What type of fishfood is best??

[awillemd1]

I have two tangs (blue and yellow), a Hawkfish, and a purple pseudochromise along with various invertibrates (hermit crabs, brittle stars, snails) and I was wondering what people recommend for feeding this variety of fish.

I have been using an Aquadine blend (meat and vegetables) and I just ran out. I am having a hard time replacing it, so I need to change to something else. I typically supplement once a week or so with Nori and a meaty frozen food. I also occasionally add some of the macro algae from my sump.

I realize that this is a controversial topic, but I was hoping some folks with experience might comment on this and advise me on what they think is the best formula for feeding?

One very basic question I have is should flake food be part of the mix? It seems that feeding with frozen food is a pretty expensive way to go, however, it may be the most nutritious.

Thanks in advance.

awillemd1

 

[TCTFish]

A good marine flake food should always be part of the mix. These foods are fortified with the right amount of nutrition, vitamins and minerals that may not be available in some frozen foods. IMO, Flake food, cyclops or zooplankton, and a pure veggie source makes a good diet. Include purple seaweed for the tangs. Suppliment with meaty frozen foods only on occassion (like once or twice a week).

 

[cmor1701d]

Do a site search on "blender mush" or "home made food" for some good alternatives to store bought frozen food. There are several recipes that I have from this board and I change the mix around depending on what's available when I need to make a new batch.

 

[awillemd1]

Thank you!

Are there some good brands of flake food that you can recommend?

awillemd1

 

[john0087]

I have had great sucess with the Ocean Nutrition Formula one flake. It is a mix of protein and veggie. They also have formula 2 which I believe is more veggie based. When i am done with the flake, i am going to try the formula one pellets and the formula reef flake, just to keep things mixed up a bit.

FYI, my fish perfer the flake over the same brand frozen food.

 

[Hara]

I feed frozen Mysis every other day. I give the tangs nori daily. You should be giving them the vegetables more often than once or twice a week.

 

[Civicman86]

I use mysis shrimp, cylopeeze, and New life Spectrum Optimum Salt H2O flakes (has garlic). Along with some romain lettus. People say variety is the key. I feel its a pretty good line up for feeding.

 

[Lagger]

I recommend a variety with flake/pellets as a staple as well. I feed frozen: Mysis, Bloodworms, Prime Reef and Pygmy angel formula. I also feed dry: Hikari pellets, plankton and as a treat brine shrimp. In general try to get a good mix of greens/meats.

 

[TCTFish]

One of the better ways to look for a good food is read the ingredients. Many fish foods are stuffed with fillers and grains. Though some grains may provide certain nutrients it should not be the first ingredient listed except for goldfish and koi. So look for those with a meat content as the first ingredient. Omega One is actually one of the best flake foods I found. Made with natural proteins and the ingredients aren't stuffed with chemicals and grains. It even smells better.

Pellet foods I find to be quite messy and can weigh heavy on the bio. Flake is cleaner to the tank. Any 'people' food used in a fish food mix should be labelled 'ORGANIC' so it is free of pesticidal residues. Fish on the people food market is NOT recommended for aquarium fish to eat mainly because our food fish are not treated for pathenogens. You run a higher risk of fish getting sick. Doesn't mean they will, but the risks are there. Fish we eat get cooked so that process is skipped for our own consumption of fish. Frozen fish food are treated for pathenogens because these sea foods are fed out raw.

 

[cmor1701d]

Fish we eat get cooked

Not into sushi or sashimi, I see. Exactly what type of pathogen are you referring to that is safe for humans but not safe for fish?

 

[TCTFish]

I never mentioned or referred anything about any type of pathenogen safe for anyone or anything to eat. Point is, pathenogens are destroyed as we cook our food, so the risk of exposure to pathenogens from cooked fish just isn't there. I refuse to eat raw fish such as sushi because of the risk to pathenogen exposure. The fish that is packaged as fish food are treated for pathenogens and therefore much less risk if any to pathenogen exposure, but if you were to feed raw fish from the supermarket to aquarium fish, they run the risk of pathenogen exposure.