what all home food items can i feed to my baby black mollies?

[sam augustin]

my mollies are very small and i want to feed them some food items which are available at home so please tell me what will be good for them and how should i give it to them that they eat it completely. i tried giving them peas but they didnt eat it so please tell me how to give the food items so they eat them without fuss.

[Little Embers]

You mentioned in your other thread that you feed bloodworms and flakes to your fish. If they are not eating it completely, perhaps you are overfeeding them or if they are unwell (which they might be from the water quality issues raised in your other thread), they may not have much of an appetite. It is better to feed very small amounts of food at each feeding, this way the fish are more likely to eat it all and it is also healthier for the fish, otherwise they can become constipated. There stomach is only the size of their eye, so they only need very tiny portions.

Peas are good for fish, I'm not sure how you are feeding them to the fish, but the peas need to be softened in warm water, remove the shell and then squish the pea or cut it into tiny bits so that it is easier for the fish to eat.

A good quality flake food from the Local fish shop is good to use as a stable food and you can vary their diet by also feeding algae/spirulina wafers, shrimp pellets, baby brine shrimp and daphnia, just to name a few things and vegetables that you have at home such as cucumber, zucchini and lettuce are also good.

[Jaster]

Well if they are babies I would stick to a mix of crushed flake, bloodworms, and brine shrimp 3 times a day. How old are the babies? They might not be interested in the veggies because they are too big.

But Little Embers is exactly right, the veggies need to be soft and skinned for the fish.

[sam augustin]

my fishes are not at all fussy about eating. whenever i give them anything they will eat it all and if they dont eat it at that moment then they eat it later but they do finish all the food.

[Little Embers]

Discussion carried on from this thread...[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
i dont know how can i vary the diet of my fishes becuase i am feeding them only bloodworms,flakes and pellets. if you can suggest me some more things i would really like it.
Day 1.. Feed crushed tropical flakes
Day 2.. Feed baby brine shrimp or brine shrimp
Day 3.. Feed pellets
Day 4.. Feed daphnia
Day 5.. Feed tropical flakes again
Day 6.. Feed algae wafers or spirulina flakes (or wafers)
Day 7.. Feed bloodworms

You could mix it up and on one day feed peas or other vegies such as Romaine lettuce or a cucumber slice instead.

That is just an example, but it may give you some idea of what I mean and some fish may not be interested in certain foods, so it is a good idea to see what they like and you may need to experiment with the different foods. You don't need to feed all those foods if you are unable too, but just try to vary their diet as much as possible, this keeps them healthy and also stops them from getting bored with the same old food everyday. It also depends on the age of the fish and if they are still young fry, it is best to feed what Jaster mentioned in that other thread (crushed flakes and baby brine shrimp), but if they are 4 mths old they should be able to manage most of it.

You can also place a bucket of water outside for a while and wait until you get mosquito larvae swimming around in it, then feed the larvae to the fish....they like things like that.

Some people also don't feed their fish one day a week giving fish time to fully digest and empty their stomach, which can help avoid constipation problems.
well i like your idea alot. i am so happy that i have joined this forum. ok. according to you for how many hours should i keep the water outside so that mosquito larva would get born? i dont have the priveledge to get dapnia and brine shrimps becuase no shop near my house has them so i think i would try to feed them other things. i am feeding my fishes 3 times a day so should i feed all the 3 meals the same food or should i rotate the food in all the meals?
I only feed my fish once a day, but if you are feeding 3 times a day it is your choice whether you feed them the same food at each feeding. I would suggest to only feed tiny amounts each time...you could feed a bit of crushed flakes at one feeding and a bit of pellet the next. If you choose to feed veggies, on the day you do, I would not feed them anything else that day as it may take them a while to realise that it is food and if you feed other food that day, the fish may loose interest in the veggies, which then will just get left to decay (it is always a good idea to remove any uneaten vegetables after 12 hours).

Once mosquitoes lay their eggs, it usually takes 48 hours or so for the eggs to hatch into larvae....just keep looking in the bucket for the little wrigglers.:ssmile:

Other members may have some better alternatives/ideas for you!

[Jaster]

I only feed my fish once a day, but if you are feeding 3 times a day it is your choice whether you feed them the same food at each feeding. I would suggest to only feed tiny amounts each time...you could feed a bit of crushed flakes at one feeding and a bit of pellet the next. If you choose to feed veggies, on the day you do, I would not feed them anything else that day as it may take them a while to realise that it is food and if you feed other food that day, the fish may loose interest in the veggies, which then will just get left to decay (it is always a good idea to remove any uneaten vegetables after 12 hours).

Once mosquitoes lay their eggs, it usually takes 48 hours or so for the eggs to hatch into larvae....just keep looking in the bucket for the little wrigglers.:ssmile:

Other members may have some better alternatives/ideas for you!

I forgot to mention that... I only feed them what can be eaten in well under a minute. I've noticed that if I feed them more then that they all look very bloated. They also seemed to slow down quite a bit. When I switched to 3x a day and very small amounts they seemed a lot more active through the day.