What to feed fish

EvanDeVita · Mar 20, 2021

Hi all,
I’ve been feeding my fish PE mysis and pellets once or twice a day, and I was hopping someone could tell me if I’m giving my fish enough nutrition? I have two fish that also eat pods, but I want to make sure I’m feeding my fish enough if the right foods.

thanks!

Homebrewer · Mar 20, 2021

EvanDeVita said:
Hi all,
I’ve been feeding my fish PE mysis and pellets once or twice a day, and I was hopping someone could tell me if I’m giving my fish enough nutrition? I have two fish that also eat pods, but I want to make sure I’m feeding my fish enough if the right foods.

thanks!

What fish do you have?

EvanDeVita · Mar 20, 2021

Homebrewer said:
What fish do you have?

Small ornate leopard wrasse, two occie clowns, neon goby, yellow candy hogfish, pajama cardinalfish

Homebrewer · Mar 20, 2021

I’m not familiar with the nutritional requirements of the leopard wrasse or the hogfish, so I defer to others, but what you’ve been feeding will likely sustain the others. However, I am a big believer in variety. I feed 4 different kinds of Hikari frozen, LRS reef frenzy, Seaweed Extreme pellets (soaked in Selcon), and occasionally some spirulina flakes and Thera A+ pellets. Mind you I only feed one of those options a day and I only feed once a day. My fish never eat the same thing more than once in a calendar week.

It used to be that frozen was looked at as a treat and inferior, and unfortunately that perception still exists. Certain frozen foods are better than others, but I love the Hikari and LRS brands.

I don’t put too much thought into hitting every nutrient at certain proportions. I mean, I don’t do that for myself! But in that spirit I wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every day of my life!

Wait for others to respond about the wrasse and hogfish, but in general, adding some high-quality variety would likely be a good thing.

EvanDeVita · Mar 20, 2021

Homebrewer said:
I’m not familiar with the nutritional requirements of the leopard wrasse or the hogfish, so I defer to others, but what you’ve been feeding will likely sustain the others. However, I am a big believer in variety. I feed 4 different kinds of Hikari frozen, LRS reef frenzy, Seaweed Extreme pellets (soaked in Selcon), and occasionally some spirulina flakes and Thera A+ pellets. Mind you I only feed one of those options a day and I only feed once a day. My fish never eat the same thing more than once in a calendar week.

It used to be that frozen was looked at as a treat and inferior, and unfortunately that perception still exists. Certain frozen foods are better than others, but I love the Hikari and LRS brands.

I don’t put too much thought into hitting every nutrient at certain proportions. I mean, I don’t do that for myself! But in that spirit I wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every day of my life!

Wait for others to respond about the wrasse and hogfish, but in general, adding some high-quality variety would likely be a good thing.

I’ll have to get some more frozen! I mostly feed pellets atm, but I’m up to changing things up

Jekyl · Mar 20, 2021

EvanDeVita said:
I’ll have to get some more frozen! I mostly feed pellets atm, but I’m up to changing things up

I feed pellets maybe once a week for some of their nutritional value. Rest of the time it's all frozen or live. Variety of Rods, LRS, mysis and omega for the veggies, and live white worms.

sfin52 · Mar 20, 2021

I feed mine
Flounder
Oysters
Clams
Muscles
Fish eggs
Shrimp
Freeze dried mysis
I put in blender and freeze and cut into small cubes

Dbichler · Mar 20, 2021

This is what I do. I buy as much seafood as possible for 100$ whatever it is usually salmon scallops mussels and clams. Then blend that with nori green and red. New life spectrum pellets and spirulina 20 flakes and chlorella flakes. Add a very little tank water and blend all together put in gallon zip lock bags and flatten and freeze. For under 200$ I get a years worth of fish food for my 210. If I used lrs or prepackaged I think it would easily be 5x that if not more plus I have never seen one fish reject this mix even first day in tank.

EvanDeVita · Mar 20, 2021

Those all sound great, but with a 30 gallon and so few fish, I don’t need enough food to feed an army . What I have taken away is maybe I’ll get a couple more types of frozen, dump them all into a small container with tank water, and then feed my fish that over the course of a week. Does anyone know how long frozen food lasts after being defrosted and refrigerated?

Dbichler · Mar 20, 2021

You don’t have to buy that much it’s just easier to do a big batch less frequently than more small batches. Variety is the key to happy healthy fish. I like using fresh seafood compared to frozen due to the way my fish react to it comparatively.

EvanDeVita · Mar 20, 2021

Dbichler said:
You don’t have to buy that much it’s just easier to do a big batch less frequently than more small batches. Variety is the key to happy healthy fish. I like using fresh seafood compared to frozen due to the way my fish react to it comparatively.

I’m gonna give it a try and I’ll let you all know how it goes... wish me luck!