Feeder fish
- Thread starter graycolor
- Start date
I don't think it's necessary for fish health at all. At least in terms of fresh water, most obligate piscivores can be trained onto non living or commercial foods. In fact, the use of feeders (at least store bought) can be very detrimental to the health of your fish. Goldfish are notoriously insufficient in terms of nutritional value, and the disease issue is a whole other can of worms. Do I have a moral stance on it? No, as human morals have little applicable use in the animal world. If you are going to feed live fish to your pets though, it would be best if you home raised them or quarantined them very carefully before exposing your stock to them.
There is really no reason to feeders except as the ocassional treat.
Various live fish and fry can be used for foods.Caution here unless you raise them
any commercialy bought feeders usually rosie reds/tuffies (the albino form of fat head minnows),
guppies,bait minnows etc.need to be quarantined before feeding them to your fish for several reasons.
reason 1 They are kept in horrible conditions
reason 2 They are often diseased
reason 3 They often are carriers of parasites
During quarantine dispose of the obviously sick or diseased.The remaining ones feed quality
foods a healthy feeder is of course better for your fish.
Goldfish just generaly are poor feeders and should be avoided. they are oily not very nutritious and constant feed of them causes faty deposits on the liver leading to premature deaths.They also contain very high levels of Thiaminase a destroying hormone.While many fish used as feeders contain this goldfish seem to have an abundance of it.Another issue is a spine at the front of the dorsal fin which can lead to problems if the goldfish is swollowed the wrong way (tailfirst).Yet another reason not to use goldfish,goldfish farms utilize copper meds in suspension form to combat diseases in the feeders associated with overcrowding.These copper meds are retained by the feeders for long periods after they leave the farms.Most lfs invariably retain all or part of the feeders shipping water when the feeders are loaded into their bins/tanks. And copper does not dissapate from a closed system.
If you feel the need for your fish to have live feeders raise them yourself.You'll be feeding healthier feeders meaning your fish will in turn be healthier-Anne
Various live fish and fry can be used for foods.Caution here unless you raise them
any commercialy bought feeders usually rosie reds/tuffies (the albino form of fat head minnows),
guppies,bait minnows etc.need to be quarantined before feeding them to your fish for several reasons.
reason 1 They are kept in horrible conditions
reason 2 They are often diseased
reason 3 They often are carriers of parasites
During quarantine dispose of the obviously sick or diseased.The remaining ones feed quality
foods a healthy feeder is of course better for your fish.
Goldfish just generaly are poor feeders and should be avoided. they are oily not very nutritious and constant feed of them causes faty deposits on the liver leading to premature deaths.They also contain very high levels of Thiaminase a destroying hormone.While many fish used as feeders contain this goldfish seem to have an abundance of it.Another issue is a spine at the front of the dorsal fin which can lead to problems if the goldfish is swollowed the wrong way (tailfirst).Yet another reason not to use goldfish,goldfish farms utilize copper meds in suspension form to combat diseases in the feeders associated with overcrowding.These copper meds are retained by the feeders for long periods after they leave the farms.Most lfs invariably retain all or part of the feeders shipping water when the feeders are loaded into their bins/tanks. And copper does not dissapate from a closed system.
If you feel the need for your fish to have live feeders raise them yourself.You'll be feeding healthier feeders meaning your fish will in turn be healthier-Anne
I like fish for eating as well as for watching. I see no reason why I shouldn't feed fish to my fish, particularly those that appreciate live food (Bushfish and Bichirs). That said, I breed fish, so the culls have to go somewhere, and not into the hobby population.
i think you are risking the health of your fish buying feeders. i think if you want to feed your fish with live fish, you really need to create your colony of your own. then you can control the health of your feeders and make sure that your fish dont pick up any unwanted diseases. you can also gut load your feeders with foods not ordinarily in your non feeders diet. say make sure your feeders get a good diet of good quality fish food and lots of veggies. your other fish will get the benefit of the veggies and nutrients from your feeders
I feed my guppy culls to my fish but as a general rule, they do not get live foods due to it's ability to create or enhance natural proclivity for aggression. I won't buy or accept someone else's fish as a food fish.either.
I hate doing that. I give mine away for free when they have babies, I give them ! no use feeding the bigger fish live food, theres foods out there that are way better.
I think worms are better than feeding fish feeder fish. Most of the feeder fish out there aren't taken care of and would like get more disease than give fish good health. For example, if you have an oscar that has fungal infection and it only eats fish, then you would need to feed him fish, but you don't know how well those feeder fish are taken care of. Your Oscar would more likely to get sick than anything. It's probably different if it's your own batch, like livebearers, or something. I just think it's wrong. I have Grindal Worms and that's what I feed my fish interms of live food. They like 'em. You can also get some bigger worms for bigger fish though.
Over all, most things have been said.
Over all, most things have been said.
