Type of food?

[phoenix01]

I have a 55 gallon tank with gouramis, clown loaches, and congo tetras. I am feeding them tropical flakes I got at petsmart. Should I be feeding them something better?

 

[Felf]

i usually feed mine flakes or bio blend, algae wafers every 4 days, freeze dried bloodworms every 4 days (sparingly), floating micro pellets occasionally, frozen tubifex worms every 2 weeks, live daphnia (i think they're daphnia...) whenever there's a bloom. i just bought frozen mysis shrimp, frozen bloodworms (better than the dehydrated), and live brine (just a treat) for puffers but also my other fish. it's good to have a varied diet and too much of any one thing is not good. when i remember i feed them shelled peas, celery, or carrots for constipation eventhough it's not a problem, it's still good for them. there're feeder shrimp in the tank for them to eat if they can catch them and lots of plants to nibble on. i dont think feedings need to be regimented too strictly as long as they're being fed and maybe feeding them certain foods only when you remember might mimic natural conditions try to make a combined diet of live, frozen, and freeze dried foods plus the veggies and you cant go wrong

 

[Screwylui]

so you just dump an arbitrary number of feeder shrimp in there and eventually they all get eaten ? how large are your clowns ? can smaller fish snack on these feeder shrimp?

 

[Felf]

i dont remember how many i put in there but they were only about 1 cm long...my clowns are about 2 inches and yes smaller fish can eat the feeders if they can catch them since the local ones don't get bigger than an inch but idk about the feeders where you are. i've seen all of my fish eat 3/4" feeders.

 

[Toirtis]

New Life Spectrum foods are getting some serious coverage lately, and may well be amongst the very best prepared foods available....but I would always combine prepared foods with live and/or frozen foods.

 

[Essayons89]

The Omega One line of foods are pretty good as well.

I feed all of my fish flakes as a staple but mix in frozen foods a few times a week as well. Bloodworms, brine shrimp, krill, plankton, glassworms and mysis shrimp are all on the menu. The discus also get mussel and beefheart. The plecs and cats and loaches also get algae wafers, shrimp pellets and veggies.

A varied diet will go a long way in keeping fish healthy and happy.

Bryan