Food and Feeding for aquarium fish
Food and Feeding
The present aquarium market is all but flooded with different brands of tropical-fish foods. With few exceptions, they contain in varying amounts meal fish (usually menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, which is dried and ground for animal feeds and is readily available), crab or clam meal, beef meal, and possibly some wheat meal or other filler. Shrimp and vegetable matter, very nutritive in a fish food, are usually found only in the better brands.
Not only is the content of a fish food important, but also the way the food is prepared is a factor of great significance. Foods should be sifted according to size, for particles, which are too large, will be uneaten until they have become soft, and particles, which are too small, can only benefit the plants and smaller organisms. A well-prepared food should be screened and sifted for particle size and cleaned of all dust. the most economical way to do this on a large scale is for the ingredients to be added in the form of a meal, mixed well, and then be prepared into a batter by adding water. this should then be baked, dehydrated (so it will float and not rot or get moldy), and then ground. An ordinary coffee grinder will serve the purpose. Each grind size should be sifted for smaller particles. Some organizations sell the fine dust that comes with every grinding procedure as a food for fry.
Fishes in captivity do suffer from dietary deficiency diseases. the number of tropical fishes dying from such disorders is probably slight, although a poor balanced diet would certainly be responsible for a drop in the fishes' ability to fight off harmful organisms. the following suggestions outline in general the essential factors in fishes' diet. One caution cannot be overemphasized: the easiest way to aquarium mismanagement is through overfeeding. Adult fishes should be fed every other day; fry should be fed, in small amounts, as often as possible. Never feed your fishes more food than they can eat in 15 or20 minutes
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10-18-2005, 06:58 AM
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