Herbivore have no stomach and have a very complex intestinal tract that process their intake. A carnivore has a stomach with a shorter intestinal tract. Omnivores can have the best of both worlds! My question is how do you know what can be safely absorbed and passed and which ones can't? Why take a chance?
I have a cat that loves dry dog food. However, she is a cat and as such has different needs than a dog does. Taurine (I think it's called) is a type of amino acid that a cat must have, but a dog doesn't. Dog food is not supplemented with it and a cat's food is. The point I want to make is that although fish may beg for a food, and although it seems to sate their needs, how can you be sure they are not absorbing something detrimental to their health? Short of using a mass-spectrometer or whatever it is called, how can you be sure you are not poisoning your fish?
Don't get me wrong here, I feed my Oscars a bit of hot dog as a treat every now and then when I have them. I also feed them coktail shrimp as a treat as well. But I will not give them a meal of it nor will I feed a "treat amount" daily.
I would think the amount of waste generated would be indicative of the viability of the mixed food. More waste may = less nutritional value.
I have a cat that loves dry dog food. However, she is a cat and as such has different needs than a dog does. Taurine (I think it's called) is a type of amino acid that a cat must have, but a dog doesn't. Dog food is not supplemented with it and a cat's food is. The point I want to make is that although fish may beg for a food, and although it seems to sate their needs, how can you be sure they are not absorbing something detrimental to their health? Short of using a mass-spectrometer or whatever it is called, how can you be sure you are not poisoning your fish?
Don't get me wrong here, I feed my Oscars a bit of hot dog as a treat every now and then when I have them. I also feed them coktail shrimp as a treat as well. But I will not give them a meal of it nor will I feed a "treat amount" daily.
I would think the amount of waste generated would be indicative of the viability of the mixed food. More waste may = less nutritional value.