What Do People Use As Feeder Fish/shrimp?

[saz326]

Gonna be raising shrimp to the stage that my fish are too small to eat them, but this made me think. If I bred shrimp, would people buy them as feeders?

Am I right that people use neons, guppies, endlers as feeder fish?

 

[Truck]

Gonna be raising shrimp to the stage that my fish are too small to eat them, but this made me think. If I bred shrimp, would people buy them as feeders?

Am I right that people use neons, guppies, endlers as feeder fish?

yes they do but many people on this forum think it is wrong!

 

[foley69]

you should only really feed feeders to predatory fish to mimic how they would be in the wild thats is all really any meaty food like prawn is worth saving the life of a small fish i will only be giving my bichir live food once a week and that will be maybe live brineshrimp or WCMM

 

[Truck]

i dont know why people use feeders!!! they contain no nutrition whatsoever!!!

 

[Inchworm]

Gonna be raising shrimp to the stage that my fish are too small to eat them, but this made me think. If I bred shrimp, would people buy them as feeders?

Am I right that people use neons, guppies, endlers as feeder fish?

yes they do but most people on this forum think it is wrong!

That's a pretty big assumption to make!

i dont know why people use feeders!!! they contain no nutrition whatsoever!!!

Of course they do. If they didn't, people wouldn't eat fish either.

 

[Truck]

they contain little nutrition to the extent its not worth actually feeding them

 

[Inchworm]

How could that be?

 

[Truck]

neons and guppies etc dont contain much protein, there more fat than anything so they are of little nutritional benefit. and can also contain diseases.

 

[shroob]

i dont know why people use feeders!!! they contain no nutrition whatsoever!!!

Home grown feeders can be very nutritious, especially if gut loaded. But most mass supplied store bought feeders on the other hand can be potentially harmful to your fish aswell as lacking in nutrition.

In the UK feeder alot less prevalent than in the US, though some shops sell feeder shrimp (ghost shrimp or glass shrimp I believe at something like 12 for a pound) though I havn't bought any or seen any for sale near me.

I think the main thing that deters people in the UK from feeders as well as the ethical issue is the price. My LFS sells 10 neons for £6 or WCMM 10 for £5, something along those lines. Guppies are well over a pound each. In the states feeder fish cost pennies (or cents).

If you do breed shrimp I doubt people will use them for feeders due to the price of them (cherries fetch on average £1 each from hobbiests, up to £3 in shops). I first started off with cherry shrimp with the intention of them being feeders however quickly realised its a lot more proffitable to sell them to LFS and buy frozen foods. For example 20 cherry shrimp would get me say £20, which is enough for easily 6 packs of frozen food (bloodworm, lancefish, cockle, prawn, muscle etc) and will feed my oscar longer than 20 cherry shrimp ever would.

 

[andywg]

they contain little nutrition to the extent its not worth actually feeding them

I think you are showing your lack of knowledge here.

If a fish eats solely other fish and shrimps in the wild and grows large (such as a Red Tail Catfish) then there must be nutrition in there otherwise how would fish survive eating nothing but fish?

Anyone serious about the well being of their fish that feeds with feeders will first gutload the feeders with a decent flake or dry food prior to offering them. Thus the predator gets all the benefit of the fish and the flakes. I myself used to gutload shrimp before offering them to my frogfish when I had two that wouldn't take dead.

One must be careful with fish such as goldfish and rosy minnows due to their high content of thiamenese as discussed by nmonks in the feeder fish pin down in the predators sub-forum.

neons and guppies etc dont contain much protein, there more fat than anything so they are of little nutritional benefit. and can also contain diseases.

Quote sources or I shall consider you to be making this up on the spot.

 

[Truck]

yes ive heard about the gut loading thing, but surely if not gut loaded they are of little value?

im going of something i read a few months ago btw

 

[jonny_dw]

The nutritional value of each species of fish varies, eg we eat cod and tuna which contains high levels of protein etc but a goldfish has little nutritional value for a predatory fish, not to mention the growth hormones they contain (as do all carp like fish) which can stunt predatory fishes growth.

Another note to think of that in the UK feeding feeder fish is illegal under section 4 of the animal welfare act.


The owner also has a duty that the fish does not suffer unnecessarily. The owner must protect the fish from disease, pain and injury.

And I think being fed to a predatory fish would cause pain and injury.

This is why you dont find fish sold as feeders in the UK and if you do, report them

 

[shroob]

I think the issue of legality of feeder fish in the UK has been raised a number of times on this forum, and the conclusion is its a grey area of the law, and not technically illegal - but don't quote me on it.

 

[NottsFishy]

i think feeder fish are good for those that have fish that either wont eat dead or for those that simply cannot be weaned off live food.
But for those that have fish that eat dead food or pellets i cant see the point of feeding them feeder fish.
Although i can see the point of giving youre fish a wider and varied diet i cant see why you dont just feed youre fish live bloodworm, brineshrimp, daphnia or mosquito larvae.

 

[jonny_dw]

I think the issue of legality of feeder fish in the UK has been raised a number of times on this forum, and the conclusion is its a grey area of the law, and not technically illegal - but don't quote me on it.

Im a police officer and I would class feeding live fish as an offence under the animal welfare act for the point I highlighted. I couldnt see it standing in court very well to be honest but none the less myself and other officers Ive spoken to about the subject would also see it as an offence, not that we get many calls about a neighbour feeding neons to a wolfish