Nutritional Advice Needed for my Tank

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the loach

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I am no expert on this, but I'm sure a quality pellet or flake food can have better nutritional content in it than live foods for your fish. Less chance of dragging parasites and disease into your sealed box of a tank as well.
Of course it's possible. Most processed fish foods, even the low quality ones, have a much higher percentage of protein as live foods for example. But that is not the same as necessary, or better. It's basically a fish farming argument. Produce the biggest yield with the smallest or cheapest amount of food.

We're talking about pets here. If you want the best for your fish (again talking about general small community fish here) the order is this:
1 live foods
2 frozen live foods
3 processed foods

Incidentally, that is identical to the fishes preference (see Althena as example in this thread ;)..)
There is no danger of bringing in diseases with live foods as long as they are not collected from bodies of water with fish in it.

Having said that, you can safely feed your fish just Tetra foods, just realize it is a convenience, not better or tastier for the fish.
 
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FreshyFresh

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Another factor besides nutritional value is water quality management. To me, you can manage that better with a quality pellet, flake or dry goods.

The chances of introducing a parasite or disease into your aquarium that your fish haven't come into contact with is always going to be there when live foods are introduced into your tank. With feeder fish, inverts, insects, etc, there's no saying what they were fed or what they came in contact with before you brought them home.
 
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the loach

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Feeder fish are a totally different story... yes that is a risk. Just talking about general small community fish. Terrestrial inverts like earthworms don't carry any pathogens that affect fish.
Aquatic inverts like bloodworms and daphnia theoretically could carry bacteria if they are in a water body with fish. Chances are very small however, but if you have that much concern you wouldn't be able to get in a car either because you could get an accident.
If you get them from like a rain barrel there is no risk at introducing pathogens.
 
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Kmbishop111

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Oh, I think my friend's preferred food site is "almost natural foods" not how I posted before, sheesh...I haven't tried those foods.
Very informative site, I like how he explains everything in layman's terms. Anyone can talk fancy 5 dollar words. The mark of true intelligence, IMO is someone who can simplify what there doing so that everyone gets it.
Oops *they're (By the by I'm clearly not very intelligent, in case their was any doubt) :cool:;)
 
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