# Other Fish Foods?



## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

Hey, 

I heard that switching fishes diet is good for the fish? I have a couple of gouramis, gold algae eater, chinese algae eater and a gold barb...

What else can I feed my tropical community fish?
Thanks!


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

What are you feeding right now? They do like it when you offer some frozen thawed foods 

Bloodworm, mysis shrimp, beefheart, brine shrimp... etc etc.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

Home made foods.


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

Sunstar said:


> Home made foods.


Home made foods to me is pasta, cakes, muffins - stuff that's not for fishes =P Please elaborate.


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

Ciddian said:


> What are you feeding right now? They do like it when you offer some frozen thawed foods
> 
> Bloodworm, mysis shrimp, beefheart, brine shrimp... etc etc.


Ou, how much would I have to feed? I'm using tropical flakes at the moment and some veggie rounds.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Not too much. There is a lot in one cube of the stuff  I usually just thaw out a cube or two and go around a few times to my tanks. 

I second sunstar.. Home made foods are really great!


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

Ciddian said:


> Not too much. There is a lot in one cube of the stuff  I usually just thaw out a cube or two and go around a few times to my tanks.
> 
> I second sunstar.. Home made foods are really great!


Alrighty =) I'll try it out.

Haha, what do you mean by home made food?


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

there are recipes on line that give you ratios of fish meats, vegetables and whatnot to make your own frozen fish meals. 

also, I have found my macrobrachium (big shrimp) has been benefiting from the crickets that suicide in my gecko's water dish. I am sure if I get pinhead circkets my bettas woulld enjoy them.


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

Oh awesome!

Thank you =)


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

If you want a good staple that doesn't require you to feed anything else, New Life Spectrum products work great. You can still give a bit of variety for fun but the NLS stuff is really well balanced and within a week or two you'll notice brighter colours in your fish.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Daveyman said:


> Home made foods to me is pasta, cakes, muffins - stuff that's not for fishes =P Please elaborate.


For the record, my fish like muffin top crumbs (beetroot muffins) (not gross -- like carrot cake) -- not that this is part of their regular diet or anything! 

On a more serious note, if you are making homemade food, try adding some red pepper. It will help brighten your fish's colours. (My fish, herbivores that they are, like to eat slices of red pepper plain). Orange-fleshed squash will also help.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Cory said:


> If you want a good staple that doesn't require you to feed anything else, New Life Spectrum products work great. You can still give a bit of variety for fun but the NLS stuff is really well balanced and within a week or two you'll notice brighter colours in your fish.


I have to agree with Cory on this one. Since I started using NLS foods (flake & pellet) a few years ago as the main staple of my feeding plan I noticed increased appetite, better/brighter colours. Fish that were picky were not so picky any more. Also, usually once a week, my fish get some frozen brine shrimp too - the cube stuff is really pretty convenient.

As a possible plus, the NLS stuff moves off the shelves of BA's stores pretty fast too so hopefully that helps with product freshness.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

Mr Fishies said:


> I have to agree with Cory on this one. Since I started using NLS foods (flake & pellet) a few years ago as the main staple of my feeding plan I noticed increased appetite, better/brighter colours. Fish that were picky were not so picky any more. Also, usually once a week, my fish get some frozen brine shrimp too - the cube stuff is really pretty convenient.
> 
> As a possible plus, the NLS stuff moves off the shelves of BA's stores pretty fast too so hopefully that helps with product freshness.


Whatever is in NLS food for finicky eaters is really truly pure unadulterated fish crack I tell you. I just inherited a new rainbow that has been probally fed really bad foods most of his life. This poor thing in the two days I have had it goes insane for NLS and frozen mysis. He makes my goldfish look like polite eaters!  And they spit water the minute the tank lid is opened! lol


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

characinfan said:


> For the record, my fish like muffin top crumbs (beetroot muffins) (not gross -- like carrot cake) -- not that this is part of their regular diet or anything!
> 
> On a more serious note, if you are making homemade food, try adding some red pepper. It will help brighten your fish's colours. (My fish, herbivores that they are, like to eat slices of red pepper plain). Orange-fleshed squash will also help.


Woah - so I can seriously feed the fish any food? - well not any, but baking?

Is there a list of stuff I can find that fish can eat? That's home made? 
Something that will boost the colours , like you said red pepper?

That is amazing, I didn't know that you could do that ! - haha you learn something new every day!

Thanks!


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## newbiefishfanatic (Dec 11, 2008)

i feed my fish a menagerie of foods. i feed them 3 smal feedings every day. i give them flake food, pellets, algea waffers, frozen and freeze dried bloodworms, frozen freshwater "emerald entree" (mix of brine shrimp, krill, ect) and i have carnivore sinking pellets too. i have noticed that after i get them from the store, they brighten up in colour A LOT and seem to be a lot more active. i think a varied diet is great for them. oh, i also have some water sprite (plant) that my omnivorous fish like to nibble at. i put some cucumber at the bottom for my plecos, but all the fsh nibble at it, even my bala shark! 

i didnt know about them liking baked goods though! LoL i did know they like bread, because my son decided to feed them one day...but muffins? thats cute! i have heard of ppl feeding nuts, and veggies and fruits to their fish too. i like to stick with fish foods from the fish store, but vary it up every day.

i also give them 1 day a week to get rid of everything in their system, like a clean out day. this has helped with constipation problems i used to have with them.

ps-i dont feed them all that food every day! whatever i choose, for 3 small feedings.


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## Daveyman (Jan 28, 2009)

When Feeding them broccoli or something - will they ever choke on the pieces when it gets too small? Thanks


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Daveyman said:


> When Feeding them broccoli or something - will they ever choke on the pieces when it gets too small? Thanks


Probably not. Even though they might seem to gulp down chunks without chewing, most fish have crushing plates in their throats (the "pharyngeal apparatus" or pharyngeal jaws) that work sort of like molars. Watch your fish closely when you feed them, and you will probably see them chew at the back of their throats.

Also, fish breathe through their gills, not through lungs, so they don't have the same problem of choking on food that goes down the wrong way, the way we have.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Some fish will choke on foods - plenty have lost baby plecs to blood worms, as they try to swallow them, and they get caught in their throats. But in general, I'd say you really don't have to worry about it too much unless you have species at sizes where they have been known to choke on foods.

I feed all my guys on a staple of Hikari foods, and they're pigs. Next batch of foods I'll be trying out the NLS for them too. My marine fish go nuts for NLS, even overcoming their usual shy nature to eat like little pigs


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