How to Select the Right Food for Your Fish

Many people when they think of fish food, the only thing that comes to mind is dry fish flakes. Although a fish can survive solely on high quality pellets or flakes. In the wild, fish eat many different sorts of foods. This varied and balanced diet helps them to maintain good health and live long lives. So it is important to provide your fish a varied diet consisting of a mix of dry, frozen, live food and vegetables to ensure proper growth, support their immune system, and bring out their vibrant colours.

Dry food

When you think of fish food, you think of flakes. That's the most common option for feeding fish, but dry fish food also comes in granules, pellets, sinking, and floating varieties, as well as options for specific species. These are species-specific, off-the-shelf, ready-to-serve choices covering the basic nutritional requirements. When you are selecting a fish food, it is important to know a bit about the type of fish you are keeping, and the type of fish will determine whether they need sinking or floating food. For example bottom feeders like corys need sinking foods like shrimp pellets as they feed of the tank floor, but small fish like tetras and rasboras are mid to top feeders so do best on slow sinking small pellets.

Frozen food

Some fish will enjoy eating frozen food, such as shrimp, bloodworms, plankton, prawns or krill. Many pet stores sell easy to feed frozen food in blister packs that can be easily dispensed in small servings and thawed then fed straight to your fish. Although fozen food is commonly associated with larger fish like discus that require high levels of protein in their diets, it can be fed to and enjoyed by a wide range of fish of many sizes and types.

Live food

Many fish enjoy eating live fish food this can be a variety of things from simple earthworms to bloodworms, and brine shrimp or daphnia. The type of live food suitable for your fish will depend on their size, but good choices for tropical community tanks are bloodworms, daphnia or brine shrimp.

Vegetables

Many fish from bottom feeders like bristlenoses and plecos to goldfish enjoy eating vegetables! A good way to often tell that your may enjoy veges is if you catch them having a munch on your aquarium plants. A good way to stop this from happening is to provide them with vegetables to eat instead . Options include lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, and peas. These can be offered to the fish through clip the greens to the side of the tank or fasten them in place on the tanks floor through using a lead weight or metal spoon or fork. But it is important when feeding fresh vegetables to remove or replace the uneaten vegetables within 24 hours to avoid affecting your water quality.