Fish Guide And Aquarium

Aquarium

October 21st, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Basic Diet

Like other vertebrates, fishes need carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, fats, proteins, and water. The best way to give your
aquarium fishes all the nutrients they require is to feed them varied diet of good quality foods, including live food as
well as manufactured food.

Frequency of Feeding.

Feeding fishes “little and often” is preferable to providing them with one large daily meal. Add small amount of food two or
three times a day, and try to vary each meal so that your fishes don’t become bored with their diet. If other members of
your family also look after the aquarium, make sure that you have set feeding times or that everyone knows when the fishes
have just been fed, so that you do not overfeed them between you.

Choosing Pre-Packed Food

Make sure you buy some all-in-one, “complete”, dried fish food, which contains everything your fishes need to remain healthy.
Flakes are ideal for smaller fish as they can be crumbled into tiny portions. Specialized foods are available for
single-species tank.

Choosing Live Foods.

Give your fish live food as a treat. Fishes derive a good deal of nutritional benefit from live food, and they visibly
enjoy hunting the insects that you introduce into the aquarium. Brine Shrimp, Bloodworm and Waterfleas are available from
many aquatic dealers, Or collect specimens from your garden or a local pond.

Culturing Live Foods.

Small worms can be cultured to provide a disease-free, year-around supply of live food. Begin by buying a culture of white
worm from your dealer. Place the worms in a box of earth or compost and place a slice of wet bread on the top for the worms
to feed on. They should breed rapidly and provide you with a continuous supply of fish food. Alternatively, you can culture
brine shrimps by hatching shop-bought eggs in a warm saltwater solution (1 tsp of sea-salt to 1 liter of tap water).

Food Scarps.

Much of the food that we eat ourselves is suitable for fishes when served in appropriately scaled-down portions. Slivers of
meat, crumbled cheese, shredded lettuce or spinach leaves, tinned peas, wheatgerm. And oat flakes are all acceptable items.

Food For All Your Fishes.

If you have a community aquarium, you will find that it is not practical to make up a meal containing small amounts of the
different foods for each species, so the best thing to do is to feed tablets at one feed, flake at another, live food at
another , and so on.

Overfeeding.

Feed your fishes sparingly as any uneaten food will decompose in the tank and eventually cause pollution problems. A good
method for measuring out the right amount of food for one meal is to give as much as you can pinch between your thumb and
forefinger.

Holiday Feeding Needs.

As long as your fishes are well fed before your holiday, they will be able to withstand a two-week fast without any
ill-effects. If, however, you prefer to trust a friend to feed your fish, make up several small packet of fish food in the
correct amount for one serving and leave instructions for the serving times for each of the “packet meal”.
* Automatic feeders are available but these can be rather expensive.