What's for Dinner?

Your choice of fish food and the way in which you feed your fish is important for the overall health of your fish. It is extremely important that you do not over feed your fish. A significant factor contributing to poor water quality is overfeeding fish. This can result in wasted food settling on the bottom of your aquarium. It will quickly pollute the water making it toxic for your fish. I am aware that many people do not actually like to touch the fish food. Instead of taking a “pinch” of food out of the can they prefer to pour some food into the tank straight from the can. DO NOT try this! More often than not, this results in excess food being dumped into the tank. A better choice is to pour some of the food out into the lid of the container first. If you have poured too much you can easily put some back into the container. Then use the lid to pour your food into the tank. Another hint is to punch a small hole in the foil seal under the cap, allowing only a small amount of food to come out of the container at one time. This may seem obvious to some, but it is still worth mentioning.

After food has become water logged your fish will generally not eat it. If you find that there is uneaten food in your tank, or you accidentally dumped too much food in from the start, your best course of action is to remove it as soon as possible. Either netting the food out or siphoning it off the bottom should accomplish this. Feed your fish as much food as they can consume in five minutes. It is better to feed small amounts over the five minutes rather than your guess of five minutes worth all at once. Some is sure to be left uneaten if you feed the full amount at one time. It is important to consider the tank filtration when you are feeding your fish. If you have a very turbid tank with strong filtration and are using power heads etc… it may be worthwhile shutting them off during feeding. This gives the fish a better chance to feed. The key points to remember about feeding: feed small amounts often over five minutes and don’t leave uneaten food in the tank.

There is such a variety of fish food on the market today, that it is little wonder that many people find themselves standing in front of the selection at the local fish store with a somewhat confused look on their face. I hope that this overview of the choices will help make the decision easier.

The choices of fish food available include flakes, floating pellets, sinking pellets, granules, sinking wafers, floating sticks, freeze dried, frozen, and live. With such a variety it is easy to see how some people can feel lost. Always look to the label on the container as an indication of what kinds of fish it is for and how much food to feed. However, before deciding which food to buy you must determine what kind of diet your fish require (herbivore, carnivore or omnivore) and whether they require sinking or floating food. An easy way to tell what level your fish feeds at is by looking at its mouth and observing its behaviour. A fish with an upturned mouth who generally can be found near the top of your tank (such as a betta) will feed from the surface of the water, a fish with a straight forward pointing mouth that swims all around the tank (such as neon tetras) will feed in the open water, and a fish with a down turned mouth usually found lurking about the bottom (such as plecostomus) will feed off of the bottom. Obviously, you pick the correct floating vs sinking food depending on where your fish prefers to feed. For example, do not feed sinking wafers to your bettas. Once you have figured this out you can easily narrow your choices.

It is more difficult to determine which kind of diet your fish need. It is important that you know what kind of fish you have for a start. Always keep your fish store receipts so that you can record what the names are. Knowing what kind of fish you have is extremely important. This does not apply just to feeding. If you ever encounter any problems with your tank and need to seek help there is really no substitute for telling the person helping you what kind of fish you actually have. You should always ask at the time of purchase what food your newly acquired fish requires (as you want to have the proper food when you get home). If you have forgotten don’t despair, you can also look up this information at a later date in one of the many aquarium atlases available.

FLAKES. This is the most popular formulated food for feeding fish in community style aquariums. Generally speaking flake foods consist of a variety of ingredients using both vegetable and meat proteins, and added vitamins & minerals. Flake foods are appropriate for many species commonly found in a traditional community aquarium (ie danios, tetras, rasboras, some barbs etc…) However, it is important to read the label. You can get spirulina flakes, earthworm flakes, goldfish flakes etc…. which are either a vegetable base or a meat base. You would want to use these appropriately. If you have a small community of tropical fish, pick one labeled as tropical flakes or community flakes. There are usually two kinds available: standard flakes or colour enhancing flakes which highlight the red colour in fish, the choice is yours. If you have goldfish, stick to a food labeled for goldfish as the nutrition is quite different. Flakes are considered a floating/sinking food. When you first feed flakes they float on the top of the water, and then once they become saturated they will sink towards the bottom. This is perhaps why they are especially suited to a community aquarium. Surface feeders will have first chance to feed and as they agitate the water during their feeding the flakes will easily begin to sink making them available to open water feeders, some perhaps even making it all the way to the bottom.

MICRO PELLETS. The formulation of ingredients is likely to be similar to community flake foods but with a different presentation. This would also be a suitable choice for community style aquariums with small fishes. These are also floating/sinking and can be used for various level feeders. One caution: It is very easy to over feed as the pellets are very tiny. Micro pellets are useful when you have very small fish to feed but flakes are also suitable in most instances. My personal preference is to recommend flakes instead of the community formulated micro pellets. The simple reason is due to the overfeeding potential as a small pinch of micro pellets is a large amount of food that can easily get lost before it is eaten resulting in water pollution. Plus the size of the pellet makes it very difficult to remove once you have accidentally over fed them.

FLOATING PELLETS. These come in a range of sizes from mini to large. I consider this a different group from the micro pellets as the smallest size is many times larger than a micro pellet. These are best for feeding larger fish as they are dense and give a lot of nutrition in a small bite. A large fish would have to eat a lot of flakes (often wasting a lot ) to equal one of the pellets. For many manufacturers, the same formulation of pellets comes in different sizes. This makes it easy to raise your fish on the same food. As your fish grows you can increase the size of the pellet without changing the food entirely. Recently, one manufacturer has started using a new kind of packaging, which is a controlled shaker container. The lid is such that each shake can only release a few pellets into the tank. This is a pretty easy way to feed pellets as sometimes they can be difficult to handle, depending on their size. Pellets can be a good choice for Oscars and other large cichlids etc…

GRANULES. These are often available in a mini form as well as a larger size. Granules are generally slow sinking by design and are intended for mid water feeders. The formulation tends to be omnivorous but you can get a carnivore variety also. This is best suited to mid size fish as it’s denser than flakes, but soft enough to be eaten easily. These will sink much faster than any of the floating/sinking pellets that I have had experience with and are very useful for slow – active mid water feeders. Eg angels, discus, juvenile-small South American cichlids etc…

FLOATING STICKS. Floating sticks are available in many formulations. These are generally a larger size than pellets and can even come in jumbo sizes. They are often used for large fish and are quite easy to feed as you can control how many sticks you put in with ease. Their size also makes them easy to remove in the event that you did overfeed as they are extremely easy to net out of the tank or pond. Out of the many brands that I have encountered, floating sticks in general seem to float for quite a while. They are a good choice for surface feeders and not likely to sink to the bottom in any reasonable length of time. These sticks can be a good choice for Koi, Large goldfish, arrowana, large cichlids.

SINKING PELLETS / SINKING WAFERS. These are very similar in the formulations and the style. They are usually available in herbivore or a variety omnivore mix or a carnivore pellet. These are fast sinking and meant to feed your bottom feeding fish. Many bottom feeders are nocturnal (look up in your aquarium atlas for clarification on your particular species.) It is usually best to feed them a few minutes after you have turned off the tank light for the night. It is a common misconception that bottom feeders clean the tank. They do not eat other fish waste and do not replace cleaning the gravel. However, many bottom feeders are scavengers and they will often eat any food that has made it to the bottom of the tank.

Many people tend to overfeed the flake food, leaving the catfish with some leftovers on the bottom of the tank. It is a much better choice to feed your regular food sparingly and feed your bottom feeders the sinking food to ensure that they are eating the correct food and definitely getting fed. If you have accidentally over fed your tank, I recommend that you go ahead and net out the excess and do not rely on the bottom feeders to eat it all. Always refer the feeding guidelines on the package as this food can come in various sizes and you want to resist over feeding these pellets. With many brands once they have become water logged they can break apart making them slightly harder to remove from the tank. Siphoning them out seems to be the best method in the event that you have put too many in and they have already become water logged. This kind of food is best for plecos, algae eaters, corydoras, and other catfish.

FREEZE DRIED. These are often single ingredient, vitamin enriched foods such as plankton, bloodworms, tubifex worms, krill etc. These foods are meant to be a treat or a supplement to the diet and generally do not have adequate nutrition to be fed as a standalone food. Some fish that do not settle in quickly and are hard to feed may begin to eat freeze dried foods before other formulations. If you are having a particular problem feeding a fish check it’s diet requirements and perhaps you can find a suitable freeze dried food that may help jump start it’s feeding again (this may work with frozen food also). I have noticed that many people seem to feed krill to their larger cichlids and I warn against using this as the sole diet. Whist it is often vitamin enriched, there are no other proteins included except the Krill making it a carnivourous food, and not a complete diet at that. You are better off feeding these items as recommended as a supplement to the diet and not as the sole diet. These freeze dried foods usually float for quite a while and are not suited to bottom feeders as they just won’t get to them. Most small community fish will enjoy the bloodworms and plankton etc.., whilst larger fish will enjoy the krill.

FROZEN FOOD. This is a whole category of fish food that comes in many choices: marine mix, tropical mix, bloodworms, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp, daphnia, krill, marine algae, discus mix, etc. Frozen food is more expensive than other kinds but the benefits are worth it. Complete diets as well as supplements are available. After reading the ingredients of one tropical mix I have to admit I was quite impressed with the variety so look out for these frozen mixes. You can use the complete diets as a treat or as a sole diet as they should be vitamin and mineral balanced – just check the label. There are many grades of frozen food available and it is best to stick to the highest quality, cleanest food that you can afford. An interesting choice that is worth mentioning is frozen silversides. These are usually vitamin enriched (again, check the label it may vary by brand) and are a better choice than live feeder goldfish. There are many fish that for whatever reason, want to feed only on live fish. As it turns out, often they will take the frozen silver sides. This is a much cleaner choice and will have more nutrition than a live goldfish.

LIVE FOOD. There are many kinds of live food that you can feed your fish as a treat. Keep in mind that these are not going to be enriched with V&M, so you still have to feed a formulated diet. Live foods are most often useful when you are feeding fry or trying to condition fish for spawning. Unfortunately, here in Bermuda we are not privileged to have all of the choices available to us. Fish love mosquito larvae but you cannot farm them in your home as it is illegal in Bermuda. Don’t do it! Stick to the frozen or the freeze dried if you want to feed mosquito larvae to your fish. Brine shrimp is easily hatched from eggs, it just takes a little know how and some minor equipment. Ask at your local fish store for advice. This is very useful when feeding fry as it is often the first food they are able to take. Feeder guppies & feeder goldfish are often available. These do not offer the best nutrition on their own, but some fish (ie South American Leaffish) just don’t seem to want to eat anything other than live food. The best advice that I can give on this is to set up a separate tank to house your feeders. Quarantine them as you would any other fish that goes into the main tank. They are just as likely as any other fish to harbour bacteria and parasites so you should use caution when feeding them. Since they are not enriched with any V&M I suggest feeding them well whilst you keep them. An idea to consider is to gut-load the feeders by feeding them right before you feed them to your bigger fish. It’s the same theory as putting your dog’s medicine in a piece of cheese. They really want the cheese and inadvertently are tricked into taking their medicine also! I would also recommend as I stated earlier that you give the frozen silversides a try; it won’t work for the leaf fish however as they are too large but they are a good size for your larger fish. If you can get your fish to eat these over the live feeder fish you will be giving them a much healthier diet.

TABLE FOOD. Many fish will enjoy a treat of foods that you may have in your house. Always remove leftovers in a timely manner as they can pollute the tank just like any other fish food. If you have never tried these before do not be surprised if your fish do not take to them straight away. Give it a few tries before you give up, once they realize what it is you should be OK. Zucchini, Peas, prawns etc are considered a welcome treat by many. Check the diet of your fish and see which choices you can offer.
Feed green vegetables to herbivores and fish & shellfish to carnivores. Most species of suckermouth catfish seem to love zucchini. Zucchini floats so it can be blanched in boiling water to help it sink. There are also little clips with suction cups that can hold various foods in place. My personal preference is to use a rubber band to secure the zucchini to a piece of driftwood or a rock. They don’t seem to eat the rind so I suggest slicing the zucchini in rounds and then cutting them in half. Mango plecos for some reason really enjoy honeydew melon rind. They are often difficult to feed in captivity so give the melon rind a try if you are lucky enough to have one of these fish. Peas are also another choice. You can buy frozen peas, thaw and shell them, leaving two halves. These will sink to the bottom of the tank and can be enjoyed by many species, especially silver dollars and small pacu. If you have carnivorous fish it is best to offer fish or shellfish over hamburger or chicken. You do not have to cook the fish but do not put too much or a piece too large for your fish. Many fish will take a piece of shrimp without hesitation. Variety is the spice of life so go ahead and give some of these a try and be creative with what you have in your fridge.

I hope that you now have a better understanding of the different choices of fish food available. Next time you are at the local fish store and are armed with this new information, spend a few minutes surveying your choices and you will be sure to pick the right kind of food. Of course, if you still end up feeling a little overwhelmed, your local fish store staff should be able to help you make the right choice.