Feeding Fish

[jenrick]

I'm still pretty new to everything, and had some questions :

I was going to order some food from kensfish.
I have (Or will have soon) Fire wag Platys, guppies (I think? They could be mosquito fish) and some black mollies in a tank.
I think i read the platy needs a more vegetable diet so as I was looking through I found these which I'm not too sure which to get and was hoping for some suggestions :
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]KENS PREMIUM SUPER TROPICAL FLAKE
[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]KENS PREMIUM GUPPY FLAKE[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]PURE SPIRULINA FLAKE[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]KENS PREMIUM TROPICAL FISH FLAKE[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]KENS PREMIUM VEGETABLE FLAKE[/FONT]
So many choices vs the petco - flake food - done.

Another question is lighting.
The tank i have is one of those tetra kits and it has two lights which I was hoping to replace with higher wattage for plants but from what I read it seems I need to buy a retrofit kit to do this? The bulbs are these : Eclipse natural Daylight F15T8 18"

Thanks!

 

[punch1]

It is easy to overfeed adult Guppies. they can can eat and eat, they should not be fed as much as they can eat. Males develop a noticeable - and unhealthy - "pot belly", a bulged chest area. from feeding a rich diet high in fat including beef heart, which, of course, is not the natural course If the guppy remains active as an adult the extra weight will not be quite as dangerous.

4 or 5 months old, it's diet should be modified to lower fat intake, and flakes will become the major diet
Live food is known as the best food for fish since its nutrition is fresh, it provides essential fats and amino acids, it survives in the tank so it rarely fouls the water, and fish enjoy eating it. Live cultures such as those mentioned here are rarely sold by stores, but can be obtained through aquarium club members, fish auctions, and via the internet.
Freeze-dried foods close second nutrionally. They can be stored indefinitely in a cool, dry place. Flakes are about as good as freeze dried (FD) foods, and in many cases, better The key to remember, though, is variety.

Beef Heart: chopped, cleaned of any fat or sinew, and grated from frozen when needed. Avoid feeding to adult guppies since males may develop a fatty liver and look as if bulging in the chest. Vitamins, garlic and other ingredients can be added using a blender. For young guppies, this is a very cost efficient way of feeding growth food as beef heart can be found to be quiet inexpensive in the grocery store.
Algae: An excellent food source and left to grow on certain ornaments or one side of the tank, the fish can nibble on it between meals. It is a source of vitamins B, C, D and E.
You may also want to feed a shucked pea - natiral no additives like the frozen green giant or sara lee Run a frozen pea under warm water and take off the skin. Drop it in the tank and watch the Guppies attack it! Remove what they do not finish.
misquito larvae are an excellent source of vitamins and albumen and guppies eat them as long as they can fit them into their mouths. You can "grow" them in outdoor tubs in the summer; just seed the water with green water or other bacteria to encourage the growth of infusoria which will attract mosquitoes.



Drosophila (wingless fruit flies) are great as well

Tubifex Worms NONONONO These worms live in sewage, where the water is so polluted that fish could not survive. They carry with them bacteria that often kills guppies. Fortunately they are available in freeze dried form and these should be safe - Hikari has a special process which certifies them clean

Guppies seem to always be hungry but quality is more important that quantity. You may want to consider fasting your adult fish once a week. This helps keep the water cleaner, and you will find your fish, as a rule, waste less food throughout the week.


A flake food that details all of the ingredients is the sign of a good one; an expiry date is an even better indication of quality.The best we can do is to feed quality foods that list vitamins and minerals, as well as a variety, including fresh foods. Let's look at flakes.If your Guppies are too quick it can give them a swollen stomach, so in this case try to soak them for a few seconds first. If flakes are bought in large quantities, freeze what you would not use in the next month and re-fill when necessary.

It will help keep your flakes fresh. Vitamins will be lost with exposure to air. Minerals and trace elements, found in fish meal from fish bones, though, have a long shelf life.

some good examples - top of the line - are products from omega and Hikari - others are:
HBH Fry Bites, Nutrafin Max Spirulina Algae Flake Food ,HBH 4 Flake Frenzy....

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum JenRick. Both the platies and the mollies will benefit greatly from a good vegetable flake in their diet. I have found the spirulina flake here is a very good quality. http://www.flguppiesplus.com/ Their other foods are also well worth having but I have never tried Ken's so I don't know what their quality is. I get most of my dry fish food from Luis at Florida Guppies Plus. I also use frozen foods that I get at the LFS and feed microworms, vinegar eels and daphnia live from my own cultures.

 

[7itanium]

I agree