Why Fish Won't Eat Their Food?

[ashleynicole]

Could have sworn someone needed aquarium advice here, check 1...2....including myself

The point being that all "medicine" isnt necessarily good and doesn't necessarily need to be given all the time and could be more harmful than good. And that can be related back to ingredients in fish food... thus still aquarium advice.

 

[GreenLily]

I personally think that this whole fish being farmers and medication talk is completely irrelevant to the OP's issue.. Just sayin'!
As for the fish not eating the food right away, give it a few days. When they start getting hungrier, I'm sure they will be less picky about what you give them.

 

[Delapool]

My tropical fish ate the cheap brand of flake food. But now that I bought a better brand of flake food they won't eat it. Anyone know why?

I get that as well. The first time they took a few days to get used to it - the human equivalent of vegetables?? Now they kind of accept it.

I assumed taste(?) as they seemed to spit it out a few times but maybe there is more to it.

 

[ashleynicole]

I agree. The cheaper foods are more like "junk food". Think mcdonalds versus a salad and grilled lean chicken breast. When they're hungry enough they'll probably eat it.

 

[Andy Sager]

Wow!!! I do bring out some interesting conversations on this site.

As someone who has spent a good part of his life in the pet business and dealing with and having just about every animal group commonly kept as pets, I've experienced this situation with changing foods many times. The advice I gave before was given to me by my Vet as a means to gently switch the food without causing intestinal distress within the animal. In fish, I believe taste and texture has a lot to do with the rejections. Once again, adding new food in with the old food and gradually reducing the old food has worked more often then not. I'm not a big proponent of the starving method to get a pet to switch foods when alternate, less drastic measures achieve the same results.

As for some of the other comments regarding the medicines and foods we people eat or use, I believe most people who eat a "proper" diet and really take care of themselves don't use or need supplements or medicines. While these are truly rare instances, I'm sure they do exist somewhere in the world. Considering that many medicines are plant based in origin, one would think that people living in or around rain forests (the source of many medicines) are a bit healthier than someone who is in a city under constant stress.

As for herring or krill not being found in freshwater rivers or lakes, fish protein and crustacean life like shrimps and crabs ARE found in these waters so substituting them for "natural" foods is not that far off. (We did have herring in freshwater rivers in NJ during spawning season however.)

As for the allicin being why they use garlic in the food, I would think that the companies would list THAT in the ingredients instead of Garlic to avoid conversations such as this one. Do they think we're not smart enough to read a label? As for adding vitamins and minerals, these things do get altered or damaged during the dehydrating & freezing processes so adding them after the process once again, is not that far off or unusual.

So let's talk about using vegetables in the aquarium. If we fed the fish a more natural diet, would they even be necessary? They do carry some of the ingredients/chemical makeup that algaes do so why not grow the algae instead? (Because Veggies are easier )

Bottom line to all this is this: Most of the fish we keep in an aquarium today are the byproduct of fish we kept back in the stone ages when we didn't have all the "extras" that we have today. We also today have medicine resistant diseases and genetic problems like never before. Over crowding fish tanks seem to be the norm and harsher measures to force the fish to eat unnaturally also seem to be the common answer to: HOW do I get my fish to eat something they are not used to? The fish we buy are now being kept in systems that hold multiple types of fish that shouldn't be kept together so no wonder there needs to be so many extras.
All I was thinking was that we had it so much easier "back in the day" and the fish were better fish as well and we kept them for long periods of time without all the "extras" in their food. Why has it gotten so out of whack?

Thanks for the conversation

 

[mistersprinkles]

Wow!!! I do bring out some interesting conversations on this site.

As someone who has spent a good part of his life in the pet business and dealing with and having just about every animal group commonly kept as pets, I've experienced this situation with changing foods many times. The advice I gave before was given to me by my Vet as a means to gently switch the food without causing intestinal distress within the animal. In fish, I believe taste and texture has a lot to do with the rejections. Once again, adding new food in with the old food and gradually reducing the old food has worked more often then not. I'm not a big proponent of the starving method to get a pet to switch foods when alternate, less drastic measures achieve the same results.

As for some of the other comments regarding the medicines and foods we people eat or use, I believe most people who eat a "proper" diet and really take care of themselves don't use or need supplements or medicines. While these are truly rare instances, I'm sure they do exist somewhere in the world. Considering that many medicines are plant based in origin, one would think that people living in or around rain forests (the source of many medicines) are a bit healthier than someone who is in a city under constant stress.

As for herring or krill not being found in freshwater rivers or lakes, fish protein and crustacean life like shrimps and crabs ARE found in these waters so substituting them for "natural" foods is not that far off. (We did have herring in freshwater rivers in NJ during spawning season however.)

As for the allicin being why they use garlic in the food, I would think that the companies would list THAT in the ingredients instead of Garlic to avoid conversations such as this one. Do they think we're not smart enough to read a label? As for adding vitamins and minerals, these things do get altered or damaged during the dehydrating & freezing processes so adding them after the process once again, is not that far off or unusual.

So let's talk about using vegetables in the aquarium. If we fed the fish a more natural diet, would they even be necessary? They do carry some of the ingredients/chemical makeup that algaes do so why not grow the algae instead? (Because Veggies are easier )

Bottom line to all this is this: Most of the fish we keep in an aquarium today are the byproduct of fish we kept back in the stone ages when we didn't have all the "extras" that we have today. We also today have medicine resistant diseases and genetic problems like never before. Over crowding fish tanks seem to be the norm and harsher measures to force the fish to eat unnaturally also seem to be the common answer to: HOW do I get my fish to eat something they are not used to? The fish we buy are now being kept in systems that hold multiple types of fish that shouldn't be kept together so no wonder there needs to be so many extras.
All I was thinking was that we had it so much easier "back in the day" and the fish were better fish as well and we kept them for long periods of time without all the "extras" in their food. Why has it gotten so out of whack?

Thanks for the conversation

What do you mean when you say that back in the stone age of fish keeping, the fish were better fish? Are you referring to the inferior genetic stock of fish that have been captive bred for a long time?

 

[Delapool]

Wow!!! I do bring out some interesting conversations on this site.

As someone who has spent a good part of his life in the pet business and dealing with and having just about every animal group commonly kept as pets, I've experienced this situation with changing foods many times. The advice I gave before was given to me by my Vet as a means to gently switch the food without causing intestinal distress within the animal. In fish, I believe taste and texture has a lot to do with the rejections. Once again, adding new food in with the old food and gradually reducing the old food has worked more often then not. I'm not a big proponent of the starving method to get a pet to switch foods when alternate, less drastic measures achieve the same results.

As for some of the other comments regarding the medicines and foods we people eat or use, I believe most people who eat a "proper" diet and really take care of themselves don't use or need supplements or medicines. While these are truly rare instances, I'm sure they do exist somewhere in the world. Considering that many medicines are plant based in origin, one would think that people living in or around rain forests (the source of many medicines) are a bit healthier than someone who is in a city under constant stress.

As for herring or krill not being found in freshwater rivers or lakes, fish protein and crustacean life like shrimps and crabs ARE found in these waters so substituting them for "natural" foods is not that far off. (We did have herring in freshwater rivers in NJ during spawning season however.)

As for the allicin being why they use garlic in the food, I would think that the companies would list THAT in the ingredients instead of Garlic to avoid conversations such as this one. Do they think we're not smart enough to read a label? As for adding vitamins and minerals, these things do get altered or damaged during the dehydrating & freezing processes so adding them after the process once again, is not that far off or unusual.

So let's talk about using vegetables in the aquarium. If we fed the fish a more natural diet, would they even be necessary? They do carry some of the ingredients/chemical makeup that algaes do so why not grow the algae instead? (Because Veggies are easier )

Bottom line to all this is this: Most of the fish we keep in an aquarium today are the byproduct of fish we kept back in the stone ages when we didn't have all the "extras" that we have today. We also today have medicine resistant diseases and genetic problems like never before. Over crowding fish tanks seem to be the norm and harsher measures to force the fish to eat unnaturally also seem to be the common answer to: HOW do I get my fish to eat something they are not used to? The fish we buy are now being kept in systems that hold multiple types of fish that shouldn't be kept together so no wonder there needs to be so many extras.
All I was thinking was that we had it so much easier "back in the day" and the fish were better fish as well and we kept them for long periods of time without all the "extras" in their food. Why has it gotten so out of whack?

Thanks for the conversation

That's a good point on intestinal distress. I try to mix some old with new as it runs out but went away for a long weekend and used a fish weekend feeding block. Lost a platy, the only thing different was the food.

I do get the impression it is taste and texture as it gets spat straight back out. And then they will have another go. But you can almost see the head shaking

 

[Andy Sager]

What do you mean when you say that back in the stone age of fish keeping, the fish were better fish? Are you referring to the inferior genetic stock of fish that have been captive bred for a long time?

Yes. I started keeping fish back in the 1960s and most were either wild stock or only a few generations removed of those wild stocks. With all the inbreeding that has been done to obtain new variaties or colors, many genetic flaws have been carried forward. For example, look up wild Mollies, Wild Guppies, Swordtails, Angelfish, Discus, Oscars, etc, and see what they look like. Now compare those to what's available on the market today. All those that are available now are all man made with many not holding up as long as their wild counterparts. Yes, it's easier to breed some of the fish today than back then but the results are not nearly as good as back then. ( I was a commercial fish breeder starting in the late 1960s.) I see that in the fish I breed now. I have the ability to compare both times as I've done it at both times.

I affectionly call my early days the "stone age" as there aren't many on this site that were even around back then. Those who were know what I am talking about

 

[ashleynicole]

Wow!!! I do bring out some interesting conversations on this site.


As for some of the other comments regarding the medicines and foods we people eat or use, I believe most people who eat a "proper" diet and really take care of themselves don't use or need supplements or medicines. While these are truly rare instances, I'm sure they do exist somewhere in the world. Considering that many medicines are plant based in origin, one would think that people living in or around rain forests (the source of many medicines) are a bit healthier than someone who is in a city under constant stress.

I hate to break it to you but all of the pharmaceutical companies do not use a plant base to make their medications. It is all synthetic. While originally many medicinal ideas were found from plants they used them as templates to figure out how to make a medication from it. The reason they do this, per the pharmaceutical complanies, is because anything natural and plant based is unpredictable and not a stable as the synthetic man made counterparts. So you obtain better quality control and better disease control with man made medications that are supposed to be easier to regulate and predict the effects.

That being said I do agree that a healthy diet and active lifestyle can prevent a majority of illness, ive seen perfectly healthy active people who eat well balanced diet with organic food with plenty of vegetables fall under some pretty bad illness and modern medicine has saved them. Unfortunately too many people in our society today rely on the medicine first and put the heathy diet and lifestyle on the back burner.

Ok so yeah that was a little off topic..

 

[Brookster123]

Yes. I started keeping fish back in the 1960s and most were either wild stock or only a few generations removed of those wild stocks. With all the inbreeding that has been done to obtain new variaties or colors, many genetic flaws have been carried forward. For example, look up wild Mollies, Wild Guppies, Swordtails, Angelfish, Discus, Oscars, etc, and see what they look like. Now compare those to what's available on the market today. All those that are available now are all man made with many not holding up as long as their wild counterparts. Yes, it's easier to breed some of the fish today than back then but the results are not nearly as good as back then. ( I was a commercial fish breeder starting in the late 1960s.) I see that in the fish I breed now. I have the ability to compare both times as I've done it at both times. I affectionly call my early days the "stone age" as there aren't many on this site that were even around back then. Those who were know what I am talking about

Legendary fish man status!

 

[Andy Sager]

Legendary fish man status!

I'm not sure if Thank You is appropriate for your comment but of it is, Thank You If it wasn't meant kindly, Why the hate? I'm just spreading some knowledge that I've paid dearly for, to save you all some pain and aggravation.

Yes, I've been around fish in many capacities in my time in the hobby and business so I've seen and done a lot. "Expert"? That's been one of my labels by my associates. "Legendary"? I'll leave that to my Eulogist

 

[Andy Sager]

I hate to break it to you but all of the pharmaceutical companies do not use a plant base to make their medications. It is all synthetic. While originally many medicinal ideas were found from plants they used them as templates to figure out how to make a medication from it. The reason they do this, per the pharmaceutical complanies, is because anything natural and plant based is unpredictable and not a stable as the synthetic man made counterparts. So you obtain better quality control and better disease control with man made medications that are supposed to be easier to regulate and predict the effects.

That being said I do agree that a healthy diet and active lifestyle can prevent a majority of illness, ive seen perfectly healthy active people who eat well balanced diet with organic food with plenty of vegetables fall under some pretty bad illness and modern medicine has saved them. Unfortunately too many people in our society today rely on the medicine first and put the heathy diet and lifestyle on the back burner.

Ok so yeah that was a little off topic..

I understand that today's meds may not be plant based but the original ones were weren't they? And that's my point, the fish (let's keep this to fish for now) in the wild can maintain themselves if in a healthy environment using whatever natural means are available. No synthetic this or that or "unnatural" products.
But, as you said, this has gotten way off topic so let's call it a draw and move on. (Or better yet, start another thread )
One of the things I've learned in my time with pets is that you have to think more than with people as these pets can't talk our native languages. So we have to be ahead of the game to try to figure out what's best for them or what ails them so we can hopefully fix the thing. I just hope I made you all think a little more on this topic

 

[Brookster123]

I'm not sure if Thank You is appropriate for your comment but of it is, Thank You If it wasn't meant kindly, Why the hate? I'm just spreading some knowledge that I've paid dearly for, to save you all some pain and aggravation. Yes, I've been around fish in many capacities in my time in the hobby and business so I've seen and done a lot. "Expert"? That's been one of my labels by my associates. "Legendary"? I'll leave that to my Eulogist

Nothing but respect sir! If it were not for people as dedicated as yourself than I would have no one to bother with my rookie questions and mistakes!

 

[Andy Sager]

Nothing but respect sir! If it were not for people as dedicated as yourself than I would have no one to bother with my rookie questions and mistakes!

Well then I Thank You

I'm just paying forward the help and mentoring I received from the man who taught me so much when I got started. So feel free to keep asking those questions

 

[ManicPenguin]

Katiekelsey: Try this....add a single flake of the new food to the usual dose of the old food and rub it around in your hand to break it up a bit and get the smell/taste of the food to mix a bit. Add a little more of the NLS every day or couple of days and add less of the old food. Mixing it this way will do 2 things.

1, it is help the fish recognize the NLS AS food. If all they have had is the cheapo food, they may not dislike the new food so much as not recognize it AS food.

2, it will help reduce or eliminate any digestive stress that a sudden shift in foods can cause.

I hope this helps you. Let us know if they start to eat.

Cheers!!

MP