Feeder fish

[BIGMAC]

I have just read a post mentioning feeder fish,unsure what they were i looked it up on a web site...did i read it correctly that these fish are bread to feed other fish and reptiles? or have i misunderstood?
Sorry if its a dumb question but if i dont ask i will never know.

 

[rsz]

That's right... they're sold cheaply to feed to carnivorous (sp?) fish.

However, I see you live in the UK. It's illegal to feed your fish feeder fish (unless they can't survive without them, but there aren't many fish like that). In the UK, you can only feed invertebrates to other animals.

HTH

 

[BIGMAC]

It sounds horrid i dont think i could do it.I aint knocking anyone who does but isnt it cruel?

 

[rsz]

I personally couldn't do it, but lots of people do.

Their argument is that fish do it in the wild and that it's natural, but in the wild the victims aren't surrounded by glass walls and have the chance to escape. That's why I don't really like the idea.

The fish die relatively quickly and painlessly, or so I've heard.

 

[modernhamlet]

If you've ever go to an LFS in the US and see a piranha tank with 2 or 3 little tailless goldfish hiding in the plants, it will make you cry. No where to run.

Live feeders are unnecessary in all but the rarest of cases. They also have a tendency to spread diseases to your expensive predator.

 

[BIGMAC]

It dont seem right every creature acts differently in the wild but to activley breed the fish for feeding to another seems wrong.I dont know its just my opinion.Sorry if it offends anyone.

 

[BIGMAC]

If you've ever go to an LFS in the US and see a piranha tank with 2 or 3 little tailless goldfish hiding in the plants, it will make you cry. No where to run.

Live feeders are unnecessary in all but the rarest of cases. They also have a tendency to spread diseases to your expensive predator.

That is so sad at least in the wild they would have more chance to get away rather than cornerd in a tank.The thing i read on one web site said it would make an entertaining spectacle watching the chase.....That i find proper sick

 

[rsz]

The thing i read on one web site said it would make an entertaining spectacle watching the chase.....That i find proper sick

I think that's nasty too. How can you enjoy watching something being hunted down and killed? I really can't understand those people, but I suppose each to his own.....

 

[CFC]

As some of you will know i keep mainly predatory fish and over the years have kept many different species including some of the fiercest piscavors available in the hobby. Out of all these fish so far i have only come across 3 species which have refused to take anything but live fish, the first FW baracuda i owned a frogmouth catfish and the 3 needle fish i kept, every other fish i have kept including snakeheads, pike cichlids, large catfish, arowana, true gar fish and predatory characins i have weened onto a variety of frozen foods. For the vast majority of fish feeders are not nessasary and unless the feeders are gut loaded prior to being used are not even a good source of nourishment.

 

[BIGMAC]

As some of you will know i keep mainly predatory fish and over the years have kept many different species including some of the fiercest piscavors available in the hobby. Out of all these fish so far i have only come across 3 species which have refused to take anything but live fish, the first FW baracuda i owned a frogmouth catfish and the 3 needle fish i kept, every other fish i have kept including snakeheads, pike cichlids, large catfish, arowana, true gar fish and predatory characins i have weened onto a variety of frozen foods. For the vast majority of fish feeders are not nessasary and unless the feeders are gut loaded prior to being used are not even a good source of nourishment.

Dont get me wrong CFC i aint critisizing anyone who does use the feeder fish if they have no other choice ,i was just a bit shocked when i read up on it i never new that this was done or even legal,i had never heard of it.By gut loaded do you mean with the guts still intact ? So how do you tell weather the fish is carrying any infection?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I don't like the idea of feeder fish. I just dont think there's any need for it, especially in the modern age of fishkeeping when frozen foods are readily available.

And I agree with you BM, I think the people who enjoy the 'thrill' of the chase are really sick. I can't be doing with people who buyfish just to watch them eat.

 

[BIGMAC]

People use molly fry and other fry to feed fish also from what i have read is that not as bad or am i just a softie? i know some fry get eaten by the other fish if they are not removed or whatever but thats not intentional but some are bread for fish food.Isnt that just as bad?

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I remember when someone on here, can't remember who, said that they bred guppies as feeders and whenever they had too many they'd just feed a pregnant guppy or 2 to the fish as if it was nothing.

What chance has a pregnant guppy got against a predator fish, there's just no need.

 

[BIGMAC]

I agree those poor fish its bang out of order.How can people say they are fish lovers and then do that.I am like most of the people on here and have got attached to my fish and wouldnt dream of using them as fish food for others.

 

[CFC]

Believe me i dont condone the use of feeders in any way, on the occasions i have been forced to use them to keep a predator alive i havent even watched the event happen as i find the whole idea distasteful.

Gut loading is giving the feeder fish a large feeding just prior to giving them to the predator, this way the nutrients in the food are passed on to the predator when it digests the feeder