Live Foods.

[stang1]

I appreciate people who do keep predatory fish that need to feed them live foods but it's not something I could ever do myself.
I would feel awful letting something eat another fish and incredibly guilty too.
I think I'll just stick with my Plecos!

 

[Dany]

Good question. Basically Wilder is saying that the fish should be left in the wild, and the only place a fish should eat other fish is in the wild.. Wilder, that would kill the fish hobby for 80% of the fish keepers. Just because they are predatory doesn't mean we shouldn't keep them, we just need to feed them different foods, just because you can't bring yourself to do it, doesn't mean others can't. Guess most lizards and snakes shouldn't be sold, they are predators!

Sorry but werent you just opposing feeding live fish? i dont know. i cant be botherd to cancel this post to go and look. i appoligize if you wernt.
People should have the choice to buy predators, and im my oppinion, yes, live foods should be used to mimic their natural behaviour. some fish such as polypteridae and for example chaca chaca, millions of years of evolution didnt lead for them to be fed prepared pellets, flake or even frozen fish. They hunt, thats what they do, they are hunters, this cant suddenly be substituted to dead, cold, frozne smelts.
Anther thing, people are saying to feed frozen as it is "untatural" to find goldfish in the amazon etc... ever seen a smelt up there?

 

[fry_lover]

i just recommend that the peeps who use feeder fish have good filtration as i believe it does create an extra burden on the biological filtration lots of feeder fish

good filters are a must for ANY set-up, especially one with predators, i think we would all agree there?

 

[jayjay]

I can't see how a fish gets pleasure from hunting, it would have an easier life in the small space, no?

Nearly all fish eat other fish in some form in the wild, even if it's only once, most will do it. From scavenging to small fry.

I'd love to see you get a Chaca chaca to take pellets Dany.

t1tanrush - do you know the concentrations of each in each of the foods though? As for the filter, then why are you worrying about the bacteria if your doing water changes, thus giving them nothing to survive off any way.

 

[Gatorbait]

i just recommend that the peeps who use feeder fish have good filtration as i believe it does create an extra burden on the biological filtration lots of feeder fish

good filters are a must for ANY set-up, especially one with predators, i think we would all agree there?

Absolutely. I knew we could agree on something!!!

I think anyone keeping large cichlids and piranhas should have a minimum filtration of turning your tank over 10 times an hour since they are so messy, even when not feeding live foods.

I love how this thread has gone and how civil this all is.

 

[fry_lover]

maybe one day i will be into predator fish that only eat other fish, its the owners choice, they go out and buy these wild caught fish knowing they only eat other fish, for most of these owners perhaps this is part of the "buzz" of it all, knowing they have an exciting predator fish that is a "hunter", i know perhaps one day i will get that urge? i guess the argument could go on forever, the rights and wrongs of it all.

 

[t1tanrush]

i just recommend that the peeps who use feeder fish have good filtration as i believe it does create an extra burden on the biological filtration lots of feeder fish

good filters are a must for ANY set-up, especially one with predators, i think we would all agree there?

Um, I disagree. I don't use ANY filters in ANY of my tanks, my fish are healthy and active. Instead I do more frequent water changes.. so no, we don't all agree.

 

[WILDER]

I'm happy with my tetra's and corys, boring to some I know.

 

[jayjay]

Yes, but to cancel the need of a filter, you will need to be doing large water changes, every day, unless you have a huge planted tank and low waste producing fish. Also again a bare tank will be a better idea to remove any waste so it does not slowly rot away.

Wilder, those fish will eat fry for example if they are hungry enough though and if they can.

 

[t1tanrush]

Yes, but to cancel the need of a filter, you will need to be doing large water changes, every day, unless you have a huge planted tank and low waste producing fish. Also again a bare tank will be a better idea to remove any waste so it does not slowly rot away.

lol have you even kept fish without a filter? You don't need to do large water changes every day to keep it in check..
Bare tank may be easier to remove things, but in the majority of cases, it looks incomplete and like utter ####.

 

[Dany]

I'd love to see you get a Chaca chaca to take pellets Dany.

i mean predatory fish in general.

I can't see how a fish gets pleasure from hunting, it would have an easier life in the small space, no?

i see we have a psychiatrist. How do you know that fish do not enjoy hunting? We as humans cannot step into millions upon millions of years of evolution and suddenly change their are natural diet and habits.
it is their instinct to hunt, to ambush and to pray on smaller fishes, even though you may think its easier for them i some how dont think that your fish are going to ignore their instinct and the way they have evolved to catch such fish just because there is now pellets and other prepared foods available.
Dan

 

[WILDER]

Only time my fish eaten another fish was when I used to have platy fry and wasn't happy with the fish for eating my babies.
So moved the fry into there own tank no more live snacking.

 

[jayjay]

Haha Dan, indeed I do

t1tanrush, I have kept unfiltered tanks and I watched the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to see what happened, I found that I needed to do daily large water changes. The bare bottom tanks don't look great, but overall make tank maintenance easier and thus create better water quality.

Exactly wilder, they were eating live fish when they could.

 

[t1tanrush]

Haha Dan, indeed I do

t1tanrush, I have kept unfiltered tanks and I watched the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to see what happened, I found that I needed to do daily large water changes. The bare bottom tanks don't look great, but overall make tank maintenance easier and thus create better water quality.

Exactly wilder, they were eating live fish when they could.

So now we aren't only taking the fish out of its natural environment and putting it in a small tank and making it eat processed pellets, but we are making it live on glass, which doesn't work for some substrate spawners. Yea good idea. I think I'll stick to what I'm doing as its working just fine.

 

[LisaLQ]

Wilder, those fish will eat fry for example if they are hungry enough though and if they can.

And bloodworms! Argh!

*runs off to write placards with slogans like "All we are saying, is give daphnia a chance!" and "Hell yes - free your tubifex!", dons her round glasses and stands outside her LFS shouting and sobbing*