Fish Food?

[pieman]

Ok having spilt some water in my flake food, I need to get some new food, I was wondering what I should get for some tetras (neon and black widow) and a little pleco.

Thanks for suggestions

 

[nmonks]

Tetras are carnivores (generally) and appreciate anything made from small invertebrates. I find fish look best fed on a mix of frozen and flake foods rather than just flake. Frozen bloodworms in particular are ideal. I also like to sue frozen lobster eggs (buy from a marine fish store); they are greedily eaten by most fish and are rich in fat and protein, making them useful for getting recently-purchased fish into good condition. When buying flake food, one thing to remember is to get small tubs if you have small fish. A tub of flake food "goes bad" after 2-3 months, and loses its vitamin content. I like to alternate between brands each time I buy more food: this stops the fish getting bored. You might even want to have two brands on the go at once, perhaps one staple food and one colour enhancing.

Plecs are herbivores, though some species like a bit of meat in their diet as well. Assuming you have the generic plecs like Ancistrus and Hypostomus, then slices of courgette (zucchini) make an excellent staple. Blanched (or briefly microwaved) lettuce leaves are also useful, as are crushed frozen peas. Some plecs will also enjoy slices of potato. Basically anything soft and veggie -- melon rind, carrot, spinach. Try a little of whatever you have, weighted down or tied to a stone. There are special plec pellets available, and these are also useful, but you don't need to feed them every single night, or they won't eat the algae in your tank! Once a week put a small bit of frozen prawn or mussel in the tank. Many plecs like a bit of meat. Alternatively, let them have some frozen bloodworms.

Some of the fancy plecs are more picky. Otocinclus need lots of green algae, while Panaque must have bogwood and shouldn't be fed any meat at all. It's actually a good idea to have wood in the tank for all plecs; while only Panaque actually digest it, the others seem to use it as a source of fibre.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[rich]

I would still stick to flake food, it has all the nutrients built in and then once a week give the tetras frozen bloodworm. Algae wafers will also keep your small plec happy (just break a bit off). Adding anything from your kitchen can cause bacteria to be introduced in the aquarium.

 

[nmonks]

Have you any idea what fish eat in the wild? The scat, Scatophagus, got that name for a reason!

Seriously, if it's safe for you to eat, it's safe for the fish, assuming the food is something the fish should be eating.

Flake food is indeed balanced and a perfect diet. But fish do have a tendancy to get bored with it, and it is almost impossible to condition egg-laying fish (and many livebearers, such as halfbeaks) on flake food alone. If you want to breed fish, then frozen and/or live foods are essential.

It's also a lot more fun to watch fish handle natural prey item. Sure, a neon will eat flake, but it's a lot more fun chewing on a bloodworm almost as big as he is!

Fish almost never die from mysterious bacteria introduced from someplace outside the tank. Premature deaths are overwhelmingly (like 99% of the time) because of poor water quality, the wrong water conditions, or inappropriate tankmates. Almost all so-called diseases, like fin-rot and whitespot, are symptoms of larger problems that could be avoided by better water quality and the use of things like quarantine tanks.

Cheers,

Neale

Adding anything from your kitchen can cause bacteria to be introduced in the aquarium.

 

[pieman]

Yeah, I don't want them on fish flakes that often, I want my fish on real food, not the equivelent of McDonalds in a tub, the main thing I was considering was, bloodworm, brineshrimp, frozen, live?

I'll see what the shop has tomorrow

My pleco (ansistrus) doesn't like cucumber the silly plec, I'll have to try other foods

 

[nmonks]

Pieman --

To be honest, I'd avoid getting the fish too used to live foods. That's making a rod for your own back.

Flake foods are useful though, for the vitamins if nothing else. Most fish will eat live brine shrimps every day, but they're not very nutritious, and the fish can easily starve despite eating their fill of brine shrimps. I feed 2-3 times a day, alternating between frozen and flake. Just as with humans, a bit of everything does them good, so variation is the key. I'm sure humans could survive on soya-pellets or something, but it wouldn't be much fun!

Ancistrus catfish are pretty adaptable, and will eat anything they can. One thing they enjoy is the odd mussel, either in or out the shell. If you pop down to Waitrose or whatever, and buy yourself a few fresh mussels from the fish counter, and you're all set. Freeze the ones you don't need now, and let the Ancistrus have a small piece. Usually, these otherwise nocturnal fish will come out in the daytime to chomp away on a mussel in the half-shell. Your other fish will probably hang around downstream snapping up any bits of meat the catfish throws into the water.

In terms of veggies, definitely try courgette. Every Loricarridae catfish I've owned has loved them. I have an 11-year old Panaque who's basically lived on bogwood and courgettes.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[FBF]

wait for the food to dry out and break it up. it'll fine if a little crispy