Freeze Dried Food Vs Frozen Vs Flakes

[docbanzai]

My Tiger Barbs have developed a taste for freeze dried tubifex. They also seem to enjoy flakes but are not so keen on frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp and 'aqaurium mix'.
Now I had assumed that they would love the bloodworms and I was not keen to use tubifex as they seem to have a reputation as a 'dirty' food, but it is apparent that my Tigers are being contrary!
I'm not sure what to do, as I have bad feeling about feeding them tubifex, but they don't seem happy with anything else. They'll rip tubifex apart with great gusto, but anything else seems to be taken reluctantly.
I'm sure this topic has been done to death, but I'm a nOOb and am keen to learn!
Any advice re; good food / bad food?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

A varied diet of high protein and veg based foods, both frozen/fresh and freezedried is better than any fish flke diet depending on the fish. Live tubifex can carry certain fish deseases, but you should have no fear of this if the tubifex is frozen or freezedried . Im sure there are plenty of methods though for decontaminating live tubifex though.
Dried and high protein foods can increase the chances of constipation in fish, so you should lower this risk by feeding your fish veg based foods like algae wafers, peas, cucumber, spinache etc(although the fish will probably not take as easily to these foods, they are very healthy and important part of a good varied diet, taking them off the other foods should encourage them to eat some veg ).

 

[docbanzai]

Thanks for the advice. Funnily enough I tried giving them shelled chopped peas last night, which they went for quite enthusiastically for about 10 seconds and then turned their noses up. Ho hum, they'll just have to go hungry

Cheers!