Selecting Food for Freshwater Aquarium Fish
Feeding a Healthy Diet of Flake,Pellets,Granules, Live, Frozen Food
Jan 1, 2008
Dry Fish Food
Dry food comes in the form of flake, freeze dried, pellets, sticks, wafers or granules. You can purchase dry food from any pet retailer but it’s just a basic staple. Keep your food in a dry place. After three or four months, get rid of any leftover food because the amount of vitamins and nutrients will have gone. Dry food with higher moisture content will deteriorate more quickly.
Granules and flake is basically for the top and middle feeders in the tank. This type of dry food tends to float longer then starts to settle towards the bottom of your aquarium. Bottom feeders such as catfish will eventually consume any food that falls into the gravel.
Pellets are dry food moulded into a pellet shape and are perfect for bigger fish that have a huge appetite. Use pellets when you’re feeding other foods that are high in vegetables and roughage. Pellets have very little nutrition but they fill up the stomach.
Fish Food Blocks and Tablets
Food blocks are commonly found in pet stores as vacation food because they slowly dissolve in water. They are fine for smaller fish. You run the risk of polluting your tank if the tablets dissolve too quickly. There are automatic food dispensers available on the market for vacation feeding. Tablets are smaller than the blocks and can be used for daily feeding. They are ideal for bottom feeders.
Live and Frozen Fish Food
Live food is a term used for both live and frozen foods. There’s no difference in protein and vitamin content between live and frozen food; it’s just some fish prefer to see their food moving. Frozen foods are stored in freezers at your local pet store and you sometimes have to ask for it. Keep it in your freezer at home, break off a piece then throw it in the aquarium. There is no need to thaw it out because the warm water of the aquarium will quickly melt the ice. Brine shrimp is a very popular frozen food for all fish.
The most commonly used live fish foods are mosquito larvae, tubifex worms, white worms and fruit flies which you can raise at home. This is a very inexpensive method for raising live food.
Fresh Vegetables as Fish Food
Some fish, such as several catfish and cichlid species, require a vegetable supplement in their diet. Tropheus Moorii from Lake Tanganyika can only eat vegetables. The most commonly used vegetables in aquariums are peas, Brussels sprouts, zucchini and lettuce. You can use frozen vegetables but thaw them out first. Scoop out any leftovers within one day in order to avoid decay.
Overfeeding Fish
Too much uneaten food will rot and foul your tank. A good guide is to only feed a quantity that the fish can consume in 3 minutes. Some aquarists impose a non-feeding day once a week; this will not hurt your fish but will make them hunt through the gravel to find their food for the day.
Vitamin Supplements for Fish
Try to stay away from vitamin supplements because they tend to weaken the resistance to disease in most fish. If you feed your fish a variety of foods, they will remain healthy.
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