why not feeders ?????

[BlackShark11k]

Except that goldfish are man made and not found in the wild, at all. Neither are pellets, but pellets do not have thiaminase in them, so they are a much healthier alternative to goldfish. And not necessarily feeders. If you raise your own feeders that are not cyprinids, then they are some of the best things you can feed your fish.

Exactly. I don't want my fish having HITH and other deficiencies and illness susceptibilities.

And rosy reds are no better, they also contain thiaminase.

 

[Industrial]

Fish in the wild eat a wide variety of fish. No fish is a healthy staple diet. Some fish are better than others, but feeding your fish the same fish only will deprive it of nutrients it needs.

Goldfish are high in fat and really high in thiaminase. Rosy reds are also contain thiaminase. Neither of these fish are really high in essential nutrients. Guppies and convicts are much healthier, but they too are lacking in certain nutrients.

Processed fish food is much better as a staple diet because it contains a mix of everything. Regular flake food is designed to be the best overall food. Of course mixing up different foods is much better.

If you feed your fish an occasional feeder you will not kill it. People eat stuff that would kill them in large amounts occasionally as well.

Many fish in the wild also eat plant matter. People go fishing and use bait because fish like it better, but a diet of only bait isn't ideal for all fish.

I try to feed all my fish the largest possible variety of foods. I wouldn't mind getting my predators on frozen just so I can feed them even more different foods.

 

[I<3fish]

and thats where the concept of "gut loading" comes in. feed your feeders a healthy food, then feed them to your fish, its a win-win. i also think goldfish are the best food source, provided they are clean, quarantined, and well fed, like i mentioned

With goldfish it doesn't matter how "healthy" they are, they still contain vitamin inhibitors! Which basically makes your fish unhealthy, makes it develop problems, and issues later on in life(IE: HITH, LLE, bloating, intestinal problems, becoming fat, etc.), which makes them a terrible food source. Pellets and fish fillets and even shrimp are a much better alternative than goldfish.

Any fish other than cyprinids are a great food source, but it is still best to vary the food being fed. Rather than just feeding one type of food/fish.

 

[Sab_Fan]

i dont understand if most of the fish we keep in this hobby are predators and eat mostly baitfish in the wild

not for nothing, but I don't agree with the premise of this question . . .

plenty of fish that are kept by MFKers are omnivores and herbivores, meaning they may eat fish, but also insects, crustaceans, vegetables, algae and any number of other foods . . .

sometimes the easiest way to achieve this balanced diet is with prepared pellets, supplemented with dried/frozen foods . . .

notice I said "easiest", not claiming that method is "best" . . . works for me, tho' . . .

 

[goestonemoa]

ive found that the feeders are really bad,
and that they are hard to get to the stage where i think they are good enough to give my fish

so i keep the for entertainment when i have guests over... who want to see the monster fish eat some live..

i have found that worms..or night crawlers,and crickets (also live) is a better alternative

i rinse and gut my worms of feces befor feeding to my fish

and i have also heard of gut loading your night crawlers with pellets and other sorts of things

has anybody heard of that?

 

[nes999]

See, as far as "sick fish are bad for business", they can (and do) sell sick fish, whereas it is far more expensive to properly feed and stock them.

my lfs sells sick fish for 50% off

 

[manlyfish]

if you fed a variety of feeders, shrimp, insects, and pellets wouldn't your fish be alot healthier than just pellets?
i have a fish that is near impossible to ever get off live fish i'm able to get him to eat shrimp and fish and thats it so far

 

[scalesandfins]

bump

 

[L021]

Feeders are like candy. We enjoy it, and we can have it sometimes, but it's not a proper diet. It's got the essential nutrients, but if you ate only candy, you'd get pretty sick...

 

[Fat Homer]

Although i didn't look through this whole thread, i do always like to refer back to this one picture which really reinforced why i'm glad i've always played it safe...

I mean lets be honest, would you really want to risk your fish eating what this fish has inside of it... which incase your wondering is a tape worm found in a feeder...