Food consumes a great
deal of our thoughts, even when we’re not consuming it ourselves.
We want to make sure we
feed our fish what’s good for them and
what tastes good to them. Watching them eat makes us happy.
We want our pets to clean their plates, grow plump (but not fat),
and stay healthy -- often higher standards than we set for ourselves.
So we feed them the best
foods we can find on the market. Unfortunately,
we can easily feed them too much. Most fish disease problems trace back to
too much food. Too much of a
food thing pollutes the water, encourages bacteria, depletes the oxygen,
stresses the fish, and encourages diseases.
Avoid overfeeding.
IN THE WILD. Fish are
“opportunistic feeders” in the wild.
Anything small that moves is tasted.
If they find something smaller than them, they eat it.
If it’s larger than them, they run from it.
“Eat now” is the message, because it may be a long time before
the next meal shows up.
IN OUR TANKS. We quickly
condition our fishes to react to our opening the lid and adding food.
They learn to eat whenever we feed them and whatever we feed them.
We have the ultimate power to… Whoops, we almost got off on a
rant there. Anyway, we’re in
charge of almost everything they eat with a few exceptions.
BROWSERS. Watch your
fish closely. You’ll see
them grazing on the plants, on the tank walls, and on the gravel -- maybe
even each other.
They supplement the food you give them by snacking on the
multitudinous microscopic animalcules that grow in your aquarium.
BARE TANKS. When
experimenters ran food tests in aquaria that were carefully washed out
daily, the fishes fared poorly on most foods.
They need those little unseen critters that live in the tank with
them. So now you have one more
reason for not wiping off all the algae that grows in your tank.
ALGAE. Sure it looks
messy, but algae perform a valuable service in your aquarium.
Algae remove nitrogenous wastes and carbon dioxide.
In exchange, they provide food (for the fish and for other tiny
organisms) and oxygen. No
matter what food you feed, this part of their food chain occurs except in
new tanks.
BASIC SCHEDULE. A
Thanksgiving Day feast once a day is not the best feeding schedule for us
or for our fishes. Feed at
least twice a day for healthy fishes.
Their tiny stomachs enable them to consume only tiny amounts of
food. They need frequent
refills in addition to the mini-wildlife that grows in their tank.
FEED TO BREED. Feeding
twice a day will often do it for breeding.
But add frozen foods to the menu for better results.
Remember that frozen foods are rarely a balanced diet.
They just taste great. Feed
the flakes first. Feed them frozen for dessert. Watch
their breeding colors develop.
FEED TO SHOW. Follow the
same rules as above. Then four
days before the show, cut their rations in half.
A hungry fish is a moving fish.
They show off to the judge as they prowl the tank in search of
food. And if you carry a clipboard when you feed them, you’ll get
them to show off even better when the judges show up.
FEED TO GROW. Several
experiments by professional guppy breeders prove that the maximum feeding
schedule for growing guppies is five feedings a day.
Fewer feedings slow their growth.
More frequent feedings do not increase it.
And at least one of those feedings should be brine shrimp.
Oddly enough, frequency of feeding affected growth more than the
type(s) of food(s) fed.
CLEAN UP. Add some
snails to clean up any extra rations.
As a general rule: If
food hits the bottom, you have exceeded the stomach capacity of your
fishes -- but not the capacity of the bacteria in your aquarium just
waiting for a chance to go forth and prosper.
Snails appreciate the extra food and will help you control your
overfeeding habits.
FILTRATION. Don’t go
for maximum feedings in fish bowls or new tanks.
You need a well functioning filter system to handle the extra waste
products.
WATER CHANGES. When
feeding to the MAX, water changes assume greater importance.
Your fishes generate more waste products, so they need new water
more often. You need to flush their toilet for them.
SUMMARY. Feed a variety
of foods and feed as often as practical for you.
Some fish keepers use the battery-operated fish feeders to increase
their feeding schedule. Others
drop in a mini-vacation block. Most
of us, however, prefer to watch our fishes turn into creatures from Jaws
III when we sprinkle in a few flakes. LA
©
1996,
© 2003,
© 2004 LA Productions

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