Aquarium Fish Food Tips
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Feeding Flake Food
Flake food is commonly overfed to aquarium fish. Keep in mind that an aquarium fish's stomach is generally the size of their eye. Feed only the amount of flake food that the fish will consume in 30 to 60 seconds. Two very small feedings per day is better than one large feeding per day. Excess food will decrease the water quality and increase filter maintenance.
Black Worms
These bacteria-infested worms are among the best sources of protein for the fish and are an excellent conditioning food for breeding preparation. But be careful, frequent feedings will cause the fish to become fat and impair breeding. Because black worms are generally collected or raised under non-sanitary conditions, diseases are far more likely on a steady diet of worms. Thoroughly rinse worms in chlorinated water (tap water) before feeding to your aquarium fish.
Pelletized Food
Pellet aquarium food is available in all sizes suitable for small, medium and large fish. Pellet food will float on the surface or slowly sink to the bottom, depending on the specific type of pellets. Larger fish and finiky eaters will generally accept pellets over flake food. Choose the size of the pellet according to the size of your fish for to avoid uneaten pellets from cloging the filter.
Hatching Baby Brine Shrimp
Hatching baby brine shrimp is best done in a brine shrimp hatcher. As a substitute, an inverted 2 liter soda bottle with the top cut off will work. Use water with a hgh salinity level of 1.4 to 1.6 ppm. Place an airstone in the brine shrimp hatcher. Baby brine shrimp will hatch 24 to 36 hours after being added to the brine solution.
Baby Brine Shrimp
Baby brine shrimp are a food of choice for the newly hatched fry of egg-layers and other small fish. They're also eaten voraciously by some surprisingly large marine fish and make a good substitute macro-plankton for some filter-feeding invertebrates.
Harvesting Baby Brine Shrimp
Once the brine shrimp has hatched, remove the airstone from the hatcher and place a light source at the bottom of the hatcher. After about 15 minutes, the baby brine shrimp will congregate at the bottom of the hatcher. Drain the hatcher contents through a brine shrimp net. Stop draining once you have collected the freshly hatched baby brine shrimp in the net in order to aviod collecting the egg shells from the baby brine. Drian and clean the hatcher before starting the next batch.
Feeder Fish
Several large fish, including cichlids and piranhas will eat live fish as part of their diet.
It is generally not necessary to "grow your own". Many fish stores stock offer inexpensive "feeder guppies" or "feeder goldfish" as part of their ordinary stock. For fish like piranhas, a small piece of raw chicken or a strip of fish fillet will work just as well as a live fish. Feeding live fish is not recommended because it will increase the aggresiveness of your fish and led to an increased chance of introducing disease pathogens into the aquarium.
Flake Food Types
Flake food is the most common food for feeding aquarium fish. Flake food is available in several different varieties from vegatable flakes to high protein content flakes to goldfish flakes. These specialty diets are designed for specific types of fish to optimize their color, growth, and health in the aquarium.
Culturing Black Worms
I don't recommend trying to culture black worms yourself. They will live on the bottom of a tank, eating detritus and waste. Altough they can be fed banana peels. Filter water intensively. Collect them by sieving gravel with worms through a net.
Black Worms
Black worms are fed to condition breeders and should be fed on a limited basis if at all. If too many worms are fed to the fish at one time, the worms will burrow into the gravel and hide, risking fouling the tank.
Tubifex
The aquarist should not attempt to raise tubifex. They live and feed on sewage, and may carry hepatitis or other potential pathogens. They may be successfully kept in cold running water without producing odor. Alternatively, 2 oz. of worms can be kept for up to three days in a medium sized bucket of cold water in a fridge.
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| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
