Feeding with proper fish food is the best thing you can do to the fish’s contentment and health.
Fishes show improvement in the health, activeness and behavior when fed with proper fish food.
Apprentices in fish growers think that the only source of fish food is from the pet shop and fed the same food for all the fishes.
Before choosing fish food, know the type of the fish you have in your aquarium [Maintaining fish aquarium] and choose the food. The fishes can be categorized into different types
- Carnivores– These fishes are predators, if you place these fishes with other fishes, they will enjoy the other fishes as their meal. They mainly eat meat or other fishes.
- Herbivores– These fishes are plant eaters, if not provided proper food, they will eat the plants in the aquarium. They mainly eat the plants and the algae formed in the aquarium [Aquarium plant].
- Omnivores– Eat both the items, can shift into carnivores or herbivores. They eat according to the circumstances.
Fish food for carnivore fishes:
As said before, these fishes depend on live foods. Live foods are available in pet stores and are very nutritious. There are different variations in carnivore’s fish food. But make sure these live foods do not contain Carotenoids as the presence of this substance will develop red rashes on the fish’s body.
Different live foods:
Daphnia: Small Crustaceans (have segment body), range in size 1/8â€, fishes love to eat these and overeat. The hard shell in daphnia provides a good source of cellulose to the fishes.
Mosquito larva: These are suitable for all types of fishes and come in red, white and black color larvae. Small fishes cannot digest these larvae.
Blood worms: These are the larvae of midge. They twist in water making ‘8’ shape and hence attracts the fishes. They are ¾†long and blood red in color.
Tubiflex worms: These worms are found in the banks of lakes and rivers. To clean these worms, put them in a pan and run cold water. Excessive feeding of these worms can kill the fishes. A small quantity of fish food is very nutritious for the growth of fishes.
Earthworms: These are very easy to find. They can be found in your back yard. These are considered as ideal fish food. These also help the fishes in improving the breeding process.
Fruit flies: Drosophilia are excellent fruit flies as fish food. When these are placed in the aquarium they swim to the surface and attract the fishes.
Brine shrimp: It is the most common live fish foods. Brine shrimp eggs are also good source of live food for fishes. Every fish will love this and love to eat it.
Freeze dry food: Fresh food is frozen under high vacuum. With this, the water in the food is evaporated while storing the nutrients and vitamins. These are used in preserving the live food worms.
Fish food for herbivores:
The fish foods for herbivores are very different: they come in flakes, tablets, pellets and vegetable food.
Flakes: These are very light weight, when placed in water they float on the water and sink to the bottom slowly when they soak in the water. This is useful for fishes which prefer eating in the surface of the water.
Tablets: If you have a species that tend to search food in the bottom of the water, then this food is preferred for these fishes. These are sinking fish foods and good for dwelling fishes.
Pellets: These do not come under flakes or tablets, they neither float nor sink. These are in stick shape and liked by fishes which prefer substance (hard material) in meals.
Vegetable food: Some fish species love to eat substance food, therefore the vegetables are dried in high vacuum. Spinach, lettuce, Cole crops and potatoes are preferred vegetable food. The left over vegetable food should be removed as this can contaminate the water.
How often you should give fish food?
It depends on your fish size, if your fish is big or large you can feed twice a day. There is a small test to know the frequency of feeding the fishes, place the food in the aquarium, if your fishes do not tend to show any interest towards the food, understand that the fishes are not hungry. But it’s better to feed the fishes once a day and be sure you stick to a time schedule.
