Collected flying insects for fish?

[King puff]

The only thing you don't want is dragonfly larvae

Yes, I am very aware about dragonfly larvae and damselfly larvae. They catch food their labium/ hinged bottom jaw. They prey on tadpoles, small fish, and insects.

I keep a tub out in the yard in indirect sunlight all summer. Just throw something in there to rot. Leaves work just no walnut. I've heard of ppl using lettuce. Mosquitoes will find it naturally and you should get mosquito larvae and bloodworms.

I already have an everlasting puddle (I think it is a well) full of rotting leaves. All year round this puddle is infested with mosquitoes.

I don't think we should have to pay for fish food and I refuse to do it. I think corporations should just give it to us for free as they usually do. All the packaged fish food I have I got from conventions/auctions/free giveaways etc.

I very much agree. I just got into feeding my fish insects when I saw a fly buzzing about the windowsill. I really think feeding our fish live food is very beneficial. When seeing the fish eat live insects, I can see the instinct taking over as they dash about trying to catch the food. When we feed fish flakes, they don't get those fast dashes of speed and instinct. Because I live in a warm climate, I have access to insects all year round if that is flies, daphina, or mosquito larvae.

One more question. How often can I feed them live insects. I feel like if it is a variety diet than I can feed them insects every day. People say that these are treats but this is what fish would eat in the wild. I would still feed flakes every day.

 

[AbbeysDad]

<rhetorical> So if you had a cat, would you feed it live mice? What about a dog???
High quality commercial foods are highly nutritious, well balanced and healthier than any collection of insects and such. Most of our fish in the hobby are many generations away from wild fish....and fish in the wild don't always have it so good. Just saying.

 

[King puff]

This is true. And as I mentioned, I will still feed them flakes. I understand that this is a prepared food and will feed it daily. How often should I feed insects?

 

[AbbeysDad]

I'd use such things as occasional treats, while relying on the high quality commercial food for balanced nutrition. And make no mistake, there are only a very few high quality commercial foods out there that are not just grain and fish meal.

 

[King puff]

Thanks for the help! I am using tetra color tropical flakes. I'm guessing that this is not a good food as the first ingredient is fish meal. What food would you suggest? Omega one?

 

[Chief Brody]

Anything is good to have on hand it's just important to monitor how much is actually getting eaten each time you put it in. Anything you put in your fish tank is going to impact the balance of things in there so just make sure it's all getting processed somehow. It's easy to over-do it with that stuff. Sometimes you're just feeding the snails that come out at night or even worse detritus worms etc. Watch them take it or don't use it it's junk - filler, something for between times when you're too busy to deal with it. They can survive fine being fed every other day, lessons is more. Some lfs don't feed at all, it's more work

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[King puff]

So your point is, don't over feed the flake food that I mentioned? I try as hard as I can not to let any of that food touch the bottom. When it does, im disappointed in myself for the next couple hours! The only thing that sustains the Trumpet snails is fish waste and decaying plant matter. So, this food is fine?

 

[Chief Brody]

Absolutely. You got it

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[NickAu]

Fish food will reach the bottom its a fact of life and there is nothing you can do about it, How much of a problem this is depends on how much you feed the substrate tank maintenance and the type of bottom dwellers you have.

Thats why Trumpet snails are great they clean all that up for you.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Thanks for the help! I am using tetra color tropical flakes. I'm guessing that this is not a good food as the first ingredient is fish meal. What food would you suggest? Omega one?

Fish meal, in general, is a dubious concoction, often made from the scrap parts (e.g cannery waste) that can't be used for human consumption (heads, scales, bones). It's ground, dried, loaded with preservatives and sits in a warehouse until ordered by a fish food manufacturer. Because it is processed and dried, it requires copious amounts of starch (typically from grains) as a filler/binder. More preservatives for a longer shelf life.
Fish can't process grains so it passes through as waste. (This is not unlike other low quality pet foods with grain as a significant ingredient)
Before switching to high quality foods, my fish used to have trails of poop....not anymore!
I prefer Omega One, Almost Natural, and lately I've been testing some New Life Spectrum. These foods list fish as their primary ingredient (not fishmeal).

 

[King puff]

Fish food will reach the bottom its a fact of life and there is nothing you can do about it, How much of a problem this is depends on how much you feed the substrate tank maintenance and the type of bottom dwellers you have.

Thats why Trumpet snails are great they clean all that up for you.

I do understand that small particles will reach the bottom, but when the big flakes touch the bottom, it bothers me. I don't over feed the bottom as you may remember the discussion about the loach in another post. Trumpet snails are my number one bottom cleaner. They clean up practically anything that touches the bottom of the tank.

Before switching to high quality foods, my fish used to have trails of poop....not anymore!
I prefer Omega One, Almost Natural, and lately I've been testing some New Life Spectrum. These foods list fish as their primary ingredient (not fishmeal).

This is exactly what my fishes poo looks like now. I use omega one cichlids pellets for my ram and it loves them. I will definitely be switching a more natural diet as soon as possible. Any specific names of omega one food that you would suggest.?

 

[mnmziziziz]

I'd be careful and make sure the bugs aren't contaminated with anything like you didn't just catch them off of a plant sprayed with pesticides but other than that they're pretty safe, I do it all the time

 

[AbbeysDad]

Any specific names of omega one food that you would suggest.?

Tropical Flakes, Veggie Flakes/Rounds.

 

[hobby5]

I am bound to disagree with some opinions here. Imho, nothing beats quality live food. And yes you can feed it everyday and forget about any commercial stuff. That is what I do, as long as I have some available and my fish thank me with colour, activity, health. and lots of offspring. What exactly to feed, depends on the fish species. But for nearly all smaller fish black mosquito larvae is the very best.

 

[King puff]

Well, as the other people said, prepared foods offer more nutrients that you can get from just feeding mosquito larvae.