Questions About Man-Made Fish Foods!

BORGUSX

1.How do fish know that a fish flake is food or not? Do they smell the food or are they raised to be condition to eat it?

2.Naturally in the wild,tropical fish such as Bloodfin Tetra and Black Skirt Tetra,what do they eat?

kritas

1. They smell the flakes and it smells quite similar to the food they would eat in the wild, and by instint, go after it

2.insects that find their way into the ponds find themselves eaten. There are aqlot of smaller fish than tetras that tetras would have no problem eating.

My suggestion, try feeding your fish live foods at least 3 times a week.

BORGUSX

Is TOP FIN food a good brand? Does Petsmart own and operate TOP PIN or just sell their products?

iamntbatman

I'm pretty sure Petsmart owns Top Fin.

I would say that Top Fin is definitely one of the lower quality fish foods on the market. For example compare the ingredients on Top Fin Betta Bits vs. Omega One Cichlid Pellets (both are designed for fish that are carnivores so sit seems a valid comparison):

Top Fin:
Fish meal, wheat flour, soybean meal, krill meal, corn gluten meal, stabilized fish oil, squid meal, yeast, lecithin oil...

Omega One: Whole salmon, whole herring, whole shrimp, wheat flour, wheat gluten, fresh kelp, lecithin....

1077

were it me I would stick with prepared food or frozen fish foods. Introducing LIVE food to your fish increases the chance of bacterias or parasites finding their way into the tank. You could raise your own live food and minimize the chance and it would be much safer than buying feeders, worms, etc from origins and processes unknown.

Lupin

Sera, Omega, Hikari, Kenfish and New Life Spectrum...Some brands you should be looking for. A lot of others are rubbish when it comes to quality. Tried Ocean Free myself and the fish have very little enthusiasm over the food. Determine your fish species and then dietary requirements. Herbivores should not have more than 38% crude protein which can caue bloat.

BORGUSX

How about the brand OCEAN NUTRITION? The fish flakes cost $15.99 for 5.3 ounces!

iamntbatman

Ocean Nutrition is a good brand, but be careful what you buy as most of their food is designed for saltwater fish. OSI is another good brand.

BORGUSX

Well,it has FRESHWATER FORMULA SERIES label on the container and my fish eat the food!

1.I wonder if the fish flake were designed for saltwater fish,well freshwater fish still eat it?

2.What's the difference between freshwater and saltwater fish flakes?

iamntbatman

The fish will probably still eat it, but it's not as healthy. Freshwater and saltwater fish have different nutrition requirements, and the different foods are designed with that in mind. So, feeding freshwater food to your saltwater fish (or the other way around) can lead to health problems down the road because the fish aren't eating a nutritionally balanced diet. If you're feeding them freshwater flakes, then you should have no problems.