Alternative food

[john5748]

This may be a silly question but I suppose it is the place to ask them. As someone who has never fed my fish anything other than flakes , what else can you feed them I have read about cucumber and bloodworms amongst other things.

How exactly do you feed your fish this stuff, do you just slice a piece of cucumber off and throw it in??

I read an earlier post about bloodworms been frozen, do you buy these frozen because I feel sure the wife and kids would be a little bit apprehensive about me putting some bloodworms next to the pizzas !!

Your patience with this novice is appreciated .

 

[pendragon]

Hi John,

I think most fishkeepers alternate between flake and a couple other things to give the fish some variety. That's what I do. In addition to flake, your LFS should stock freeze-dried food (e.g. bloodworms, tubifex, daphnia, brine shrimp) as well as frozen food (e.g. bloodworms, glassworms, daphnia, brine shrimp). Then there are other "staple" foods that are essentially the same things as flake but in a different form (like tiny "crisps", or "crumbles", or wafers). I even keep three kinds of flake for variety. My fish eat better than I do.

I feed once per day. Here's an example rotation I might do:

Day 1: Frozen daphnia
Day 2: Flake #1
Day 3: Frozen brine shrimp
Day 4: Flake #2
Day 5: Freeze-dried tubifex
Day 6: Flake #3
Day 7: Frozen glassworms
Day 8: Sinking "crumbles"
Day 9: Start again!

That gives you an idea. Not everybody uses so many different kinds of food, but personally I think your fish do better if you'll alternate between at least two or three from time to time. And don't forget the bottom feeders! You may need to add special food for them if they don't end up with some of what you put in for the others.

Basically, you're right about the frozen food. It has to stay in the freezer (obviously). But it's not as bad as it sounds. It generally comes in a Ziploc-style bag that closes or individual blocks of the food are packaged so that you only "punch one out" of the packaging when you're going to feed it. I reserve one small shelf in the door of my upright freezer for fish food. It doesn't have to "touch" my other food. To prepare for serving frozen food I dip about 4 fluid ounces of tank water from the aquarium and put the frozen food in it. Let it sit a few minutes to thaw, and put it back in the tank. Fish will attack it! Just remember: never, ever thaw frozen food in tap water - only tank water.

Some folks give their fish blanched vegetables from time to time. Cucumber is popular, as is zuchini. I've tried it with my fish a few times with mixed success. They don't seem that crazy about it. Someone who has more success with that should elaborate better than I about it.

Hope that helps.

pendragon!

 

[john5748]

That was very helpful and comprehensive thanks very much for the advice, I am not sure if my fish will get such a good variety of food as yours do but at least the family can stop worrying about their pizzas now .

I am sure there will be other "newbies" just like me that this has helped.

 

[Tolak]

I switch between 3 different flakes, brine shrimp, & once in a while bloodworms & beefheart. I have frozen zuke, cuke, lettuce, & broccoli stems for the plecs. I keep all of my frozen food in the downstairs freezer. They all come plastic wrapped, my family is used to seeing fish food in the freezer. Try to cammo them with an opaque bag. If you look on the back of flake food, they list the ingredients starting with the largest amount of ingredient first. If it starts with soy meal & fish meal, it's probably as good as potato chips for me & you. It is ok to use, just make sure you don't use only that every day. My fish usually get cheap flakes for breakfast.

I thaw frozen food in a little glass, I think it's from shrimp cocktail. I use tap water that has been dechlorinated, always have a couple bottles in the fishroom. I distribute it among the tanks with an eyedropper.

The frozen veggies go into a large cup of water in the microwave to thaw. Make sure to take the seeds out of the zuke or cuke before you put them in the tank. The fish won't eat them and they make a real mess. I feed the seeds to my dog. They sell clips to weigh down veggies, I use a couple of plastic forks & a rock. A nice glass jar or vase looks better in a show tank than plasticware, just let it fill with tank water, toss in the veggies & place it so the mouth is facing down at a bit of an angle. The veggies will float but won't escape the jar. Plecs & livebearers usually go for them.

Tolak

 

[Dorkhedeos]

oatmeal works if you are lazy, just make sure its cooled and thick so it doesnt cloud the water as much.

 

[paulthegreat]

I buy a wide variety of frozen brine shrimp, black, white and red mosquito larve, krill and a frozen mush made of green peas-brine shrimp-vitamins that one of my LFS makes. The white mosquito larve seem to be less popular then the red and black. I also give them flakes, Tetra diskus, Tetra crisps, Tetra Pro Color, and algea wafers for the Pleco and Flying Fox. I try to give them a different combo every day and skip a day on occasion. My juvenile Swordtails do a lot of nibbling on the live plants so I try to give them the green pea mush at least every other day. I never skip a day with the fry growout though. I have not had any luck with cucumber or salad greens but maybe I have the wrong type of greens.(Iceberg salad was not a hit).

 

[ccg]

As for keeping the food in the freezer, just get a plastic container that will seal up, or just a large zip lock bag or something similar to put everything in. I have tons of frozen food in my freezer and I don't think anyone even notices!