cooked foods

[woody390]

Hi, I like to try and give my fish as much of a varied diet as possible but a lot of the fish at my supermarkets are cooked before sale. Should I avoid feeding cooked food to them or as long as its not cooked in anything will this be ok?

 

[Big Tex]

all ive heard is that we cook food basically to make it safe to eat, meaning releasing alot of proteins and nutrients and killing bacteria we cant process, or that would other wise make us sick, but animals in the wild can eat it just fine and thats what they need. so i would think cooked food wouldnt be as nutritious or as effective as raw "natural" foods. plus cooked foods are usually cooked in oils and grease and maybe even seasonings that i would never attempt to feed my fish.

 

[Gregcoyote]

I agree. Try to buy uncooked even if frozen.

 

[woody390]

Yeah only thing is everything round here seems to be cooked bar king prawns and sardines which I have been feeding. Will it do hard to feed cooked food or just not as nutritional?

 

[Gregcoyote]

You can buy a seafood mix frozen at the grocery store. Grind it up and add any white fish, or other goodies. If it came from the sea, they will eat it.

 

[mr_X]

Rinse it thoroughly though, before grinding, as with any ocean fish. I have heard they do spray some preservatives on the surface of most seafood right on the boat.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Good point.

 

[Mebbid]

If you do manage to get ahold of fresh seafood its best to freeze before feeding. The freezing process will kill potential parasites in the fish.

 

[Big Tex]

good point greg, ive been contemplating buying the seafood medley at my local grocery store and adding maybe some fresh tilapia and muscles or oysters throwing it all in the blender with some garlic extract and making my own frozen mix. of course washing it all first, blending then freezing before feeding.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Be careful to not mince it up too much. You want a fairly fine chop, but not enough so the food just falls apart. The seafood dough you make will help interconnect the various ingredients so the fish can tear it apart.

I put a chunk in that has mesh around it on a clip still frozen. The trigger attacks it while still frozen which helps keep his teeth honed down. As it dissolves the other fish grab bits.