TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Frozen is not the same as commercial. Consider frozen vegetables for us non-fish. In many cases they are harvested and frozen almost on the spot. They retain most if not all of their nutritional value. Cooking them destroys more nutrition than freezing.
If you cannot raise or collect blood worms, mysis or brine shrimp, cyclops, rotifers, BBS etc, get them frozen. This beats any dried form of these foods by a mile. Next, try some of the Repashy gel foods. I have been using these for close to a decade with great results.
I spawn expensive and somewhat rare B&W plecos. The never get live food and they produce a lot of fry. I got my rarest ones spawning using Spawn & Grow from Repashy. I do not do live foods. I have neither the space nor the time to do them. But my fish are healthy, grow well and rarely get sick. That said, I do agree that live is the best if one can do it. However, we may not be able to give the fish all they need from one or two live foods.
Bear in mind that all fish are pigs. They are always willing to try to eat almost anything they think could be food. But, the worst part of over-feeding is what happens to the uneaten food. It can foul the water given enough and can even crash a tank if it is really a very lot too much.
Finally, there are two other factors to consider when feeding. The first is knowing that a food is healthy and good for the species. The second is understanding how fish eat. For example, some fish are grazers which tend to eat on and off all day while other fish may gobble food as it hits the water. Some fish may need to hunt for the food dropped in a tank- things like singing foods may have to sit a while before the fish find them. So what you feed such fish has to last for a while before it falls apart.
As an example, here is the ingredient list and Guaranteed Analysis for the Spawn & Grow I use (it is not a staple food, it is for conditioning to spawn and for fry to grow and should not be fed daily:
INGREDIENTS: Squid Meal, Krill Meal, Fish Meal, Schizochytrium Algae, Dried Brewer’s Yeast, Coconut Meal, Dried Seaweed Meal, Lecithin, Spirulina Algae, Locust Bean Gum, Citric Acid, Taurine, Dried Kelp, Dried Watermelon, RoseHips, Hibiscus Flower, Marigold Flower, Paprika, Turmeric, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (as preservatives), Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Manganese Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Copper Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate. Vitamins: (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Calcium L-Ascorbyl-2- Monophosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta Carotene, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex).
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Crude Protein min. 45%, Crude Fat min. 10%, Crude Fiber max. 5%, Moisture max. 8%, Ash max. 13%.
No fillers in the above and a lot of vitamins etc.
If you cannot raise or collect blood worms, mysis or brine shrimp, cyclops, rotifers, BBS etc, get them frozen. This beats any dried form of these foods by a mile. Next, try some of the Repashy gel foods. I have been using these for close to a decade with great results.
I spawn expensive and somewhat rare B&W plecos. The never get live food and they produce a lot of fry. I got my rarest ones spawning using Spawn & Grow from Repashy. I do not do live foods. I have neither the space nor the time to do them. But my fish are healthy, grow well and rarely get sick. That said, I do agree that live is the best if one can do it. However, we may not be able to give the fish all they need from one or two live foods.
Bear in mind that all fish are pigs. They are always willing to try to eat almost anything they think could be food. But, the worst part of over-feeding is what happens to the uneaten food. It can foul the water given enough and can even crash a tank if it is really a very lot too much.
Finally, there are two other factors to consider when feeding. The first is knowing that a food is healthy and good for the species. The second is understanding how fish eat. For example, some fish are grazers which tend to eat on and off all day while other fish may gobble food as it hits the water. Some fish may need to hunt for the food dropped in a tank- things like singing foods may have to sit a while before the fish find them. So what you feed such fish has to last for a while before it falls apart.
As an example, here is the ingredient list and Guaranteed Analysis for the Spawn & Grow I use (it is not a staple food, it is for conditioning to spawn and for fry to grow and should not be fed daily:
INGREDIENTS: Squid Meal, Krill Meal, Fish Meal, Schizochytrium Algae, Dried Brewer’s Yeast, Coconut Meal, Dried Seaweed Meal, Lecithin, Spirulina Algae, Locust Bean Gum, Citric Acid, Taurine, Dried Kelp, Dried Watermelon, RoseHips, Hibiscus Flower, Marigold Flower, Paprika, Turmeric, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (as preservatives), Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Manganese Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Copper Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate. Vitamins: (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Calcium L-Ascorbyl-2- Monophosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta Carotene, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex).
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS: Crude Protein min. 45%, Crude Fat min. 10%, Crude Fiber max. 5%, Moisture max. 8%, Ash max. 13%.
No fillers in the above and a lot of vitamins etc.
