Fish Food

Fish species, whether marine, freshwater, tropical or coldwater have all evolved to survive in different environments with differing specific diets. It is very important to recognise this when sourcing Fish Food to feed your pet fish as you will need to replicate their wild diets in the aquarium.
A proper diet for fish is essential for your fish’s well being. It keeps them content, healthy and active, and helps them to breed successfully. Fish are unable to make red pigment, so food for fish with ingredients for red pigment can be fed to improve the appearance of your fish.

The standard Aquarium Food sold in supermarkets may not be suitable to your community of fish. I often doesn't provide for a varied diet and nor will it provide the range of nutrients for all your fish species.

For a mixed species community aquarium, it is important to provide a well rounded diet. Alternating between live aquatic food, frozen seafood, animal protein dry foods and dried vegetable foods would ensure all aquarium fish nutritional needs are met. You should feed your fish about twice a day, feeding them small amounts of food. Allow the fish to eat the Fish Food then add a little more. Do this for about three to five minutes. Using an automatic fish feeder will make this job easier.

Leaving uneaten food in your aquarium will cause water pollution. That goes for live Fish Food as well. They will die if uneaten. Feeding small amounts regularly, rather than one large amount a day will avoid food being left uneaten. Where this does happen it is important to siphon or net the Fish Food out.

I’ll now outline some of the Fish Food types available at aquarium supplies stores that can be bought over the counter or online. Fish Food can also be sourced and cultured at home. I’ll point out which of these you can do at home easily.

Worms            

There are many types of worms marketed in aquarium supplies stores. Microworms, Black worms and Bloodworms are examples.

Microworms are cultured nematode worms that can be found in garden soil and compost. They are very small, making then ideal for feeding fish fry as well as adult fish. Although they are not as nutritious as brine shrimp, they are advantageous in that they don’t swim away when released into the aquarium and small fish fry can easily catch and eat them. It is possible to culture microworms using yeast and cereal.

Black Worms are a variety of tubifex worm. They are found naturally found in sewage outlets. When commercially cultured they are purged clean and packaged for sale as food for fish.

Bloodworms are actually aquatic lava of insects such as mosquitoes. Theyare sold frozen and are easy to breed yourself. Feeding live bloodworms as Fish Food provides for entertainment as your fish will chase them around the tank to eat.

Brine Shrimp

Brine shrimp, a small reddish brown aquatic crustacean, are a very nutritional Fish Food. They are often sold as ‘Sea Monkeys’ in pet shops. Aquarists purchase their eggs, which can survive for a very long time. They place them in a cup of water, where they hatch into small shrimp. It is important to feed this Fish Food within 24 hours of hatching as they will die off quickly.

Paramecium Culture

This Fish Food consists of large single celled bacteria that can be grown on mashed vegetables placed in water seeded with the bacteria present (such as pond water). Never use chlorinated water as it will kill the bacteria. Paramecium aquatic food is perfect for tiny fish fry because it is so small.

Food for Reef Aquariums

Living reef aquariums feed off zooplankton and phytoplankton. These are commercially available as a Fish Food. Some reef creatures such as clams, culture their own algae and bacteria within their shells (hence their colour- colour of bacteria and algae). These creatures require strong light to feed their farmed cultures. Aquarium clam farms will feed urea to their clams, which promotes the clam’s cultured algae growth (I don’t recommend this practice for your aquarium!!).

Commercial Dried Products

Aquarium Supply stores provide a vast array of dried Fish Food, from flakes and pellets, to vacation feeder blocks and disks.  These preparations are designed to provide a balanced diet for mixed fish communities.  It is important that these dried Fish Food products are kept fresh in sealed bags. Buying them in bulk is a cheaper option for the aquarist; however, it is advisable to repackage the foods into smaller sealed bags and kept in a cool dry place. This way the Fish Food will keep for a long time. 

Fish Food flakes are about 30% protein and are made up from both plants and animals. They float, making it easy for your fish to eat. There are specific products for pond fish and others for marine or tropical fish. Fish flakes won’t cloud the water.

Fish Food pellets are similar to flakes and better suited to larger fish such as koi and goldfish.

Spirulina Algae Discs are a greenfood diet suitable for vegetable eating fish such as catfish, goldfish and mollies. This Fish Food is ideal for bottom feeding fish as it sinks.

Vacation fish feeding blocks are designed to dissolve very slowly, releasing food into the aquarium.

Fish Food from the Garden

It is possible to source live Fish Food from the garden. Capturing and crushing slaters (land crustaceans), chopping up earth worms, or collecting mosquito lava will delight your fish. Be warned; however, that these creatures may introduce pathogens to your aquarium, and if crushed will cloud the water. Providing small pieces of well washed lettuce or cabbage will be consumed by fish such as catfish.

A well fed fish is a healthy happy fish!