Red
06-14-2009, 07:08 PM
This article is going to be about weening fish off of live fish to prepared and better foods. When first looking at while people feed live feeders, you can say that they are in for the thrill, watching another fish chase down and eat it. I am not going to preach in the article about its cruel to the goldfish, or if its nature because that is another topic for another day, but I am going to say that it is bad for the fish. You do not get the right nutrients to the fish, and this could cause deformity, stunting of growth and other side effects. You could also spread sickness from the feeder to the fish eating the fish. The fish can get diseases like HITH (hole in the head) or other sickness. You could just introduce the disease like ich or fungus do the conditions the feeders are keep in at the store which are usually very poor.
Now that I am finished about saying how bad feeders are, we have to go into what to do to if you bought a fish that won't eat anything else besides feeders. The first way I am going to talk about is fasting a fish. There could be some long term effects to this, but that usually just doesn't happen. You have to make sure you have a healthy specimen with no sickness. You also want to check if they are a healthy weight, you don't want to fast a fish that has no been eating in the first place. When you first fast a fish, I would have it in a tank by itself, you do this because one, you don't want it eating any other of your fish, and two you don't want it to be picked on for being weak. Most fish will break within the first week, but some fish have been known to go for weeks even months without eating. When you first start to try, you should think about moving the fish onto pellets or market shrimp, because both foods are cheaper, but a healthy choice. When you are working with a fish that has been fasted for over 2 weeks, pellets or market shrimp should be introduced every 2 days, then if not eaten removed from the tank. Water changes should be done once a week, to keep the fish healthy. it should take 1-4 weeks, and don't give in on feeding.
There is also for the less picky eaters slowly mixing in the shrimp or the pellets in with the feeders. The way you do this is pretty simple, you cut down on the feeders, usually take of 2-8 every time. As example, you feed your oscar 10 feeders every time, so you would feed 8 feeders, and add some pellets. If the pellets are not eaten, make sure to vacuum them out, for they don't foul your water. Even if the fish don't eat the pellets, they should be gave again. So feed 5 goldfish, and add pellets, and should be eaten this time. If not, feed 3 and so on, and if the fish is not a finicky eater, the food should be accepted. This way is a lot easier on the fish, and less stressful on the keeper. If this way does not work, I would move to the one up above.
In conclusion, feeders are not the answer. Even though fish will eat other fish in the wild, they have the right nutrients, and eat stuff the fish need, and are absorbed when eaten. Feeding feeders, is like giving kid candy for its main diet, it may not look like there sick, but in the inside they are. With giving feeders, and trying to weening them off of it, they should be quarantine and made sure there is no sickness. When dealing with both of these, the key is to keep the water quality high, and keep the fish as healthy as possible.
Now that I am finished about saying how bad feeders are, we have to go into what to do to if you bought a fish that won't eat anything else besides feeders. The first way I am going to talk about is fasting a fish. There could be some long term effects to this, but that usually just doesn't happen. You have to make sure you have a healthy specimen with no sickness. You also want to check if they are a healthy weight, you don't want to fast a fish that has no been eating in the first place. When you first fast a fish, I would have it in a tank by itself, you do this because one, you don't want it eating any other of your fish, and two you don't want it to be picked on for being weak. Most fish will break within the first week, but some fish have been known to go for weeks even months without eating. When you first start to try, you should think about moving the fish onto pellets or market shrimp, because both foods are cheaper, but a healthy choice. When you are working with a fish that has been fasted for over 2 weeks, pellets or market shrimp should be introduced every 2 days, then if not eaten removed from the tank. Water changes should be done once a week, to keep the fish healthy. it should take 1-4 weeks, and don't give in on feeding.
There is also for the less picky eaters slowly mixing in the shrimp or the pellets in with the feeders. The way you do this is pretty simple, you cut down on the feeders, usually take of 2-8 every time. As example, you feed your oscar 10 feeders every time, so you would feed 8 feeders, and add some pellets. If the pellets are not eaten, make sure to vacuum them out, for they don't foul your water. Even if the fish don't eat the pellets, they should be gave again. So feed 5 goldfish, and add pellets, and should be eaten this time. If not, feed 3 and so on, and if the fish is not a finicky eater, the food should be accepted. This way is a lot easier on the fish, and less stressful on the keeper. If this way does not work, I would move to the one up above.
In conclusion, feeders are not the answer. Even though fish will eat other fish in the wild, they have the right nutrients, and eat stuff the fish need, and are absorbed when eaten. Feeding feeders, is like giving kid candy for its main diet, it may not look like there sick, but in the inside they are. With giving feeders, and trying to weening them off of it, they should be quarantine and made sure there is no sickness. When dealing with both of these, the key is to keep the water quality high, and keep the fish as healthy as possible.