Just wondering what peoples food budgets were on their tanks?

[JackBlasto]

Here should be a fun one: Just wondering what different peoples FOOD budgets were on their tanks? I have 4 Discus and I'm feeding them frozen blood worms to the tune of around $40 a month. This seems excessive to me but then I started thinking this might be a fun post.

Fill in the blanks to satisfy my curiosity on different species of fish and their eating habits and costs to their foster daddies and mommies.


I spend $_____ a month feeding my ________ this type of food _________.

[Andy Sager]

I used to keep track of what I spent on food then I came to the realization ( many years ago) that keeping live animals costs money, serious money. If you have to keep track of it, you probably shouldn't be keeping them. Sounds rough, I know, but think about it. You can control what you eat however the better foods that keep you healthy are not always the cheapest foods on the grocer's shelves. Do you not buy them due to price or to preference?
When I had my marine tanks, I used to make a weekly stop at the seafood market. About the third week I was there, the sales clerk asked me how I was eating all that food so fast? When I told her it was all for my fish, she nearly flopped over. LOL But I had some really nice looking, healthy fish in my tanks. When I had to break down my last tank due to a divorce and move, the fish in the tank were a Maculosis Angel that I had had for 8 years, a Black Saddleback Clownfish that I had had for 7 years, a firetail/ bicolor blenny that was 5 years and a zebra striped serpent starfish that I had for about 10 years. Was the food bill worth it? I think so
Now I'm breeding freshwater Angelfish so they need a good balanced diet to make good healthy babies. The only thing I do based on price is where can I get the food I need at the best price. (From which LFS.) As I said, if I kept track of what I was spending on just food, I'd probably not be enjoying my hobby as much as I do

[JackBlasto]

I like your answer thanks for your reply

[bob mccoy]

lets just say i spend more on food than i do buying fish. the more spoiled they are the happier they are

[gobbledygook]

I think I have cheap fish! lol My guppies eat pretty much anything that gets in the tank so while I do give them a small amount of flake food (and now much less than I started out giving them) and an occasional treat of freeze-dried bloodworms, they'll happily eat bits of the plants growing in the tank, or the hard boiled egg yolk my son didn't finish or a bit of veggie from dinner prep. And the snails are even easier - they eat the fish leftovers and an occasional algae tab snack. I think I can count store-bought food by the 3-month period rather than the 1-month period.

Guess it's all about what you have in your tanks.