What Food

[kev999]

Whats the best thing to feed dwarfs on cheers in advance.

 

[sylvia]

Like all fish, it is a good idea to vary their diet in order to ensure they are getting everything they need. It's also stimulating for them as they get something new every day and don't get 'bored' or hooked on just one thing.

With dwarf gouramies, vegetables in the diet are important. Sometimes, if they are not getting enough, they'll munch on your aquarium plants. Blanched veggies are great - zuchinni and other green veggies (though things like lettuce have very little nutricious value and may be ignored). Cucumber (prefferably with the skin removed - unless it's organic - and weighted or clipped onto the side of the tank - you can buy appropriate clips from many LFSs) is also great. Many fish will eat this - not just gouramies. Somethign else to consider is green peas (the normal frozen variety ). If you de-shell them and/or crush them, they make great snacks that also help prevent constipation.

Besides veggies, gouramies adore live foods such as brine shrimp, bloodworm and, in some cases at least daphnia. Daphnia is also a good food to feed to prevent bloating. The frozen contemporaries of these foods also go down a treat and may be easier for you to feed. Nutrition-wise, there isn't much difference - but the 'wiggling factor' is not something you can replace

AVOID freeze-dried foods. They are like cardboard - no nutritional value and likely to cause serious constipation. Similarly, it's best not to over-do flake-feeding. Having said that, flake is an excellent staple and should be fed because it's often reenforced with various vitamins etc that the fish need. However, vary the brand and make shure you don't by large tubs. The dry food can quickly loose a lot of its nutrition and needs to be bought fresh regularly (so use small boxes that will run out relatively quick). Switching brands every time you buy some or having several small containers of different types of flake is a good idea to vary the diet even more.

I also like to feed the occasional catfish pellets and algae wafers. The wafers are great because of their veggie-content whereas the catfish pellets are often high in proteins like those found in live foods. Most gouramies won't be too enthusiastic about eating these unless they float for a bit or are first picked at by other fish - but they eventualy get the hang of it.

Basicaly, avoid feeding too much flake food but do keep it as the 'staple'. Make shure you compliment the diet with regular veggies but don't allow them to rot in the tank so take them out after a few hours if they've been left untouched. Live foods are excellent and should be offered at least on occasion though frozen foods will do if you realy have no other option. The key is to vary the diet so that you ensure it's balanced and adequate for your fish.