Feeding your aquarium fish, 3 principles to remember
In an aquarium, feeding the fish is one of the essential tasks. What foods, how often to feed them... If you think that a misstep could be detrimental or even fatal to your aquatic hosts because it is likely to cause deficiencies or diseases, you may be looking for advice to guide your new activities.
Principle1: Provide food according to the lifestyle of your fish
When starting out in the aquarium, it is important to choose hardy and less demanding species. During the research phase, you may have recorded the diet of the fish of your choice. It is a guarantee that their needs will be met.
Often, when it comes to keeping pets, it is recommended to replicate behaviors seen in the wild. If this is not always easy to achieve in the aquarium, then the choice of food should be closely related to the lifestyle of the fish.
Especially thanks to this principle, you will be sure that all your fish will have access to food. Once you understand their behavior and swimming area, you can better choose flakes, pellets, flakes, sticks, frozen, live, or dry...
Fish that live at the bottom of the aquarium, often called "cleaner" fish such as corydoras, stiphodons or centromochlus, feed on debris not eaten by other species. The shape of their mouth is directly related to how they feed. For example, Loricariids have a ventral opening that even serves as an organ of attachment. Note that they don't necessarily need to be fed every day like shrimp. Foods that fit her lifestyle are those that fall to the bottom of the litter box.
Fish that feed on the surface have an upward mouth, like guppies. Feeding them floating flakes is not a problem for them because their physiology is adapted to this behavior.
Between the bottom and the surface, there are open water fish such as angelfish. They most often place their mouth in the middle of their head and face forward. Food in the form of pastilles, wafers, or chips corresponds to them.
Principle 2: Adopt the variety of fish as a general philosophy
In their natural environment, fish can be classified according to four diets: carnivorous, herbivorous, herbivorous, or detritus (their food consists of organic detritus in silt), and omnivorous. These different diets correspond to specific feeding patterns, linked to the size of the fish's stomach.
In general, here are recommendations regarding the diet plan to follow according to the fish diet:
- For carnivores, plan food 1 to 2 times a day,
- For omnivores, plan food 3 times a day,
- for herbivores, plan food 3-4 times a day,
- scavengers adore food continuously.
In addition to respecting fish food, diversity must constitute a general philosophy. The breed has several advantages such as stimulating the appetite of the fish, strengthening the immune defenses, preventing possible deficiencies
Fish require different proportions of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals depending on the species. Meeting these needs is necessary to promote their development and longevity. Feel free to try different foods! For example, you can offer fruits and vegetables once or twice a week (provided you remove uneaten remains to avoid contaminating the aquarium). Vegetables should be cooked first to soften them. Communication on the aquarium forum will help you dare to change.
Also, keep in mind that the cellulose that makes up plant walls is easily digested by herbivores.
In community aquariums, a basic pellet ration composition supplemented with live, frozen, or freeze-dried foods is a good option.
Principle 3: Avoid excess
The level of energy requirements of fish depends on the species to which they belong, their level of activity, and the temperature of the water. But it's common to overdo it when you want to do it right. In fact, many beginner aquarists tend to overfeed their fish. However, rationing is very beneficial for fish. Most humans, with the exception of some specific species that you can easily identify, as well as young individuals and weakened specimens, are quite capable of fasting one day a week, and often more. In order to assess the appropriate amount, you divide the pre-estimated amount of food into several portions, each intake time: all food should be consumed within 3-4 minutes.
If so, this is the case in which you have given too much. This is a threat to the water balance within the aquarium because the proliferation of nitrates is a great risk, even with very good filtration. So you are welcome to withdraw the surplus.
In order to limit any excess, beware of fortified foods when you buy food.
It is also necessary to store food in boxes and remember to store it at the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions. Regarding vitamins, they must be stored away from air and light. In addition, they must be consumed within 3 months after opening.
It should not be forgotten that fish are satisfied with small quantities but fish actually have very high qualitative needs. So, you have to read the properties and the list of ingredients of the products before buying them. It's good to adopt this reflex.