Fish Nutrition

[Liquid]

I'm interested in getting some advice about the nutrition level in the things that are available to feed our fish. Should I strive to pick things that have the highest protien content and occassionally feed things high in lipids? I thought flake was generally towards the lower end of the nutrition spectrum, but when checking the guaranteed analysis, it contained many more times worth of protien than some of the frozen foods that I thought were high quality and this kind of turned me on my head. What are people's usual feeding routines?

Cyclopeeze
Mysis
Spirulina Enriched Brine Shrimp
Emerald Entree
Flake
Formula 1/2
Bloodworms

 

[B.rian]

i feed plankton, mysis, formula 2 flake, mega marine algae, and clam. just started feeding foods soaked in garlic too. my fish actually eat some of the minced garlic

 

[Liquid]

How do you decide what you are going to feed?

 

[billm]

i feed plankton, mysis, formula 2 flake, mega marine algae, and clam. just started feeding foods soaked in garlic too. my fish actually eat some of the minced garlic

I wish some of my fish would eat flake it would be a lot easier to balance their diet

 

[B.rian]

to decide what i am going to feed, i go to the fish store and buy whatever kind of frozen i don't have. i try out a new food every night to see what my fish will eat. i do not consider the nutritional value of the food a whole lot, but i know that brine is not nutritional at all. i guess soaking the food in selcon is a good way to ensure that the fish receive their vitamins. selcon contains highly unsaturated OMEGA 3 fatty acids, Marine Lipids (200 mg/g), Stabilized Vitamin C (200 mg) and Vitamin B12 Cyanocobalamin (240 mcg). i feed twice a day. first i will feed flakes in the afternoon. shortly before lights out i will feed frozen. i rotate between the frozen types of food, a different each night.
billm, it took a little while to get my fish on flake food. but after a day or two, or several days, of no food the fish will begin eating flake. just offer them flake everyday, they will get hungry sooner or later. once they start eating flake i have never had any refuse it.

 

[redpaulhus]

The numbers on dry (flake, pellet, freeze-dried) foods will always look higher than the numbers on frozen or wet foods due to the moisture content of the frozen foods.
Compare the protein % of freeze-dried krill with the % on a package of frozen krill for a great example. Is the freeze dried more concentrated ? No, it just weighs less until its re-hydrated.

that being said - I like to feed lots of assorted frozen foods, especially ones high in HUFA (mysids, cyclopeeze, enriched artemia) along with blended foods like frozen Formula One, Formula Two, Angel Formula, and home-made fish goo.
But I also like to include some flake or pellet foods - I feel that they may contribute some missing vitamins that the natural foods lack.

I think if it this way - how healthy would I be if I ate only Lobster 3 times a day for a year ? I'd have some vitamin deficiencies, even though lobster is a healthy food. Eating a breakfast cereal with "100% vitamins" like Total for breakfast, with lobster twice a day, I'd probably be healthier.

I also try to include some "greens" - algae, etc.

This is how I feed all of my fish, freshwater and marine, and I've never heard a complaint

 

[RichConley]

Just something I learned back in my freshwater african cichlid days:

Flake food is the devil. The main problem with it, isnt nutrition, its plenty nutritions. Its the fact that it falls apart in water. You add so much more waste to your tank than the fish actually get to eat. Back in the cichlid days, I was feeding my fish entirely on pellets, and was seeing much better growth and colors. Flake foods are too messy.

I highly reccoment the formula 1 /2 pellet foods.

That being said, I still feed spirulina flake occasionally, I just can't find it in a pellet form.

 

[lactrain]

I think the best way to get a balanced diet to your fish is to make a mush ... wether it is mixing fresh seafood with some of your frozen and pellet and greens .... or just fresh seafood period ....

But having them blended togethor and feeding a variety at once i think is the best way to go...

I prefer to blend fresh seafood only with some Nori greens or Dulse as my staple ... then on occasion substituting with some commercial products for a treat.

Len

 

[RichConley]

I dont feed a mush, but I've had other experiences.

When I feed brine and mysis at the same time, one of my wrasses will only eat brine. Thats why I feed different things on different days. That way I can assure that they are eating different thigns. I'd be worried with a mush that theyre just getting what they want out of it.

I really dont think its that much of an issue either way though.