I Guess It's Time To End The Hobby.

[CezzaXV]

No, just general tropical flakes. They'll float for a while but if they get in the flow of the filter they'll sink, giving your bottom dwellers a look in. You can get sinking pellets as well. They shouldn't foul the water though.

I feed my fish dried bloodworm from time to time, but they don't sink at all so the guppies are the only ones that get a look in.

In the wild bloodworm and daphnia and all the frozen stuff you get is quite nutritious because their guts are full of stuff. When theyre grown for us, the freezing process takes long enough that there's not much left in their bellies by the time they're actually frozen, meaning that a lot of the nutritional value is gone.

 

[FishBlast]

No, just general tropical flakes. They'll float for a while but if they get in the flow of the filter they'll sink, giving your bottom dwellers a look in. You can get sinking pellets as well. They shouldn't foul the water though.

I feed my fish dried bloodworm from time to time, but they don't sink at all so the guppies are the only ones that get a look in.

In the wild bloodworm and daphnia and all the frozen stuff you get is quite nutritious because their guts are full of stuff. When theyre grown for us, the freezing process takes long enough that there's not much left in their bellies by the time they're actually frozen, meaning that a lot of the nutritional value is gone.

I never fed them anything like that and I'm not sure I can trust the pet shops around here, as long ago I fed some fish with vitamins and they died a day after eating those.

Pellets - catfish pellets I've used before and fouled the water. Their name was something with "fix" in it. They were tiny round gray balls and smelled like cat food.

I'd rather stay away from pellets / other stuff they sell around here except the usual the fish have been eating. I'd much rather buy live bloodworms or black worms but until they're on sale, I have to keep with the frozen stuff.

I'm not even a fan of giving cats cat food either, as one type of cat food seriously damaged my cat's stomach. Rather go with natural stuff (as natural as it can be).

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I understand that you want to feed your fish natural foods but bloodworm can sometimes cause digestive problems if fed too often. Also a varied diet is important to your fishes' health. Tropical flakes and pellets have been specially made to have everything your fish needs in them. I would encourage you to give it a try.

 

[Ruskull]

Might be worth feeding a bit less then. Fish don't have a concept of being full, so they will eat themselves to death if you let them. If they're passing food undigested it may mean they're eating too much.

Well, how much to feed 3 fish though? I barely even feed that half of the cube anyway. Though sometimes i give them one pinch during the morning and 1 during the evening.

Tzuppy is 13 cm, Bee and Cracker are around 5cm (maybe less, around 4). I give them defrosted bloodworms from this 2 cm cube. (that's like 1 cm cube a day, split into two for morning and evening).

Twice a week I feed 3 tanks full of fish 1 or 2 cubes, usually a mix of frozen brine shrimp & bloodworms. Most of the time they all prefer the brine shrimp so I that's why I mix them together every other feeding or so.

 

[FishBlast]

I understand that you want to feed your fish natural foods but bloodworm can sometimes cause digestive problems if fed too often. Also a varied diet is important to your fishes' health. Tropical flakes and pellets have been specially made to have everything your fish needs in them. I would encourage you to give it a try.

I just hope I won't kill them and I don't know what my dad would say to that. He'd probably buy the cheapest junk on the shelf.

How can I be sure they don't put dangerous additives in them? Because the same they say about cat food that they have everything... but in the long run causes cancer / diabetes and then you end up buying food for diabetes like I did. (even though I still suspect that cat to have died of cancer, the vet said it was diabetes but it seriously was too obvious the cat had tumors in its abdomen, his father also died of brain cancer, and the cat was pooping blood).

Pretty much all my fish have been kept for years with bloodworms and haven't had problems, though if I'd look for flakes or small pellets, will both the swordtails and the catfish like them? Will they foul my water or not?

And my catfish is once again trying to jump out of the water even though I've done a water change of 20L today.
He does this after eating and keeps doing it until evening. In the morning he swims more at the bottom, but once he's fed, he swims at the surface and splashes water all over, or climbs over the filter and jumps back in. He takes a 30 minute rest and then does it again. Why is he doing this?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

What are your latest water test results?

Terry.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

If you go with the more popular brands then you shouldn't really worry about this food hurting your fish. I'm not sure what the polar brands are where you live but research on the internet to find out. Tetra is probably the most popular brand where I live.

No, as long as you don't overfeed it will not make your water dirty,

Yes, all of your fish will eat both flakes and pellets.

Your Dad will like that these foods are cheaper and lost longer than your frozen foods so it's worth it to pay for the nicer brands.

 

[FishBlast]

What are your latest water test results?

Terry.

I can only test ammonia and it's at 0.
Temp at 22C

Can't test for nitrite though.

And this always happens after he eats, he starts frantically going around the water surface as if eating something or sometimes splashes around. Other two fish seem fine and keep looking for food at the bottom of the tank or the male sometimes is courting the female.

At night he calms down / roams the bottom more and digs for food in the sand, as if nothing happened. Either that or he attacks the plant for fun. He spread that thing all over the surface and I had to pick up the leaves.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

If you can't test for NitrIte then you can't rule out any poisoning of your fish, can you?

Terry.

 

[FishBlast]

If you can't test for NitrIte then you can't rule out any poisoning of your fish, can you?

Terry.

I cannot do anything, I've changed the water and it didn't help, I cannot change the whole tank water and then find out he's doing this because he wants more food or he has a lot of gas (he does throw quite a lot of bubbles from underneath him) while the other two don't do anything out of the ordinary.

And I still don't get it why he does it only at certain times too, as during the night till morning when I feed him he's calm / acts like a normal catfish.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

If you can't test for NitrIte then you can't rule out any poisoning of your fish, can you?

Terry.

I cannot do anything, I've changed the water and it didn't help, I cannot change the whole tank water and then find out he's doing this because he wants more food or he has a lot of gas (he does throw quite a lot of bubbles from underneath him) while the other two don't do anything out of the ordinary.

And I still don't get it why he does it only at certain times too, as during the night till morning when I feed him he's calm / acts like a normal catfish.

http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/API-FRESH-SALT-WATER-NITRITE-FISH-TANK-TEST-KIT-AL84-/250874842454?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a694e4d56

Sorted

Terry.

 

[FishBlast]

If you can't test for NitrIte then you can't rule out any poisoning of your fish, can you?

Terry.

I cannot do anything, I've changed the water and it didn't help, I cannot change the whole tank water and then find out he's doing this because he wants more food or he has a lot of gas (he does throw quite a lot of bubbles from underneath him) while the other two don't do anything out of the ordinary.

And I still don't get it why he does it only at certain times too, as during the night till morning when I feed him he's calm / acts like a normal catfish.

http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/API-FRESH-SALT-WATER-NITRITE-FISH-TANK-TEST-KIT-AL84-/250874842454?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a694e4d56

Sorted

Terry.

I don't have money and dad doesn't want to buy the kit. -.- If it were that easy I would have bought one already.
I'll have to wait till I can buy it as he doesn't want to get it / doesn't understand anything about the use of these.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Tropical fish keeping CAN be a bit of an expensive hobby (especially when starting out), so maybe you've answered your question in the thread title right there.

Terry.

 

[FishBlast]

Tropical fish keeping CAN be a bit of an expensive hobby (especially when starting out), so maybe you've answered your question in the thread title right there.

Terry.

I've spent all my money on getting a bigger tank and some stuff for it. I can't give up now though. There's got to be a way to convince dad to get that kit, if not I can only get it in a week or so (and eBay would be same period of time).

However, I asked dad to ask the pet shop guy if he does water testing so I can know all parameters.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

..yet a full water test kit should be top of your list of priorities when fishkeeping.

Terry.