What to feed larger fish?

[spoonman]

This may seem like a dumb question but, the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked, right? Here we go. I have an established 84g freshwater tank. Artificial plants and decorations, undergravel filter and 2 hob filters. I have 6 small to medium sized angel fish, a small pleco, 2 3" bala sharks, 3 yellow mollys, 2 black tetras, 2 crazy catfish (maybe pictus), 2 neon tetras. They are all doing well and are happy. I have been feeding them TetraMin and all is fine. A couple days ago I rescued an angel that is about 8-10" from top of fin to bottom fin and a 12" pleco (They are huge). I am assuming that the TetraMin wont cut it anymore. I am not sure that I haven't been depriving my fish up til now. What should I feed my fish? Especially the new, very large ones? I want them to be happy and prosper in their new environment. Thanks for the help in advance. This site rocks!

P.S. Should I add some corys to clean up the bottom?

 

[WhiteDevil]

id add some cories, they do a very fine job of keeping my white sand spotless minus the one pile of doodoo that they wont touch, however I feed live or frozen bloodworms and krill. the angel loves the worms and the other fish play tug of war with the krill.

the pleco will eat zuch and fruits and stuff, I had one that was 20" long when he died and about 4 pounds when I was a kid and he ate fruits and veggies along with the other fish which were cichs but other tanks at the time were tropical community and they ate the stuff as well.

Large fish need alot more then what flakes offer.

 

[bs6749]

Large fish need alot more then what flakes offer.

I disagree with this because flake foods have come a long way from what they used to be. Most flake and pellet foods are an excellent staple for 90% of the fish commonly seen in this hobby. Proper fat and protein levels are seen in these artificial foods and they are fortified with vitamins as well.

However, if you are looking to supplement other foods there are numerous options. Live foods such as blackworms, brine shrimp, ghost shrimp, nightcrawlers, leaf worms, red worms, and even smaller fish are commonly fed. Frozen foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, beefheart, krill, etc. are also readily accepted by most fish. I'm sure your angels would love it if you got some frozen shrimp from the store (or fresh) and cut them up into small bite sized pieces after thawing them out.

You have a number of choices to consider but I don't think you are doing anything "wrong" with feeding TetraMin. You should add some other foods in my opinion, but it's not like the food is hurting the fish.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I havnt used flakes in a long time, I found mine eat the live and frozen more eagerly then flakes.

I had some tetramin color enhancing and I really didnt see much, but after looking at my bottle of flakes and my frozen you are right.

 

[ScottS]

This may seem like a dumb question but, the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked, right? Here we go. I have an established 84g freshwater tank. Artificial plants and decorations, undergravel filter and 2 hob filters. I have 6 small to medium sized angel fish, a small pleco, 2 3" bala sharks, 3 yellow mollys, 2 black tetras, 2 crazy catfish (maybe pictus), 2 neon tetras. They are all doing well and are happy. I have been feeding them TetraMin and all is fine. A couple days ago I rescued an angel that is about 8-10" from top of fin to bottom fin and a 12" pleco (They are huge). I am assuming that the TetraMin wont cut it anymore. I am not sure that I haven't been depriving my fish up til now. What should I feed my fish? Especially the new, very large ones? I want them to be happy and prosper in their new environment. Thanks for the help in advance. This site rocks!

P.S. Should I add some corys to clean up the bottom?

I'm guessing the neons will make good food for the angelfish and the pictus, if large enough, may enjoy the black tetras, so no worries.

 

[spoonman]

Trying the bloodworms.

Bought some frozen bloodworms tonight and will try them out the next few weeks. Thanks for all the great advice. I have had tanks for years but have never had fish of this size. BTW, the neons are the ones that I used to help cycle the tank and they are still kickin. No one seems to bother them.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Neons get a bad wrap

 

[bs6749]

If you want to feed the larger angelfish live fish I suggest that you get a fast breeing smaller fish such as guppies or better yet Endlers. Endlers have breeding cycles that are a few days faster than guppies. You could set up a 10g tank just for the Endlers or guppies to ensure that you have a continual supply of fry to feed to the angels.

 

[spoonman]

I never thought of feeding them fry. That would give me an excuse to set up another tank. My wife will be sooooo happy. If you give them fruits and veggies I assume you need to attach it to something? Also would you just leave it in for a while then remove it? Sorry about all the questions but I really want to take the best care of these fish that I can.

 

[WhiteDevil]

feeder rings and veggie clips are what I use to dispense it, I pull out what isnt eaten within 10 minutes.

 

[spoonman]

You could set up a 10g tank just for the Endlers or guppies to ensure that you have a continual supply of fry to feed to the angels.

Would I need specific things in that 10g for endlers or guppies to breed? I.E.. live plants, flat surface, cover.... etc....

 

[WhiteDevil]

Yes, set up the 10g for a guppy or endler tropical tank, like you would a normal living room tank and let em breed. I hear they are like the cockroaches of the fish world as far as breeding goes, Lets put it this way, my dad started breeding guppies in 1965, he was like 7 I think.

Here
Guppy Breeding--For Experts!

 

[bs6749]

You should provide the fry lots of cover in the tank. Guppy grass or java moss would work very well for this. Neither require lots of light to grow. A bare bottom tank with lots of either plant and you have your breeding tank set up. Make sure you keep the temps in the upper 70's to low 80's and you will be fine.

 

[spoonman]

Canister filter? I assume the fry would get sucked into an hob filter.

 

[bs6749]

A sponge filter would work best.

 

[bmg07]

what ifeed my fish is high quality flake food,blood worms and catfish pelets <i do have have catfish>If i were u i would keep feeding them the food you have get algea wafers for the pleco and blood worms. yes i would also get a cory .btw if that "crazy catfish" is a pictus then they will get a good 6 in.

 

[spoonman]

Well, I have been feeding bloodworms for the past couple weeks now (every 3 days or so) and the fish are loving it! Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried the zuchinni without much luck but the angels and the pleco did like the cucumber. I also tried the algae wafers, but the Pictus (if thats what they are) grabbed them as soon as they sank to the bottom and gobbled them up. I am going to post pics of these catfish as soon as I can and maybe you guys can tell me if thats what they are. They are light colored with dark spots and really long whiskers and grab every thing that makes it to the bottom of the tank. BTW, a co-worker is giving me a 120g complete tank for free so I will be asking a lot more questions.

 

[bmg07]

they are most likely pictus cat fish.because pictus cats have dark spots on them .they also are pretty crazy ,my pictus goes crazy wen i feed him. BTW keep on asking thats why were al here

 

[spoonman]

Here is a pic of my catfish. I know it isnt very good but they are fast. Is it a Pictus????

 

[bmg07]

yes that is a pictus catfish