What unique food have you fed your Flowerhorn?

[BIG_ONE]

Dog food might be dangerous to your fish...

 

[we4wieners]

I am amazed at what people feed their fish. However, I would never feed anything than what is suggested for a fish. I wont be baking any pasta portioned for a FH.

 

[Chicklette]

Dog food IS dangerous for a fish. I read it in a magazine.

 

[H]-[H]

I fed my old fh a baby lizard once.. It got chomped down within seconds..

 

[Japonicus]

i feed mine prawns pellets bloodworm. i recently started feeding it beefheart(discus food) and it love its. i feed it that cause it has high protein content and i read that protein makes the head pop, but either way it eats it straight away

 

[RD.]

i recently started feeding it beefheart(discus food) and it love its. i feed it that cause it has high protein content and i read that protein makes the head pop, but either way it eats it straight away

Beefheart should not be fed to FH, anymore than it should be to discus.
Neither fish is carnivorous, and even if they were over the long haul consuming protein & fat from mammals is no better than feeding fish dog food.

Protein does not make the head pop, yet another myth created by those who don't understand the basic principles in fish nutrition, and/or FH genetics. When it comes to FH kok growth, IMO 90% is genetics, and the other 10% can be divided between diet, water quality, sexual maturity, etc.

While beef heart will bring on growth in young fish, it comes at a cost.
Fatty deposition around the liver, and it's also been found to be one of the main causes of prolapsed rectum in FH.
http://www.civilica.com/EnPaper-ICAAHMD01-ICAAHMD01_078.html

Abstract:

Objective: Flower-horn fish is considered to be the result of cross breeding between the Cichlasoma trimaculatus and Cichlasoma festae. Several flower-horn fish were brought to the aquatic animal health department of Tehran University with a prolapsed anus. These fish showed listless, lethargy, and anus prolapsed while demonstrating minimal desire for food. Method & Materials: In order to identify the cause, a bacterial culture from the rectum was performed with negative end result. In wet smear of most Of the flower-horn fish free living organism was observed and in one case it was identified as protozoan parasite Balantidium.

Results & Conclusion: According to fish owners, beef heart and meat were the only food given to their flower-horn fish. Similar to all other cichlids, flower-horn fish is omnivores and requires a balanced diet including some plant material and algae. Lack of green food (as it causes constipation in humans) can over long periods, make the digestive track of the flower-horn fish more sensitive to bacterial or protozoal infections. Eventually, the "bloom" of micro-organisms in the bowel causes the anus to prolapse and get exposed. Any factor that increases the chance of bacterial or protozoal infections, such as poor water quality, can trigger the problem. An effective treatment should include the use of green foods only, such as cooked spinach, until the condition is improved. Fifty percent weekly water changes and the use of Epsom salt treatment were also recommended. The treatment proved to be successful. Finally we concluded that imbalance food and lack of adequate fiber to be the most important cause for anal prolapse in flower-horn fish.

Yes, discus breeders use beef heart to promote rapid growth in fish, but that does not equate to it being healthy for the fish. On average most discus in captivity live to the ripe old age of 5 yrs, when their natural lifespan is closer to 10 yrs.

Fish aren't hard wired to assimilate the fatty acids found in beef, anymore than they are hard wired to assimilate large amounts of carbs. These excess lipids get stored in & around the organs, and eventually shorten the fishes lifespan.

Can these foodstuffs offer amino acids, and solid growth, yes, no question about that, but that doesn't qualify them as being a good source of food. Even a lot of the major discus keepers have moved away from beefheart over the past decade, for these exact reasons. It's a great food for breeders that simply want quick growth in their juvie fish (so they can take them to market quicker) but it is most certainly not an ideal long term diet.

 

[H]-[H]

Great info, Neil..

 

[we4wieners]

Neil, I certainly value your knowledge in regards to nutrition. My FH and my other fish are PETS, as are my dogs. I treat them like family and do what is best for them physically. Sure, it would be COOL to have the biggest FH in the forum. However, that is not important to me. I'd rather my fish be average and healthy. I plan on keeping them around as long as I can. I have only lost one fish, a Geo, and my wife was hysterical for days. As a pet owner it is my responsability to care for my pets as they would care for themselves in their natural habitats. THANK YOU RD !! Not sure my fish would be chowin' on eukanuba or purina in the wild.

 

[Camphilophus]

Actually dog food isn't great at all, unless you're feeding it to a dog.

Fish aren't capable of digesting much of what's used in dog food, and the fat content alone could create gastrointestinal issues in a fish.

I agree. Messing around with your fishes diet is a good way to end up with a sick/diseased fish.

 

[RD.]

No problem, glad to help.

In this hobby lots is learned the hard way, so I try to do my part in helping when & where I can. Part of the problem with FH keepers (and lots of MFK members in general) is they all want to see MAJOR growth in their monster fish, in as little time as possible. While there are many ways to achieve that goal, often times all it results in is a large obese fish, that will eventually die prematurely due to fatty liver, etc.
Of course if/when that happens, most hobbyists won't have a necropsy performed to understand why their pet fish suddenly died, they will simply go out and buy another one.

IMO this hobby is all about patience, and measuring success in years, not weeks, or months. When it comes to feeding fish, many hobbyists make things much more complicated than they need to be.

I recently posted the following in another thread, and it might be worth repeating here. While the fish used in this study were not FH, they were cichlids, one being a carnivorous species. The same info would apply to any & all FH strains.
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Feeding high protein, and especially high fat levels to adult cichlids can be a dangerous proposition, even with carnivorous species.


http://afsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1577/A03-035.1?journalCode=naja

The lipid-rich TP diet may be suitable for commercial production of juvenile African cichlids up to 12 weeks of age, but prolonged feeding may result in excess lipid deposition and necrosis of the liver. Feeds like the FF diet, which produced slower growth but lower lipid deposition in livers, may be more suitable as a maintenance diet for cichlids in the home aquarium.

Also from this report;

"Fatty infiltration of the liver has also been designated "the most common metabolic disturbance and most frequent cause of death in aquarium fish"

With prolonged feeding of a high-energy, lipid rich diet, degenerative changes of the liver and death can occur unless the diet is corrected.

Now imagine what happens to the liver of an adult African/SA/CA cichlid when fed diets that contain excessive amounts of lipids. The juvie H. ahli (s. fryeri) used in this study faired much better being a carnivore, but it still showed a lipid accumulation in the hepatocytes. (<50%) The P. socolofi had extensive lipid accumulation when fed this TP diet.

This study came about after some cichlid farms in south FL suffered from some large mortalities in both 1998 & 1999. When the dead fish were examined they showed fatty infiltration of the liver, heavy vacuolation, and severe necrosis of the liver, pancreas, and spleen.

It was suggested to the farms that they replace ther feeds with one that had a lower lipid content (less than 10%) and supplement the feed with a vitamin premix. Clinical signs in the affected farms were resolved after implementation of these recommendations.

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And the lipids (fat) that they were referring to was for from an aquatic source (fish oil), not from beef heart. Yet I see people on MFK recommending certain brands/formulas for adult FH, that contain a (minimum) of 15.5% crude fat. Whoa!

My advice, read labels closely, avoid foods with excessive crude fat content, don't become fixated on crude protein %, and pay more attention on the source of that protein. The only protein % on a label that matters, is the protein that you fish can assimilate & utilize. If the formula looks more like a recipe for pancakes than ingredients that a fish should consume, then find a different food. Feeding 1/2 dozen mediocre products isn't going to achieve anything beyond having a lot of open containers of food kicking around.

If feeding live critters, raise them yourself to avoid the potential of exposure to pesticides, herbicides, environmental pollution, etc.

And don't feed your fish dog food, cat food, hot dogs, etc.



HTH