crickets...

[Gelo_USA]

I tried feeding some crikets to my fish and NONE of them were able to eat it. the angel didnt even try it... he went for it and gave up half way there LOL
the smaller fish were all nipping at it but they werent able to eat it....
.....
I expected the angel to eat it at least...
does any of u guys here feed crickets??

[Fishguy2727]

I do not feed or recommend any live food. It is unnecessary and can introduce parasites and diseases, as well as increase aggression levels, and doe snot have any nutritional benefit over high quality foods.

[YaYgoldFish]

i sometimes do to my turtles..

[Rue]

I think crickets are a good treat for insectivores...not so much for nutrition as for a little roughage...

[Fishguy2727]

What kind of turtles. There are good pellets for water and for box turtles (not the same pellet obviously). In my opinion and experience it is not even close to worth it to risk parasites and diseases just to give a treat. If you really want a treat there are frozen foods and fresh produce.

[Rue]

What parasites come in farmed crickets?

[cocoa_pleco]

i get parisite free and clean crickets and my fish often grab it. The tetras and angels will eat them, and so will the lamp. brichardi and auratus

[Willyleigh]

At the store that I work at we feed our Arowana exclusively Crickets, and supplement it once a week with a few Orfe from the pond section, he has almost doubled in size since he first arrived.

Edit: And with a price tag of £2750 ($5000) it is unlikely that we would take any chances with his health.

[Incredulous_Ed]

My box turtle livs outside and he eats cricket that he somehow ctaches, and also the cactus plants that grow. But I agree with reptileguy.

[Fishguy2727]

The last thing a fish should get is feeder fish. They should be fed only when all else is being refused. That arowana could be well on its way to parasites and diseases. Arowanas usually grow very well once they settle in, so there is nothing special about a fast growing arowana. Prepared foods are designed to fulfill all the dietary requirements of the animal in question. One of the big differences are the trace and micronutrients (usually in the ingredients list as a bunch of scientific sounding names that may sound bad at first). If nothing else feeding live dilutes the nutrition of the prepared food. And if there is no prepared food that could lead to a lot of problems. You don't feed your dog live rabbits or baby deer, why feed your turtle or fish any different. Live foods increase aggression as well. I cannot list any parasites off the top of my head that can definitely come in live crickets. Feeder fish are farmed and I think we can all agree that they are far from parasite and pathogen free. Yes, you are much less likely to introduce a fish disease with crickets, but the chances are higher than 0%. I know that many pathogens have a varied assortment of hosts, even obligating that they go from snail, to open water, to human or other host. So you can see that cricket smay be an intermediate host. The bigger picture is that there are much healthier things you could be feeding that do not include any risks such as disease, aggression, and definitely not malnutrition.

[Rue]

...then you'd also better be prepared not to feed some frozen foods as well...

I hear that anchor worms need to be frozen to -60C in order to kill them, and processing doesn't take it that far...

[Fishguy2727]

I don't feed frozen. I have, but it is easier and more nutritional to just go with pellets.

[Gelo_USA]

ooooppssss!!
I opened this thread and forgot about it.....
I only fed the crickets cause I was feeding my toad and I decided to try but they only nipped at it and thts it
I feed wardley tropical slow sinking crumbles
tetra min tropical flakes
aquarian shrimp pellets by API

[Fishguy2727]

Try TetraMin Pro Crisps. I also feed Hikari Cichlid Gold Baby pellets to my community fish. They can't swallow them right away, so they grab one and run around with while it softens. This slows down fast eaters and fills everyone up better.

[Gelo_USA]

yeaa tht happens with the shrimp pellets they are too big so they grab them around until it softens its cool cause they run after it then it falls and they grab it again I laugh all the time when they do tht

[Fishguy2727]

A MUCH healthier food for bottom feeders is Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets. I would include this as at least part of their diet. I would not include anything from Wardley.

[Gelo_USA]

why not wardley? are they THT BAD? ive heard they arent tht good but my angel loves their sinking pellets
for the bottom feeders I got the shrimp pellets by API and all the fish just LOVE IT
its cool how they all go for the shrimp pellets.. I have to turn lights off before I put the pellets in so they can get to the bottom and they can still find it....

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, Wardley is that bad.

New Life Spectrum is the best brand hands down. They have an assortment of sinking pellets. The All purpose (1mm sinking) would be perfect for angels. They have sinking pellets up to 3.5mm, I think, those would be a superb alternative to Wardley, or any other shrimp pellet for that matter.

[Chrona]

Wardley is terrible. I've bought their goldfish pellets and sinking algae wafers, and they get soggy and break up REAL fast. Their algae wafers are said to contain some amount of copper, which is lethal to inverts like shrimp.

Like rep said, NLS is the way to go :)

[xoolooxunny]

What about Wardley's Spirulina flakes? I feed them to my community fish a couple times a week, but if you guys are saying its that bad, i'll stop!

[Chrona]

What about Wardley's Spirulina flakes? I feed them to my community fish a couple times a week, but if you guys are saying its that bad, i'll stop!

I don't know about those, but I stopped feeding Wardley stuff after seeing how it breaks down so quickly in water. The copper in the algae wafers is unconfirmed as of yet, but you generally get what you pay for.

[xoolooxunny]

I don't know about those, but I stopped feeding Wardley stuff after seeing how it breaks down so quickly in water. The copper in the algae wafers is unconfirmed as of yet, but you generally get what you pay for.

I wasn't really going for price when I bought this stuff, just bought it after learning that spirulina is good for the fishies! Guess I didn't do all my hw that day!:14:

[Fishguy2727]

Definitely go with NLS as much as possible. Even if it is not as specific as other foods claim to be, it is better. Out of the common brands, Tetra is the best, then Hikari is above that, then at the top is NLS.

[Rue]

Has anyone ever read the labels on fish food? Corn as the main ingredient? Good grief!

[Drumachine09]

Has anyone ever read the labels on fish food? Corn as the main ingredient? Good grief!


Mine are fish meal..

[Rue]

I can't remember which brand had the corn listed first...but even some of the other 'name' brands seems to be a bit 'grain' heavy...

Hikari Cichlid Excel:

fish meal, wheat flour, wheat-germ meal, flaked corn (processed), spirulina, dehydrated alfalfa meal, krill meal, brewer's dried yeast, enzyme, astaxanthin, garlic, DL-methionine, monosodium glutamate, vitamins and minerals including stabilized vitamin C

[xoolooxunny]

I can't remember which brand had the corn listed first...but even some of the other 'name' brands seems to be a bit 'grain' heavy...

Hikari Cichlid Excel:

fish meal, wheat flour, wheat-germ meal, flaked corn (processed), spirulina, dehydrated alfalfa meal, krill meal, brewer's dried yeast, enzyme, astaxanthin, garlic, DL-methionine, monosodium glutamate, vitamins and minerals including stabilized vitamin C

MSG????? Holy crap they even put that sh** in fish food????

[cocoa_pleco]

MSG????? Holy crap they even put that sh** in fish food????


WOW, THATS SAD.

MSG in fish food. I spit on which ever company makes that food



Apparently you have to watch ash content too, only 6% max should be in the food

[xoolooxunny]

WOW, THATS SAD.

MSG in fish food. I spit on which ever company makes that food



Apparently you have to watch ash content too, only 6% max should be in the food

It's Hikari cichlid food, and apparently its supposed to be a good brand! I think I'll start makin my own, in fact, im doing it tomorrow

[Gelo_USA]

damnn MSG on fish food...
why would someone mess up this bad only to improve TASTE for a FISH it wont even make tht big difference for the fish on taste and it definitely can cause big trouble

[Chrona]

MSG IS NOT HARMFUL. I AM CHINESE SO I WOULD KNOW LOL

Keke. Seriously though. FDA said MSG is not harmful a while back. The whole debacle was a hoax.

I trust Hikari and NLS to know what they are doing.

[Dave-id]

"MSG is not harmfull"

Not entirely true. I know two people that have developed severe sensitivities to MSG. They get sick shortly after eating anything with MSG in it.
Actually, it's my Dad and his ex wife, and quite likely related to the fact that they lived in Indonesia for 8 years (presumably eating a lot of food with MSG in it?).

I am really curious why Hikari would be putting msg in their fish food though. I doubt it's a flavor that fish would actually appreciate. If it was that simple to make things tasty, you'd think there'd be all sorts of flavored treats available.

[cocoa_pleco]

same. some guy i knew could not be even close to MSG. he would get really sick.

[JillyFish]

we feed our arrowanas human grade frozen fish and squid. They are pretty big though.

[JillyFish]

what about feeding crickets to frogs and stuff? stuff that needs live food or else won't eat it? aren't parasites a worry for them too?

[troy]

I got the HIKARI cilchlid for my male golden dwarf cichlid a while back, thankfully
my GDC doesn't like it. Maybe I"ll try NLS.

[Fishguy2727]

You have to feed them, period. So yes, sometimes that means they get live. Yes, even then you run a risk of parasites and disease, but there are things you cna do to reduce that risk. One is to raise the food item yourself. Another is to quarantine the food if you do have to buy it. If you are buying it and quarantine it, it allows you to gutload them (fill their digestive tract with more nutritious food than they had been fed). Some would suggest preventative treatment with medications, but this constant ingestion of recently medicated food items can cause problems long term for the main pet. This all applies to crickets, mealworms, feeder fish, feeder worms, etc..