Earth worms are also a great live food. They can be chopped into chunks that still wiggle to entice most fish into eating them, and can also be gut fed like crickets. Plus, a small container in the frisge is better than a tank with feeders, IMO... 
Who uses feeder goldfish and why?
- Thread starter Kagh't
- Start date
Crickets are also infected with parasites, most of them if not all contain parasites. I used to raise geckos and Bearded Dragons using pellet food. I think most people feed with live food just for the fun factor without taking into consideration the health of the animal.
I think the biggest reason is because of a common misconception that you must. I always believed that the major diet of fish like Oscars, large cichlids, etc was live food like goldfish, guppies or shrimp. My friend had some cichlids that I don't remember what they were and I can remember buying guppies and ghost shrimp to feed them. Not to mention the fun of feeding live food and watching them chase it down. Luckily I've read more and more in books and on the net and become more educated before I actually own any of these fish. Also, I think lots of "feeder" fish are bought not as feeders, but as budget keepers. I know lots and lots of people who buy "feeder" goldfish or guppies and raise them for their tanks or ponds so you have to take into consideration those being purchased. My parents bought about 10 "feeder" goldfish for their pond when they started and they grew to around 6". They have since added more and more fancy fish like comets, fantails, koi, etc. and they have all interbred so they have a large variety. I've seen tankfulls of feeder guppies that turn out great. I myself bought some ghost shrimp just for the fun of it. Most of them have died due to my lack of shrimp care knowledge but they were interesting while they lasted. Kyle
LMOUTHBASS
My hypocrisy goes only so far
i don't really have any fish that i could feed "feeders" to - i have pictus cats which are predatory but they eat pellets - i woul NEVER buy the goldfish you see in the feeder tanks because who knows what they are carrying and just letting them swim in your tank while they await their fate coul potentially introduce a disease - they are mass shipped and no one cares about their health - especially not a chain store - maybe if i had a privately owned lfs i trusted who raised their own feeders i might try it - but i woul only feel comfortable feeding feeders i raised -
so i guess it's a no i woulnt trust it
so i guess it's a no i woulnt trust it
dont use goldfish but i do use minnows, livebearers, danios and baby convicts. its sometimes. and i use them all the time for my belesox because thats all they will eat.
My guppies multiply so fast and my jd is fat. I enjoy my guppies and I have to control the population or I would be completely overstocked in no time. These are healthy fish though.Also my jd loves to hunt em down.
Goldfish are very fatty and I rarely feed them to my oscars and arowana. I prefer roseys and minnows. I only feed them live fish about once every 6 weeks and only enough that they will eat in about an hour.
I have not used goldfish for quite a while actually. Like travelinman, I tend to use minnows more. I also use frogs a great deal. I am a fairly strong supporter of live foods, but I think they are best used when incorporated into a diet that includes other sources of nutrition, e.g. pellets and vitamins. I breed my own feeders so I feel comfortable with the disease issue, although the risk can never be completely eliminated, I suppose. I think that, if you are not very heartset on feeding live foods, it is a good idea to avoid them, simply because of the error possibilty.
