Monday, March 30, 2009
Guide to Feeding Tropical Fish
If you are considering setting up a brand new fish tank in your house so you can enjoy some tropical fish, you need to learn all you can about how to properly feed them. Unlike other fish, tropical fish have special dietary needs; it's vital that you feed them the correct food to make sure they live long and healthy lives.
There's no one kind of food to feed all the species of tropical fish. You will have to spend some time informing yourself to all the food choices you can purchase. There are, of course, different species of fish; these fish require different types of food. Because of this requirement, there are many kinds of fish food available, both on the web and in your local pet store. There are many food choices for tropical fish: flake fish food, pellets fish food, staked fish food, frozen dead food and live food. Certain kinds of tropical fish has very specific dietary requirement while other types of aquarium fish can thrive off of variety.
Different species of fish will require different kinds of fish food. Fortunately, there are many types of fish food available in the stores, both online and physical. There major types of fish food are as follows: flakes, pellets, staked food, live food, and frozen dead fish food. Many kinds of tropical fish will require a very specific type of food while other types can thrive off a mixed and varied diet.
As the aquarium fish owner, you should try and keep fish with similar dietary requirements - this ensures that you won't end up feeding the wrong type of food to the wrong fish. It's possible to keep tropical fish with different dietary requirements in your tank at the same time - but you have to be careful when you feed the fish. Research is essential.
One thing to remember about tropical fish is what type of eating habits do they maintain; are they herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores? If you have a mixture of different types of "eaters" in your tank, you must have the right food on hand to feed them with.
You should take some time to notice what sections of your tank your fish gravitate to when they start to feed. With careful observation you should be able to notice whether they are top feeds which stay and linger near the surface or bottom feeders. This too is important to keep in mind when you select the best tropical fish food for your fish; if you happen to have bottom feeders, you want the food to sink to the bottom quickly, so the bottom feeding fish will eat!
To make things even more confusing, some fish will only eat during the day while others will eat at night. If you have fish that eat at night, you will have to turn off the lights when you feed them - otherwise they won't eat. You need to also concern yourself with which type of aquarium tank you have. Salt water fish tanks may have different feeding requirements than fresh water fish tanks. Indeed, whether your aquarium is salt water or fresh water is very important to take into account when considering how to feed your fish. Now granted, tropical fish are always in salt water aquariums, but you do need to factor the type of water you have. As stated, it's important to look at the individual feeding requirements for each type of tropical fish you have, then tailor your feeding patterns to each fish species.
Unfortunately, feeding your tropical fish can be somewhat challenging. Fortunately, this challenge can be overcome with good research on your part. The important thing to know is that you need to make sure you are feeding your tropical fish the right food.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Recommended Fish Foods Brands For Tropical and Freshwater Fish
Best Fish Foods Brands For Tropical and Freshwater Fish
There are a many fish foods that will give your fish the right nutrients to flourish and live longer. These fish foods will allow the fish to grow to a healthy size (within the constraints of the pond size). You can find these foods anywhere, on the web or in your local store. It’s essential that you get the perfect food for your fish to ensure it stays healthy and lives for years.
Here is a breakdown of some of the best recommended fish food brands for your fish.
Tetra Pond Foods
Tetra Pond Foods create food for both goldfish and Koi. There are several varieties to choose from, including Tetropond Pellets and Tetrapond Sticks. With the pellets, you have several size choices: small and medium. The Ticks are great for any long-term feeding or if you want to encourage fish to be social, the sticks are a great way to promote this, as the fish will all be sharing the same food object. You can use the pellets for fish that will eat food individually. You will also have to feed the fish more often. The smaller pellets are good for smaller fish, though you will have to feed fish more often than if you use medium pellets.
Nishikoi Pond Foods
Nishikoi Pond Foods is another choice of fish food to consider. This brand of food will deliver the perfect balance of nutrients required by your fish. Like Tetra Pond Foods, there are several “varieties” of food you can purchase. If you have smaller fish and you need to feed them often, you can use Nishikoi Staple Small Pellets to feed them. The Medium Pellet variety is great to use for medium sized fish who don’t feed as regularly. If you have a mix of both small and medium sized fish in your aquarium, each fish may have different nutritional needs. Fortunately, Nishikoi makes a specific type of fish food for this: Nishikoi Pond Cocktail. This fish food is a great way to feed a tank full of fish with varying dietary needs.
Omega Pond Pellets
These are very good fish foods to use since they are specially made for fish that live only in ponds and not aquariums. These foods are specially formulated to provide your fish with the precise nutrients that they need.
Koi and Goldfish Feeding
Now, if you have Koi you need to feed them a different sort of food. There are several brands that cater to Koi dietary needs. One of the more popular brands, Laguna, have fish food for both Koi and goldfish. This is very useful since your pond may have both species of fish. Using a single food is much easier on your time. Another brand, Kind British Pond Fish Foods also makes a food you can feed both Koi and goldfish with. They have special variety (called a floating stick) which is very useful because it “floats” in the water – great for when you have to go away for several days.
These are some of the more popular fish food brands to consider. They all make high quality fish foods, which is a big deal since many fish foods (both tropical fish and pond fish) cut nutritional corners since there is no regulation on what to put in the foods. Since these fish foods have a good reputation, stick with these fish food brands and your fish will have the right nutrition.
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