Nov 24 2007
Basic Fish Food and Treats
This simple primer will help you choose the right foods, supplements and treats for your fish.
Quality Basic fish food should have all the nutrients needed for fish diets, as long as the right kind of food is provided for each type of fish. Tropical fish, bettas, goldfish, cichlids, bottom feeders and marine fish all need different proportions of meat, veggie and vitamin components. As long as you provide the right food for your fish, this basic diet will lead to healthy fishes.
You should consider the basic food choice, whether flakes, pellets, tablets, wafers or granules, your fish’s primary diet. You can also add supplements and treats to this diet. Fish do seem to like a treat of two, even if they are picky about their staple food.
Supplements could include algae wafers for goldfish and Oscars, dried shrimps for most cichlids, calcium blocks for bottom feeders to lick, spirulina for tropicals and color-enhancing granules (for anyone). These specialty foods can be fed every three days or so to provide a little dietary variety, and perhaps a few vitamins overlooked in your basic food product.
Treats are fun to give your fish from time to time, but as with all fish feeding, be careful not to overdo it. Remember that your fish can become sick or die if fed too much.
That being said, it’s a great thing to provide fun fish treats like brineshrimp for bettas, lettuce for goldfish, bloodworms for cichlids and homegrown live guppies/danios/goldies to almost all bigger fish. Fish seem to especially enjoy treat time and it’s a nice way to interact with your pets. My bettas and cichlids beg for food in general, but they literally wiggle and dance with joy when I break out the live foods and other yummy fish treats.
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