Your thoughts on feeding hot dogs to large catfish?!

Chicxulub

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Read many a debate about feeding wild caught fish...its the disease factor which is always a risk. I too worry and dont do it often but ive fed turkey franks for a good 10yrs with no ill effects. Theres a pic of "anythingfish" holding a pac of dogs to feed his 8,000 on here somewhere lol...its just very very unrealistic and too expensive to feed 24-36"+ fish a staple diet of "market fish/shrimp". Chix, (friendly ? Lol) when ur tigers can eat an entire bag of shrimp/filets in one daily feeding and there only half full, whats left to give them?

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I can appreciate that concern. I was particularly concerned about people saying not to feed wild fish because that was a large portion of my plan- wild caught catfish, sunnies and bass. The sunnies and smaller bass would be fed whole. I've actually been using this method for years already for whatever will eat it.

I don't feed the the WC fish live though. For big catfish and bass, I clean them and then cut them into chunks before freezing them. For sunnies, I just freeze them whole. I've read on here a few times that freezing them kills the parasites. I don't know that for certain, but my fish have never caught anything.

I don't want to give the tigers hot dogs, but if it comes down to keeping them from eating each other, I guess its better than nothing.
 

Oddball

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Hot dogs are high in salts, nitrates, and fats. Big no-nos for feeding to fish (and humans for that matter). And, there is little to no protein in a hot dog. The better ones on the market have only 9grams of protein. The lesser ones go down to as little as 3grams protein. Turkey and chicken dogs are no better. Though they have less saturated fats, most are cured with nitrites and nitrates. These dogs also contain MSM derived from bone marrow and cartilage. It's attained by forcing avian bones through sieves with high pressure steam to loosen any remaining meat from inside and outside the bones. Most of the viable proteins are metabolized through steam oxidation and become useless as nutrient.

You'd be better off, as well as your fish, to feed large fish processed dog food nuggets thana hot dog.

The best advice may be, if you can't afford to keep your present fish properly, sell them off and get yourself fish you can afford to take of properly.
 

Chicxulub

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Hot dogs are high in salts, nitrates, and fats. Big no-nos for feeding to fish (and humans for that matter). And, there is little to no protein in a hot dog. The better ones on the market have only 9grams of protein. The lesser ones go down to as little as 3grams protein. Turkey and chicken dogs are no better. Though they have less saturated fats, most are cured with nitrites and nitrates. These dogs also contain MSM derived from bone marrow and cartilage. It's attained by forcing avian bones through sieves with high pressure steam to loosen any remaining meat from inside and outside the bones. Most of the viable proteins are metabolized through steam oxidation and become useless as nutrient.

You'd be better off, as well as your fish, to feed large fish processed dog food nuggets thana hot dog.

The best advice may be, if you can't afford to keep your present fish properly, sell them off and get yourself fish you can afford to take of properly.
Phil, what are your thoughts on using wild caught freshwater fish to supplement the diet of your fish? It seems logical to me, but I'd really like to hear your input on it.
 

houie925

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Cheapest I found, Kirkland beef hot dogs $2.61/lb. 14g fat, 8g protein per dog.
Standard turkey franks, 8g fat, 5g protein.
Extra lean turkey franks, 2.5g fat, 5g protein. The fat content isn't terrible but it's still non-aquatic fat and can cause unhealthy fat deposits in fish.

I can pay about the same as the kirkland brand dogs for whole cheap fish at the market. They aren't the greatest food for big cats but they're far superior to hot dogs and supplementing with pellets can make for a reasonably healthy diet.
 

Oddball

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What do people have against bluegill? Sunfish don't contain thiaminase, so I can't imagine what the complaint would be.
The main reason would have to be laziness. It's far easier to stop at the local store and buy a pack of hot dogs than it is to prep fishing poles/reels/tackle, get bait, go to a place to fish with a current license, and fish for an hour or so. Then, take the catch home, clean and store the fishing gear, clean the fish, process the parts kept, package them, store them, and clean the fish-cleaning area.
 

Oddball

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Phil, what are your thoughts on using wild caught freshwater fish to supplement the diet of your fish? It seems logical to me, but I'd really like to hear your input on it.
I do it all the time. I live around many ponds, streams, and rivers and routinely fish for both my fry pan and to feed out my fish. I freeze fillets and chunks down to 0F before feeding out the meats. Never had a parasite issue either. I also feed out live quarantined fish. But, I have alot more space than others to set up several hundred gallons of Q tanks.
 

wednesday13

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Ok were def. On the same page...just being realistic lol. Thanks for not taking my question the wrong way. I am very surprised "mazuri" products are not talked about more on here. Imo shrimp/market fish and dogs are in the same category. They are good to use as a "filler" but they need to be soaked in vitamins or stuffed with vit tablets. I got into vits over a year ago while keeping marine sharks and started using them for all my species fresh and salt. The improvement in growth,coloration, and appetite is night and day. Vits are expensive up front but they end up saving money in the long run becuase u can use affordable filler foods like dogs.

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Siddons11

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For some people it may be easier to go buy hot dogs. But id rather go fishing or set a minnow trap in my back yard pond for half an hour and catch a dozen bluegill than drive 10 mins each way to the store. Lol but I understand not everyone has that kind of access.

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that_fish_Guy

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Hot dogs are high in salts, nitrates, and fats. Big no-nos for feeding to fish (and humans for that matter). And, there is little to no protein in a hot dog. The better ones on the market have only 9grams of protein. The lesser ones go down to as little as 3grams protein. Turkey and chicken dogs are no better. Though they have less saturated fats, most are cured with nitrites and nitrates. These dogs also contain MSM derived from bone marrow and cartilage. It's attained by forcing avian bones through sieves with high pressure steam to loosen any remaining meat from inside and outside the bones. Most of the viable proteins are metabolized through steam oxidation and become useless as nutrient.

You'd be better off, as well as your fish, to feed large fish processed dog food nuggets thana hot dog.

The best advice may be, if you can't afford to keep your present fish properly, sell them off and get yourself fish you can afford to take of properly.
I never said I couldn't afford it oddball I am very sorry if you took it that way I can very much afford to feed my fish I could even afford to buy massivore in large quantities please don't misconstrue what I said all I was saying is that I was curious as to what your guys thoughts on the topic was I would not take on a red tail cat and my other monsters if I could not afford it that would be irresponsible on my part I didn't mean it like i can't afford food is this a better option I meant it as I am curious to know if this was healthy for my monsters to have hotdogs as a treat I am sorry if you took it the wrong way :(


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