View Full Version : Feeding Live fish
Blue Ram
01-15-2008, 04:39 PM
Is it good to feed live fish to smaller cichlids?
Tooch
01-15-2008, 04:45 PM
Many people preach against feeding life feeder fish, as their upbringing is questionable at best. If you are going to feed life fish, you're best quarintineing (sp?) them for about a month, to ensure they do not have any diseases.
I, on the other hand, feed both my large tank (Oscar, Green Terror, Paroon Shark and Knife fish) feeders several times a week. I have been doing business with my lfs for a long time know, and trust their feeder fish. I don't quarintine my feeder fish before I give them as food, and haven't had any problems. The tank they come from is clear, they are well fed and are nice and active.
If you decide to use feeder fish, it's up to you. But unless you're very comfortable with where you get them, I'd definatly suggest a quarintine tank and feed them medicated food.
Blue Ram
01-15-2008, 05:10 PM
But is it good to feed live fish such as goldfish to smaller cichlids{the cichlids being 4 inches}?
Tooch
01-15-2008, 05:17 PM
Sure. The goldfish are high in protein. They also contain something, I want to say caretine... It really brings out the color in fish, especially reds. Someone care to chime in with what it's actually called?
Blue Ram
01-15-2008, 05:34 PM
Im thinking about breeding Goldfish and once my 38 gallon is finished cycling im gonna add 6 cichlids my brother said he could get me though i dont recall the type except that they are african. Then i will use the gold fish as feeder fish for them . My brother told me that the cichlids get 4 inches and that if i take them and dont want them after awhile he will take them back.
Tooch
01-15-2008, 05:36 PM
Breeding your own is definatly the safest bet. You control everything, so you know exactly what you're putting in the tank. Be sure to try to identify your fish, as 6 may or may not be overstocking a 38 gallon.
kigroy
01-15-2008, 05:41 PM
I just want to say I had some clown knifes about two months ago and was feeding them feeder fish from a supply that i trusted, but then i had a disease outbreak which wiped away 90% of the population in my tank. It's definitely a risk using them.
Blue Ram
01-15-2008, 05:43 PM
In that case i will probably breed my own feeder fish!
NickFish
01-15-2008, 10:44 PM
In that case i will probably breed my own feeder fish!
That would be better than buying them I think. Breeding guppies would be pretty cheap and easy. Just make sure the tank is kept in as good a condition as the main tank.
There are very few fish that need feeders.
They bring disease to the tank and don't have a lot of nutrients in them. Instead you should feed fish fillets from just your local grocery store to carnivorous fish.
If you absolutely want to get feeders then quarentine them in their own tank for at least a month. keep a very close eye on them cause it would be very sad to lose all your fish because you didn't relise a feeder was sick. There's a reason the feeders are only 15 cents.
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