to survive.
I also agree with Neutrino and RD, wild prey is much different than the goldfish or rosy minnows raised in generally substandard situations that due to overcrowding, and/or economics allow for disease, and parasites to run rampant, and actual nutritional value to be suspect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8OVy3JKxcw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb3v0VJTg5c
This is the reason why I rarely buy farm raised fish for my own consumption. Read a report where they found farm raised tilapia, which are fed on corn based food, to be nearly as unhealthy as farmed raised beef.
That definantly answers my question. Thanks guys
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I don't feed feeders anymore but have to admit when I did(18 years ago) my fish grew so fast ? I never gut loaded them just popped open the bag.
mine as well grew pretty fast on live food. i also got anchor worms a few times. that sucks, let me tell you. but what you can do is get a seperate small tank and put your feeders in there for a few days feeding them heavily with a quality food and treating the tank with some metro or somthing.