dino Bichir

[reptileguy2727]

usually when i hear zoos or aquariums talking about diet they inevitably mention something to the effect of "we feed frozen/prepared foods to cut down on the risk of introducing disease". i have seen it a lot in cichlids and many other predators that if they are raised on prepared foods they are more laid back and therefore more tolerant of other tankmates than those raised on live, honestly if you have been doing this for 35 years and havent observed it that really surprises me. dont you think that an animal who consistantly has to associate moving living animals with its sole or main source of food might be a bit more aggressive than one who has always had moving animals associated simply as tankmates? oscars and other large piscivores being more toelrant of tankmates if raised on prepared foods. of course prepared food rots, but another poster said that live foods take longer to and i was making a point, note i didnt say "prepared foods dont rot". the risk may be small but my animals arent worth that risk to me, i dont consider them expendable. runoff can introduce pesticides and other chemicals to your lawn, hence human destruction of streams and oceans even though we arent dumping the chemicals directly into where the damage is being observed, water moves the stuff with it. oh and worms and other animals are able to move on their own, from one yard to another. i like to play it safe with my animals, not just good enough. there are plenty of good foods out there so the risks of live food are completely unnecessary to me in most cases where live foods seem to be used today.

 

[Toirtis]

usually when i hear zoos or aquariums talking about diet they inevitably mention something to the effect of "we feed frozen/prepared foods to cut down on the risk of introducing disease".

You may have heard that, but I have worked there.

i have seen it a lot in cichlids and many other predators that if they are raised on prepared foods they are more laid back and therefore more tolerant of other tankmates than those raised on live, honestly if you have been doing this for 35 years and havent observed it you arent paying attention and that really surprises me, no offense.

Perhaps, if I have been doing this for 35 years, have a postgraduate degree in zoology, and have worked in zoological and aquarium institutions, I know whereof I speak, and you have either witnessed an anomaly or only believe you see a difference.

i dont know what you do, but i work in a pet shop and i hear it all the time.

I will refrain from offering my opinion of what I think of the knowledge base of 99% of pet store clerks or 99% of people with oscars.

of course prepared food rots, but another poster said that live foods take longer to and i was making a point, note i didnt say "prepared foods dont rot".

Live foods do take longer to decompose....prepared foods are decomposing before they hit the tank, whereas live foods only beging decomposing in earnest after they die.

the risk may be small but my animals arent worth that risk to me, i dont consider them expendable.

Neither do I....yet for some reason, I am not concerned.

runoff can introduce pesticides and other chemicals to your lawn,

Runoff? From? I am assuming that most of us do not live downhill of our neighbours or farmland.

hence human destruction of streams and oceans even though we arent dumping the chemicals directly into where the damage is being observed, water moves the stuff with it.

Waterways are very different from your backyard.

oh and worms and other animals are able to move on their own, from one yard to another.

Not far, if you have any sort of yard...you need to read up on the habits of earthworms...most do not travel far at all, and one assumes that cultured worms do tend to stay within their media bins.

there are plenty of good foods out there so the risks of live food are completely unnecessary to me in most cases where live foods seem to be used today.

I am sorry, but it is somewhat unclear just what you are attempting to say there.

 

[Toirtis]

What do you mean by "gut-laid" them for a full week?

As an ESL speaker, or perhaps just not familiar with fishy business, I have trouble with terms; sometimes, one new word could just knock me unconscious.....

Sorry, I mis-typed...I intended "gut-load", not "gut-laid"...it is a term used primarily by herpetoculturalists to describe feeding a feeder insect a highly nutritous, supplemented diet prior to feeding the insect to its intended predator to thereby benefit to predator with the heightened nutitional value.

 

[Sunni Side Up]

Challenging diet.... ~

......."gut-load"... it is a term used primarily by herpetoculturalists to describe feeding a feeder insect a highly nutritous, supplemented diet prior to feeding the insect to its intended predator to thereby benefit to predator with the heightened nutitional value.

OOoh, thank you for the clarification, and I sure appreciate your wealth of knowledge and expertise in this aquatic world!

 

[reptileguy2727]

i know zoos will feed live, but when i hear them talking about it or talk to the people who work there, they always say something about using prepared foods because it lowers the risk of introducing disease. i may work in a pet shop for now, but i am not one of the know nothings you are thinking of, they drive me crazy too. and i agree with your opinion about most people with oscars, mainly because most of them that i deal with i have to get feeders for. its a shame that every big cichlid that is brought in trying to be given away that has hole in the head or is in some other horrible condition, was fed live food. the less aggressive trend is something i see in almost every case, fed nothing but prepared foods and they are less aggressive than the ones that werent, some a lot less aggressiv ethan others who weren't, but the trend is there. do you really think that never associating your food with moving animals cant help help reduce the aggression level? where i live and in many other regions of the U.S., it isnt flat, therefore it would be very easy for my neighbor's habit of pouring fertilizer and pesticides on his lawn to affect mine (not to mention the wonderful quality of our rain these days). and what i mean is, i dont see a need to risk my animals' lives when they are thriving on prepared foods by using live. it is unnecessary and not worth the risk. we have enough high quality prepared foods out there to make live food completely unnecessary for all but the individuals/species that flat out refuse prepared, or when breeding a species where live food is part of the conditioning process.

do the zoos/aquariums you work(ed) at raise their own live food? what are you thinking of when you are thinking of live foods? im thinking of commercialized live foods mainly (feeder fish of assorted varieties, store bought blackworms, earthworms, etc.) and wild caught anything.

 

[mudvayne]

i have had polypterus for 2 years know and i have to get a bigger tank because even though one of them is only a foot in length the 55G is still to small. I have a delhezi to in another tank not listed and he (has the widest of the anal fins i have seen) will out grow the 45G and will nedd atleast a 90G in the next couple of months because the species grows so fast.

More info on this fish is located at www.liveaquaria.com


Mudvayne

 

[StreetCypher]

Kinda jumping in late to this thread, but to get a good idea on how to care for bichirs visit the link in my sig. Also, you have some of the most experienced bichir keepers on this board to help, but it never hurts to use multiple resources

 

[FreddytheFish]

I’ve been using both prepared and live food for all my fish!

Good, that's what I'd suggest.

 

[Toirtis]

do the zoos/aquariums you work(ed) at raise their own live food?

Some of it, yes.

what are you thinking of when you are thinking of live foods? im thinking of commercialized live foods mainly (feeder fish of assorted varieties, store bought blackworms, earthworms, etc.) and wild caught anything.

That is what I am referring to as well (including brine shrmp nauplii, rotifers, etc), along with other live foods (mice, rats, chicks, etc) for reptiles and mammals.

 

[reptileguy2727]

i still think its riskier to use live than prepared. the risks drop drastically when raised by the keeper. and i still dont think its necessary for most fish and other animals if they will take preapred foods.