feeding live fish

[billy2guns]

I was wondering how often I can feed my JD live comets? Can I put a few in his tank and let him decide or should I only put 1 in at a time?

[jbeining75]

feed him crickets instead of comets. Comets can carry diseases from the feeder tanks as they are under kept because the fish are so cheap... Crickets are packed with protein where comets have almost no nutritional value....

[billy2guns]

Thanks for the info. I will definatly get some crickets.

[Tooch]

With crickets, only feed a couple at a time, as when he's done eating them they will just sit there, and eventually start to decay, throwing your parameters off

[Nick89]

Just feed NLS or hikari. No need to feed live foods like feeders. And they do sell freeze dried crickets i believe.

[jbeining75]

You can just get live ones just like civic (tooch) said only 2 or 3 at a time so they don't just float around...

[Wild Turkey]

Live crickets are like a magnet to fish big enough to eat them. one time when i was a kid we threw a box of them in the water (bay) and every fish and his brother was there within a minute. Probably the kicking they do, classic animal in distress vibration

[NickFish]

Even crickets can carry disease, however they are much less likely to have a parasite than live comets are, and you can occasionally feed crickets, just make sure they are high quality. Yes I do know a man who lost a fish to crickets, it can and does happen.

With all live foods, if you are going to feed your fish that stuff, you need to keep up on your water changes and provide good filtration. 20% twice a week is a minimum (as is with all fish) but 25-40% twice a week would be even better.

Never feed live feed fish, they pretty much all have a disease or internal parasite that can be passed on to your fish. There's a reason their only 10 cents. And they really don't have much nutrients in them

With large cichlids, feed a good quality pellet like Hikari, and occasional frozen foods such as, but not limited to brine shrimp.

[billy2guns]

Do I still have to do major water changes if my JD swallows the fish in one bite?

[jbeining75]

It is upto you my Oscar tank gets 10-20% three times a week to keep the gravel cleaned up...