Fish diets!

[evalmore]

Okay, I'm a fish-owning virgin and I'm setting up my first tank. I want everything to go perfectly. Even though this isn't about a sick fish, I suppose this could help keep my future fish from getting sick.

I'm planning on having a tropical community tank with guppies, Cory cats, shrimp, and snails. I've heard from many threads that fish shouldn't live off of just the flake kind of fish food they sell at pet stores. What should I feed my fish so that they have a good balanced diet? Do the different species I'm getting require different foods?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Hello Eval

For the Guppies, I would suggest using Omega One Super Color pellets or flakes. I prefer pellets because they don't break in the container, and they won't foul up the water like flakes. Plus, the color enhancement will bring out the colors of your fish! You can also feed them blanched peas, frozen blood worms, and Omega One Freshwater Community Formula frozen food. Pellets/flake should be fed 1-2 times a day, while peas, other veggies, and frozen foods should only be fed 1-3 times a week.

For the Corydoras, you can feed them a variety of Omega One Shrimp Pellets, Veggie Rounds, blanched peas, frozen blood worms, Hikari Sinking Waffers, and any thing else you feed your Guppies that slips past them

For the Shrimp and Snails, I would suggest feeding Hikari Crab Cuisine, Omega One Shrimp Pellets, Omega One Veggie Rounds, blanched Peas, frozen bloodworms, Hikari Sinking Waffers, and they will feed off some algae and bio-film found on live plants. You can also feed them (and your other fish) blanched spinach, cucumber, and zucchini. There is also a Hikari Shrimp Cuisine you can feed. Some people like to feed their shrimp expensive shrimp food that contains all sorts of stuff, even pumpkin! I don't feed mine those expensive 'designer' foods.

Now you will notice I suggested only Omega One and Hikari.
If you look at the ingredients of Omega One, you will find lots of whole foods. For example, lets take a look at the Omega One Super Color Pellets I suggested.
Ingredients are:
Whole Salmon, Halibut, Seafood Mix (Including Krill, Rockfish, & Shrimp), Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Fresh Kelp, Astaxanthin, Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Natural and Artificial Colors, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement,Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Folic Acid, Biotin, Inositol, Tocopherol (Preservative), Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Yes, it contains a preservative, along with a few other items, but it is much better than the typical TetraMin flake you see that is mostly fillers and by-products. I have switched from TetraMin to all Omega One, Hikari, and fresh veggies and I have noticed the fish have been more colorful, active, and the food seems to fill them faster than the TetraMin Crisps I was feeding before.

Hikari by all means is not top of the line, but they DO make good food, and that is why I include it in my fishes diet. Omega One and Hikari are a bit more expensive than other foods, (except for New Life Spectrum, which is another great one, but it is expensive so I choose to feed Omega One and Hikari which is just as good IMO) but way worth the quality of it.
Now I can joke my fish eat better than me!

Hope that novel helps,

Scotty


*Edit- Please not, you do NOT have to feed all these different types of foods if it sounds to complicated. It's not, but as long as you feed with a quality pellet/flake with some frozen blood worms and blanched veggies a few times a week, your fish will be fine. I just prefer (and I know a lot of different fish keepers out there besides myself) feeding many different types of foods.

 

[BBradbury]

Aquarium Fish Diet

Okay, I'm a fish-owning virgin and I'm setting up my first tank. I want everything to go perfectly. Even though this isn't about a sick fish, I suppose this could help keep my future fish from getting sick.

I'm planning on having a tropical community tank with guppies, Cory cats, shrimp, and snails. I've heard from many threads that fish shouldn't live off of just the flake kind of fish food they sell at pet stores. What should I feed my fish so that they have a good balanced diet? Do the different species I'm getting require different foods?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello ev...

Good choice on the fish. Corydoras are very peaceful and the only fish I've found that won't bother the male Guppy's fancy tail. The best food I've found is frozen. It has no additives with names you can't begin to pronounce. Additives are simply chemicals that for the most part, keep dry food preserved for long periods of time. Flaked is typically high phosphate and the perfect food for algae growth.

I'd say go with frozen like brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp, beef heart, bloodworms, plankton and krill. Feed a small vegetable biscuit and some minced garlic sometimes too. Feed just a little. 2 to 3 times per week is plenty. Fish are tiny and don't need much. If you feed just a little, your fish will stay healthy and your tank will stay cleaner, longer.

B

 

[evalmore]

Thank you Scotty and BBradbury .

Going off of both of your advices, I think I'll get my fish the Omega One Super Color Pellets, frozen brine shrimp/bloodworms/etc., and I'll perhaps keep a piece of vegetable clipped into the tank? I've heard a couple people say that clipping lettuce in the tank makes it messier. Is this true?

How often should I feed everyone the different foods? I think maybe one or two pinches of the Omega One Pellets a day, frozen food probably twice a week, and maybe keep a vegetable clipped in at all times? Is this over feeding them?

Thank you again so much .

 

[Scottyhorse]

My fish seem to like peas the best. I will throw in one pea per two fish. Seems to work well. I only do this once a week.

For the pellets, only feed what they will eat in about one min. The manufactures say three mins, but that seems like a long time. I feed twice a day, and all my fish look healthy!

For the frozen stuff, 1-3 times a week is fine.