Contravesial Issue.

[PRW1988]

Yes I know that this thread may cause a fight on here as so many others have. I was curious to know if anybody has a site with articles outlining the health risks associated with feeding live fish (goldfish, minnows or guppies). I'm doing a research paper for my english class and we are able to write about whatever we want so I have chosen this topic. The points I intend to discuss are the health issues, live food alternatives and raising your own stock of feeder fish (such as guppies, mollies or other livebearers).

It would be greatly appriciated if somebody could give me a link to a site, or even just state some of the main health issues associated with feeder fish bought from stores (like petsmart, petco, big als etc.)

Thanks much in advance.

 

[Marco84]

I'm doing a research paper for my english class

Of course you are

 

[mixmaster jay]

goldfish contain certain enzyme in them that can be toxic to other fish and turtles so these i would just give as a now and then treat like once a month as for livebearers im not sure mate

 

[meguro]

do ur own hw

 

[Davo86]

Yes I know that this thread may cause a fight on here as so many others have. I was curious to know if anybody has a site with articles outlining the health risks associated with feeding live fish (goldfish, minnows or guppies). I'm doing a research paper for my english class and we are able to write about whatever we want so I have chosen this topic. The points I intend to discuss are the health issues, live food alternatives and raising your own stock of feeder fish (such as guppies, mollies or other livebearers).

It would be greatly appriciated if somebody could give me a link to a site, or even just state some of the main health issues associated with feeder fish bought from stores (like petsmart, petco, big als etc.)

Thanks much in advance.

I'm pretty sure NMonks has some articles regarding this somewhere on here, I particularly remember one on thiamese content in fish

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Goldfish have a lot of slime in their slime coat (making them difficult to digest) and are very fatty and otherwise not very nutritious fish- despite being unsuitable to feed to other fish/critters, they remain very popular as feeder fish due to their cheapness & abundance.

Guppys make a better feeder fish as they are not so slimy/fatty and can easily be bred at home (goldfish take years to sexually mature & really need a pond to spawn in and take a while to grow large)- they are prolific breeders and don't take that long to grow to an inch or two long. The downside is that they also carry a lot of diseases & parasites these days, sick guppys being sold at pet shop's seem to be the norm these days rather than the exception.

Ultimately if you feed your fish live fish you can always risk introducing diseases or parasites into the tank (unless you quarantine the fish for a very long period of time beforehand, you can never be certain that they aren't carrying anything nasty). The other factor is that most predatory fish don't need live fish to eat- very few predatory fish found in the hobby will refuse prepared food.

Personally i don't find anything controversial about feeding live fish (if you can't handle killing a fish then you probably shouldn't be in the hobby and should go vegan instead), i just don't think that it is necessary or the best option to do so in most cases.

 

[matchstickman47]

i plan on getting an ornate bichir so im was curious on the subject of live foods (not for a while though)

 

[Davo86]

article

 

[afishdude]

He doesn't want your guys' answers or thoughts. He wants links to articles.

 

[matchstickman47]

He doesn't want your guys' answers or thoughts. He wants links to articles.

you post it on a forum......thats what you get

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

He doesn't want your guys' answers or thoughts. He wants links to articles.

All the articles on this forum are written by people here though, and most other articles on the subject that you'll find on the internet are probably just written by some other randomers who are no different than the kind of people you'd usually find on forums. If he's looking for the big book on the ethics/morality of feeder fish written by some notable philosopher, i don't think he'll find one.

 

[doktor doris]

I don't see why it should be controversial, if one owns fish which are naturally piscavores, they should be fed fish. At least occasionally
My venustus derives a great deal of pleasure from chasing and consuming the odd guppy.
In fact I breed guppies, just for that purpose.
I also don't mind pestilential ramshorn and pond snails breeding in my tanks, because when they become a decent size my cichlids love them after I crush them betwixt thumb and forefinger and drop them in the cichlid tank.


doris

 

[saltynay]

I think feeding live fish is fine provided it is well researched and the "feeder fish" are housed appropriately. LFS bought feeder fish are generally given a very poor quality of life and thus harbour a number of diseases however home grown live food can be controlled and like free-range organic food for ourselves given a good quality of life before being consumed. I put my excess guppies in my pond for my goldfish to eat, it hasn't had the desirable impact as the guppys seem to be thriving even though they go from a tropical tank straight to a coldwater pond without acclimitisation. As a result quite alot of the stock I sell on to LFS are my "feeder fish" which are all perfectly treated guppy/endlers just grown up in a different from usual envionment.

 

[AdAndrews]

I think feeding live fish is fine provided it is well researched and the "feeder fish" are housed appropriately. LFS bought feeder fish are generally given a very poor quality of life and thus harbour a number of diseases however home grown live food can be controlled and like free-range organic food for ourselves given a good quality of life before being consumed. I put my excess guppies in my pond for my goldfish to eat, it hasn't had the desirable impact as the guppys seem to be thriving even though they go from a tropical tank straight to a coldwater pond without acclimitisation. As a result quite alot of the stock I sell on to LFS are my "feeder fish" which are all perfectly treated guppy/endlers just grown up in a different from usual envionment.

ditto, i think feeder fish are fine as long as they are a species that are not in danger, do not pose any problems to the fish, and are small enough to be eaten quickly, not like a fish taking bites of a fish that he cant fit in his mouth all at once.. and the feeders have to be housed correctly and kept in their favourable conditions. however i feel that fish should only be fed the fish that they would eat in the wild.. i dont agree feeding a south american fish an australian fish, keep it fairly natural atleast.

 

[saltynay]

Sometimes not convient though as native european species of fish wild carp (goldfish are domesticated carp) would eat are rare in the hobby and I can't think of any especially common ones which breed rapidly enough depends on the region the fishs origin.