can you think of any fish, whose diet significantly changes over their life span???

[Magnum Man]

so, I think most fish are omnivores, I know there are physical differences between mostly plant, and mostly meat eaters... I thought of this question, watching the dining habits change in my Hillstream tank, from young fish, to adult fish... these all being algae / biofilm eaters, but some seem to change their preferred spots to eat ( I assume there are slight differences in the algae or bio film composition, between, for example, what grows on roots, and what grows on flat surfaces at the top of the tank, under the lights...

... and I'm sure there are species that start out eating mulm , as fry, that become solely carnivorous through the bulk of their lives...

... wondering if as they age, like many humans, they lose the ability to chew their food, like that big beef steak, or the ability to digest it, and end up eating bland baby food like humans???

 

[Back in the fold]

An interesting question to be sure but I think almost any fish would naturally or unnaturally expire before they were ready for graveyard stew .

 

[gwand]

I still like pizza even after 72 years

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, brown trout start out eating insects, and get increasingly piscivorous as they age. And I know of at least a few fish (chinese and siamese algae eaters; I'm sure there are others) that start out eating biofilm and become more omnivorous or even carnivorous as the get older.

 

[Colin_T]

Virtually all baby fish eat single celled algae and microscopic organisms before graduating onto fish & crustacean eggs, shrimp & fish larvae, and tiny insects or insect larvae. Throw in some small worms and that is their baby diet.

After they have grown they will still eat some of those things but usually eat the bigger versions of them including macro algae & aquatic plants, fish, crustaceans, insects & insect larvae, worms, and anything else that lands in the water.

Discus and Uaru babies eat the mucous coating off their parents for the first few weeks before moving onto small organisms in the water, along with algae and plants.

Fish are opportunistic omnivores and will eat pretty much anything edible that fits in their mouth, a bit like people