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All fish have different needs, this could perhaps be because of the
size of their mouths, or where there natural swimming pattern
falls……… for example do they feed off the surface of the water like
say Hatchet Fish or Butterfly Fish who in the wild like to catch
insects, do they swim in mid water, most Tetras and shoaling fish
swim here and they feed on food that is either on the surface or
sinking slowly through the water, then there are the specialised
bottom feeders cat fish, loaches and the various dwarf eel species
who like to bury etc who in the wild forage for food through silty,
sandy or muddy river beds. Goldfish and their like will feed from
almost any position in the water…………
So the importance of feeding
your fish the correct diet should become obvious…………there seems to
be a certain food for certain fish from almost every
manufacturer………..in the following recommendations, we have tried and
will continue to try to bring you vitamin rich diets for the fish
that you keep…….
Feeding and how much to feed
is also a much misunderstood issue……….
Almost every tub of food
says to feed at least three times a day as much as your fish will
eat within two minutes…………as sound as this advice may seem, it is
sometimes not that practical, if you have a new filter system for
example or if your fish are of the species that in the wild are only
used to eating ‘prey’ when it is available, or just to the fact that
they do not want to eat that often………..
Feeding time for your fish
is the time when fish keepers get to really observe their fish.
In this time you can check
that they are all present and correct, that they are all eating or
being allowed to eat by their tank mates, no bullying is going on,
and do they look fit and healthy and acting in an enthusiastic
manner?……….all of which is extremely important to the success of
keeping a happy, healthy aquarium……..
In a new tank set up or new
filter system, for the first six weeks we would recommend that you
feed lightly (one small pinch) once a day only………..
After you know that the
filter is working to capacity then go to twice a day………there are
really only certain species that need feeding more often than
this……..REMEMBER most fish are GREEDY they will look hungry even if
they are not!!!
Food, once it is in the
aquarium water will go one of three ways………it either gets eaten or
it gets left, but unfortunately it very rarely gets netted back out
by the fish keeper, as by the time you realise that you have over
fed it is too late and all has sunk or dispersed into the water
…….either way it will cause pollution, this of course can be kept to
minimal proportions if you make sure you do not over feed………
Dried foods are the most
convenient and seem to be the first popular choice with most
people……….however there are other alternatives………..
Wet foods……….be they frozen,
encased in a jelly or fresh and alive…………….
Now a little bit about the ‘wet’ foods……….
As the feeding of good quality dry foods is
fine, it is also a good idea to balance your fish’s diet and give
them a mixture and variety with ‘wet’ foods……..especially in fish
that have been ‘man made’ over the years like the fancy breeds,
Fantails, Pearlscales and the like with the rounded ‘pot’ bellies.
In these fish the swim bladder tends to be more
compacted due to the body shape and as the start of a swim bladder
problem in this sort of fish can often be constipation before a
bacterial infection takes over, it is always a good idea to keep
them ‘regular’.
One excellent way to do this is by the feeding
of a high quality ‘wet’ food two or three times a week…
No fish in the wild eats a flake food………..so
whilst a flake food is convenient to us, and in most cases very
nutritious for your fish, a varied diet of texture and flavour is
the key to success………..
Just a small tip…….. when feeding Marine fish a
dried flake type food, to make it more readily acceptable feed the
dried food as the first feed of the day when they are really
hungry…………but in my honest opinion unless a dried food is more
convenient it certainly should not be the only food that your Marine
fish are getting…………..out of all the ornamental fish we like to keep
the diet of these fish should be much more varied , complex and
specialized………..in the wild they would enjoy a menu of various
shrimp, vegetable matter in the form of a good quality brand of
fresh or dried harvested seaweed, muscle, fish and other mollusks
and crustaceans……….
Last but not least this is the most interesting
part of keeping fish and should be watched and enjoyed…………
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