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RE: The foods you can feed

Punch1 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:28:34 GMT

Exactly - that is why I stated in the comment

" There is nothing wrong with that . Besides it may actually be indirectly and unintentionally beneficial by providing a variety of vitamin and mineral sources . "...

Whatever the case - make sure you identify the dietary needs of the species - as with goldfish and their environmental changes - as I allow temp changes to occur in a seasonal movement -

when above 72 -High protein (35% to 40%) with color enhancers. Add plankton, vegetables, fruits, and shrimp.

62-72 - Bulk of diet should be 35% protein. Add fruits, vegetables, and plankton for variety.

at 60 during a 1 month period - Low protein (25%) along with high carbohydrate vegetables and fruit.

This allowance of temperature change gives a higher coloration - and overall tends to give a healthier physical state - of the pup. Again - dependant on the species and their needs - it is not generic.

RE: The foods you can feed

Nikita — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:31:19 GMT

I am not so limited as to restrict myself to simple anthropomorphization. Many animals actually become habituated quite readily to a certain type of food and exhibit resistance to added variety in their diet. You should know this quite well from your work with birds. However, variety is essential from a nutritional point of view in fish, and for both nutritional and psychological health in other animals.

I was talking to a beginner, and as such, the easiest way to stress the need for variety is to put it in human terms.

RE: The foods you can feed

Punch1 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:36:59 GMT

nikta Mentioned something about fish getting bored . Well ; from researchers have found -- and they do retains a certain memory for each type of food and a "taste" . They say it is not possible at this time to determine if there is a psychological boredom that falls into place if they work on the main staple of food products. However; from what I have found with my goldfish ; they do have a definite reaction by somehow relating site collar and the previous taste of the same product . I find this especially true with banana . But whether are not they have found that they do or do not get bored it tends to be a psychological reaction for us that gives us a feeling that we are accomplishing something that may or may not be actually occurring . That we are trying to provide for IE because we , as humans, get bored with the same food and therefore tried to associate at our psychological reaction was that of a fish . There is nothing wrong with that . Besides it may actually be indirectly and unintentionally beneficial by providing a variety of vitamin and mineral sources .

one of the few foods that you should stay away from is the potato. Fish have a very difficult time in their internal organs dealing with the breakdown and processing of a potato and can cause some gastrointestinal problems.

RE: The foods you can feed

jsmith11618 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:58:07 GMT

[quote]FattFishy (8/27/2008)

I want some daphnia for them...

Thing is, I don't want to grow them and I absolutely don't want any thing coming in with it (i.e. copepods).[/quote]

And I just spent 30 bucks for live copepods to add to my sump on my SW....:)

RE: The foods you can feed

Punch1 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:27:43 GMT

Nikita is absolutely right on SF brands and Hikari - as well - strongly recommend Omega -

When you pick up a product - look at the content menu - the order in which it reads is the order of priority of the ingredients. Hikari and Omega - for example - list fresh salmon first with other quality fish meat - then the fillers are listed down the line - companies like Topfin list vir. all products with the fish meal - which is basically a filler with little or no value to your aquapuppy - use products low in fat where possible -

Stay away from Tubliflex *** there are some disease issues related to their nurturing in sewage waters - Hikari has an excellant patented drying process for its Krill etc -

Nikita mentioned frozen food - if you are not as yet - into the swing of your feeding habits - - I would suggest adding that in your regiment later with experience - You have to take care not to thaw and then to refreeze these prepared products and be careful of how long you keep your frozen products - in fact, I date all the product that I buy - all fish product for food is refrig., and the maximum hold time - I use - is 4 months and then the remaining is thrown out.

Although yur name infers "catfish" you do not mention what fish you have - try to stay away from flakes -

With Goldies - I have 8 tanks with which each is hand fed under the surface of the water. I have a unique style of prep - I use a pill crusher to pulverize the choices for that day - throw in a natural microwaved couple of skinned peas for ruffage and moisture - and mush it till I have a firm paste which I divy up into small servings - staying in this habit allows me to observe any deviation in appetite and vary widely the types of food that I use - as well; be able to incorporate any medicine , into the paste - for a specific individual fish - if needed.

using the pill grinder adds a side benifit - it opens the door to use floating or sinking foods - , at times adding cantaloupe or banana which supplies the moisture to mush the powder together - Golds especially go wild over small pieces of strawberries and bananna - or Krill - with some Hikari blood worms thrown in as a dressing of sorts -

One last point - you commented you liked to watch the feeding frenzy - ie daphnia - here is somethin g fun to try - clean a pill/small prescription bottle and use one that has a cap that presses down to lock - around the edge and the top of the cap - make numerous abrasive lines/gouges that penetrate slightly into the plastic but do not go thru the cap. Clean off the residual plactic shards - - place some small stones in the bottle and seal the top = -get some Hikari freeze dried blood worms - slightly moisten them and press the worms into the scarified areas you made in the cap - yuou can be messy the fish do not mind - - Now - place the bottle in the water top down - the stones you added will keep the top submerged while the bottle floats - once your fish locate this floating treasure chest - well - the excitment begins-

When this is done with Goldfish they soon realize that there is a certain part of the cap that may be sticking out of the water with food on it - they will proceed to rotate the bottle to bring that section of the cap under the water.

RE: The foods you can feed

FattFishy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:37:06 GMT

Live ones will really be appreciated... I want to see them hunt and have the daphnia as a snack if some survive. Or, if I'm lucky, the daphnia might breed and their population can be sustained as snacks for the fishies.

RE: The foods you can feed

Nikita — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:25:33 GMT

I've always had great success with Hikari products. Fish love 'em, they're well-made, and odor/parasite free. They should stock nationwide.

Uhm, there's a company called San Francisco Bay Brand that produces good stuff too. I know it's available here (NC) and I'm assuming that since it's San Francisco Bay Brand it'll be marketed in California. ;]

I always buy the frozen varieties.

RE: The foods you can feed

FattFishy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:16:14 GMT

I want some daphnia for them...

Thing is, I don't want to grow them and I absolutely don't want any thing coming in with it (i.e. copepods).

Does anyone know some good companies/places that stock daphnia in southern California (specifically the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles)?

RE: The foods you can feed

Nikita — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:14:01 GMT

Your fish always need variety. You'd get bored if you ate the same food every day, and would probably lack some nutrients in your diet. It's the same with your fish. No matter how well-made a food is, it's never a complete diet.

You named some good foods, and I also suggest that you go into the "Pinned Topics" section. In there is a topic on fish food where you can get a great idea of all the amazing variety out there.

Right now, I'm feeding my invert/tetra tank Hikari Micro Pellets, TetraMin tropical flakes, cyclops, mosquito larvae, tubifex worms, daphnia, and brine shrimp (all but the first two in frozen form).

If you ever see a food you don't know about, just google it! You'll get info on it and some brands that supply it.

The foods you can feed

catfishfriend — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:51:54 GMT

I read about the foods you can feed like vegetables or meat (bloodworm/ brine shrimp) is that something i should be doing and if so what servings. How??? Or am i fine with fish flakes. :unsure:

3 cory catfish

2 angle fish

3 hatchet

9 tetras