Thoughts on feeding live food. What do you think?

[tanks4thememories]

I felt like stirring up a little conversation here so Im posting my thoughts on the subject. Please feel free to add your thoughts, facts and opinions to the pot. All respectfull civil input is welcomed....lol

Its best to raise your own live food and to also alternate with quality non live food.

On the subject of live food borne disease, I do personally believe that truly predatory fish kept under proper conditions tend to have stronger immune systems against common disease which to me makes sense because in nature it is the job of predators to cull the weak and diseased. I don't have any scientific backing for this statement though as I am still working on the research.

I know many people frown on the use of "feeder" fish as fish food. Especially gold fish and other cold water species. Most of them site the conditions under which "feeder" grade fish are raised and sold as the source of their discomfort. I have been in many debates on many forums about what actually happens to bring any fish to your LFS. And of course the more valuable the fish the better the treatment but any fish under 1k in value gets much worse treatment than a lot of people may believe. I know they have many different reasons for their feelings on the subject. Personally I feel like it is the nature of predatory fish to chase other fish and part of their natural routine required activities for balanced emotional health. Lets face it in the animal kingdom everything fits into one of these several categories:
1) hey that might eat me.
2) Hey I want to eat that.
3) hmmm what the heck is that?
4) Hmm I feel this irresistible urge to mate with that.
5) Hmm that's mines I better protect it....lol

Predators have evolved to hunt its their nature. It's not like you can buy your predatory fish a squeaky toy...lol Just like when we watch the nature channel some of us are rooting for the gazelle and others of us are rooting for the lion.

"Every complex life form that lives must eat something that once lived in order to continue life..such is the nature of life" - tanks4thememories

Whats your feelings on this?

[Crispy]

Eat or be eaten. I have nothing against live foods, but would never introduce fish store feeders to my tank. I would raise my own. Although I do buy superworms and crickets at the pet stores for my fish from time to time.

[Dave66]

I culture a large variety of organisms to feed to my fish and agree fish are the better for it with occasional live food added to their diet. Fish fed live food regularly are more colorful, breed far more often and it's also more natural, since the vast majority of fish in nature will eat live creatures whenever they can get them.

Dave

[tanks4thememories]

Come on people cast your opinion...lol

[tanks4thememories]

Hmmm wheres all of the predatory fish keepers? I thought this subject would spark a huge debate...:scry:

[i_am_511]

I think live food is a good thing. Any chance i get i pick up some. Not feeder fish but i go to a few different stores. Ive gotten Live Brine shrimp, Live black worms, I usually keep ghost shrimp in my tanks to clean up left overs(they do a REALLY good job) they also get picked on for a snack when some fish feel like like it. One LFS keep feeder guppys and ghost shrimp in the same tank so i have gotten a few guppys here and there and they had gotten ate expect 1 that is still alive and a pet now.

[tanks4thememories]

i have gotten a few guppys here and there and they had gotten ate expect 1 that is still alive and a pet now.

LOL I bet that is one fast/smart guppy...lol

[VoidParadigm]

As long as you raise your own food I have nothing against it. Store-bought live food... well, you have no idea where it's from, what it's been fed, what meds it's ingested, etc.

[Demjor19]

I have no problem with feeding live...as long as they are healthy. Since I don't have the time or energy to raise my own feeders...my fish only eat prepared foods and fresh sea foods (other than the occassional accidental cichid outbreak that needs culled).

[tanks4thememories]

Oh yeah 7 votes now we cookin'...hehehe

[Northernguy]

I have avoided it this time round with my oscars.
I have not fed them live.I found that feeding them live tends to make them more aggressive.
Mine get pellets and once in a while they get some chopped up shrimp pieces.
They are near two years old now and still get along great.I do plan on adding more fish to that tank as soon as find some large enough.
Hopefully the O's won't mind too much!lol

[tanks4thememories]

I have avoided it this time round with my oscars.
I have not fed them live.I found that feeding them live tends to make them more aggressive.
Mine get pellets and once in a while they get some chopped up shrimp pieces.
They are near two years old now and still get along great.I do plan on adding more fish to that tank as soon as find some large enough.
Hopefully the O's won't mind too much!lol

I agree with live food adding to the aggressiveness of predatory fish. hmm, do feel that living life in this "Less aggressive" state has any long term effects on fish?

[Dave66]

In my late teens to my late 20's I kept aggressive tank busters and indeed cultured large life forms to feed them (my mother was less than thrilled with the hissing cockroach culture), and I wouldn't say it actually increases aggressiveness to feed large preds, but the difference between all getting prepared food and getting live food they can pursue. In nature the most piscivorous fish doesn't get a juicy fish daily, but most of them will also eat fruit, crustacea and insect larvae as well as the seasons change from the bounty of the wet season to the growing want of the dry season.
That's why my oscars, for example, got live fish I cultured as a component of their diet between November and January, which approximates the wet season of their native clime, and a diet much more weighted toward crustacea, worms and other insects and insect larvae the rest of the year. The Oscars bumped like mad chasing live fish, and were always on the lookout for them, and it appeared as aggressiveness, since live fish are a very nutritious, rich food, and thus valuable to them, since Oscars, in nature, don't get the opportunity to eat fish every day or even every season, thus their omnivorous tendencies.

My four foot Chitala chitala was the definition of aggressive when live fish were added to it's diet for the same reason above, and killed many, many large tankmates in stealthy pursuit of live fish, but not so much with prepared and dead creatures.

Dave

[Oskar]

I have always found it interesting how people say don't feed your fish feeder fish,but there is always a tank full of them in almost every LFS. I personally do not,but if you are one who does,that does not bother me either.

My biggest thing with feeder fish is I have always heard they have no nutritional value.So if that is true,what's the point?

Watching a fish eat another fish may be entertaining for some,but is that a good reason to feed them live food?I don't think so. I have always heard crickets and worms are much better to be used as feeders than goldfish,or rosy reds.But people just don't seem to think that is as entertaining I guess.

I feed my cichilids and aro crickets occasionally.I might feed them to my fish more,but I think crickets kind of stink,and are kind of gross.I feed them pellets,market fish and shrimp as the main part of their diet.I also feed them frozen beef heart,and blood worms.I have always been told that variety of differernt foods is best,and that is what has worked for me.

[tanks4thememories]

I have always found it interesting how people say don't feed your fish feeder fish,but there is always a tank full of them in almost every LFS. I personally do not,but if you are one who does,that does not bother me either.

My biggest thing with feeder fish is I have always heard they have no nutritional value.So if that is true,what's the point?

Watching a fish eat another fish may be entertaining for some,but is that a good reason to feed them live food?I don't think so. I have always heard crickets and worms are much better to be used as feeders than goldfish,or rosy reds.But people just don't seem to think that is as entertaining I guess.

I feed my cichilids and aro crickets occasionally.I might feed them to my fish more,but I think crickets kind of stink,and are kind of gross.I feed them pellets,market fish and shrimp as the main part of their diet.I also feed them frozen beef heart,and blood worms.I have always been told that variety of differernt foods is best,and that is what has worked for me.

Nice Info!!

[Aydreean]

Feeding live feeder fish seem quite normal to me. These are the fish that would have otherwise been disposed of and at least they are being food for something instead of just rotting. I don't personally feed live food to any of my fish because I don't really have to. My friend gets 10 guppie fry for around a dollar at our LFS and feeds them to his little fahaka puffer. He says he will have to upgrade to crayfish and things when the puffer gets older and I guess this can get pretty expensive later on.

I saw a video of a guy feeding a live mouse to his arowana. I don't know how I feel about that :-\

[tanks4thememories]

I saw a video of a guy feeding a live mouse to his arowana. I don't know how I feel about that :-\

lol Yeah they have some wild feeding videos on youtube!!!

[SCcten]

I would feed live food but i don't have the time to raise my own feeders. I worry about store bought feeders being sick and having parasites.

[HeatherH]

I saw a video of a guy feeding a live mouse to his arowana. I don't know how I feel about that :-\


I've seen some similar videos and it's just too over the top and disturbing for me. :scry:

I have nothing against live fish as food. Got to be careful with what you get and from where though...Otherwise to each their own.

[Alasse]

I feed my fish worms from the garden.

I have fed feeder fish from the lfs, but i used to quarantine them for a while prior them becoming a meal. I would feed them up well, which in turn was better for my Oscars (what i had at the time)

[BiGBlak]

How about all the piranah feeding videos on youtube ? how are feeders any different than catfish ?
This video contains some graffic images and might get a few people mad.

we dont know exactly what they been fed or how they got caught and how they wer kept when we buy catfish to cook for ourselves? Same with other food us as people eat reguarly such as fast foods meaning how the cows are being fed and so on.
I feel is just nature and how you want to raise and feed you fish is on you nothing against any method.

[Wild Turkey]

If people want to see that video they can pm you for the link. Its pretty graphic.

IMO, thats torture not nature. In nature, the catfish has the opportunity to escape, and piranhas are not that aggressive. He probably cut the fish open before introducing it to get them to do that.

[BiGBlak]

If people want to see that video they can pm you for the link. Its pretty graphic.

IMO, thats torture not nature. In nature, the catfish has the opportunity to escape, and piranhas are not that aggressive. He probably cut the fish open before introducing it to get them to do that.
im not saying thats nature im just saying eating live foods is nature. us as people eat live food. not everyone catches animals in the wild and breed them the same way so in a way what do we know what the chicken, turkey,cow or fish is being fed or its living conditions ? but we buy it and eat it, we all cant start a farm and raise our own animals. i was just comparing fish from fish markets to feeder fish because humans shop at fish markets ...

[tanks4thememories]

If people want to see that video they can pm you for the link. Its pretty graphic.

IMO, thats torture not nature. In nature, the catfish has the opportunity to escape, and piranhas are not that aggressive. He probably cut the fish open before introducing it to get them to do that.

I agree that's a little overboard. Piranhas will eat any meat doesn't have to be live. If I had piranhas I would only feed them live fish they can eat in a few bites. IMHO Anything being alive more than say 20 seconds during the act of being eaten is torture. The same thing and even worse may happen in nature but that's no reason for me to reproduce it at the expense of another creature suffering needlessly.

[tanks4thememories]

im not saying thats nature im just saying eating live foods is nature. us as people eat live food. not everyone catches animals in the wild and breed them the same way so in a way what do we know what the chicken, turkey,cow or fish is being fed or its living conditions ? but we buy it and eat it, we all cant start a farm and raise our own animals. i was just comparing fish from fish markets to feeder fish because humans shop at fish markets ...

I know what you are saying BiGBlak. Something to think about indeed....

[Jerm_the_werm]

I agree that if you are feeding something to your fish that takes them that long to kill, you shouldnt feed it to them. There are all kinds of videos where people are feeding fish to snakeheads that are just as big as they are, but snakeheads are very aggressive fish (which is partially why they are outlawed) and usually make a quick meal out of those fish, but when you have a half eaten carcass in your tank for more than a few minutes, its time to get something smaller...

[Shaunjr_89]

I am for it as long as its the right type of food for the animal. Seen people put mice is with the larger predator fish which i think is cruel as hell.

[Lady Hobbs]

Fish are not meant to eat hairballs. Don't know as their digestive track can even cope with it. I'm for feeding fry so you will not be over run with babies. Not too keen on any of the rest of it.