What do aquarists mean by feeding fish a varied diet?

[Nicki Gaga]

Does feeding the fish pellets and flakes count as a varied diet?

What about frozen food and freeze-dried food? Does that make a difference?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Yes a varied diet means multiple different foods outside of just pellets and flakes. Many fish like veggies such as cucumber, kale, zucchini, and carrots. Some fish are picky and won't accept flakes or pellets like dwarf puffers so they need live foods like snails or frozen bloodworms etc. there's many different foods and most fish are not picky. Keeping a variety helps with their diet and strength.


Caleb

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[sinibotia]

A varied diet usually means some kind of staple food (flakes or pellets) along with more specialized foods like frozen or freeze dried as well as fresh stuff like certain vegetables. It also means having specific staples for specific fish- algae wafers for algae eaters, sinking pellets for catfish, cichlid pellets for cichlids- etc.

I feed flakes, algae wafers, sinking pellets, floating and sinking cichlid pellets, freeze dried krill, frozen blood worms and brine shrimp, emerald entree and cichlid formula frozen foods, and some different vegetables.

 

[Nicki Gaga]

So does it make a difference if I feed the fish EITHER frozen or freeze-dried or is it better to feed both?

 

[sinibotia]

So does it make a difference if I feed the fish EITHER frozen or freeze-dried or is it better to feed both?

The more the better, but either/or is fine.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Mine personally prefer frozen much more than freeze dried. With frozen though you can run the risk of a parasite but it's rare to actually get one.


Caleb

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[Nicki Gaga]

But do you think it's better for me to use both or just the frozen food? My fish seem to like it, but I kinda' wanna' try something new.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Nothing wrong with trying new foods. They might like it more who knows.


Caleb

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[Nicki Gaga]

Okay. Next time when my flake food runs out, I'll go to the store and buy it and the freeze-dried whatever. Are you sure the fish will like it?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Okay. Next time when my flake food runs out, I'll go to the store and buy it and the freeze-dried whatever. Are you sure the fish will like it?

I can't say the fish will like it. It's your fish. One person might have a tetra that likes brine shrimp, another person may have the same species of fish and it doesn't like it.


Caleb

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