i love this african cichlid tank/assortment. i'm jealous....but i like mine better.

[charlie_stubbs]

Behold my multi quoting skill:

I do agree, I can be harsh at times. But sometimes its just the person's fault. I mean feeding rosy reds to africans, or keeping 9 mbuna in a 10 gallon. Some of this stuff is far beyond what is right.

I have asked for, and recieved, good advice from Tarheels. Though he may need to work on his bedside manner, he would make a fine cichlid doctor.

I'm always a bit uncomfortable with feeder fish. So fish eat fish in the wild...it seems to me that this is often hauled out there as a reason to feed fish in captivity...usually with a rider that 'they need to eat other fish...its natural'. However, once you make a decision to keep fish in an aquarium you are removing them from nature and the same rules don't apply.

For instance, in nature, those fish would have to hunt for their food and their food could try and escape. So, 1) keeping fish in an aquarium is distinctly unnatural. 2) feeding fish other fish in an aquarium is distinctly unnatural and 3) most aquarium carnivorous fish will never even have seen a prey fish before it is tossed into their tank.

I accept an exception in cases of wild caught carnivores...which clearly require proper sized tanks and likely a prey diet...and are not suitable for most home aquarists.

In reality, nothing in feeder fish is unavailable in a proper diet which does not incorporate feeder fish. That and the fact that feeders can be a wonderful source of disease tends to put me in the don't feed fish live fish in captivity camp.

Well said, my hairy friend. I would agree with such reasoning. If you were those feeders lawyer, and I was the judge, they would walk. Or swim. Whichever may apply.

i do not raise my own guppies that i feed to my JD, but i do not get them at pet stores either. my friend breeds guppies and every now and then gives me a few. he is very knowledgeable about guppies and i trust him that his guppies are perfectly healthy.

I must say AquariumNoob, your excitement for the hobby certainly shines through. You ask alot of questions and do alot of research before you make your decisions, I think at this rate you will have more posts than RBishop in no time.

 

[AquariumNoob13]

hahaha. i love keeping fish, and love the fish i have, so before i ever make a decision, i always do research. i like this site because most of the time i can find helpful friends (like tarheels) who give me great advice. it is much easier starting a thread on here than googling. hehehe. sorry if i seem lazy, but a lot of times you search for one thing on google and u get results for completely different things.