Nutrition for your aquarium fish
Healthy fish food is one of the basic needs of your fish. Just like humans, fish need certain nutrients to grow and thrive. If they don’t eat well, they’re much more likely to suffer from stress or get sick. When a fish becomes sick, the disease often spreads and affects other members of the tank. Fish need a balanced diet with lots of variety, which means you need to offer them different types of fish food. Fortunately, there are many different options for your aquarium fish.
basic food needs.
All aquarium fish have basic nutritional needs that include protein, lipids (fats), carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Depending on the species of fish, however, there may be deviations in the amount of these needs. For example, carnivorous fish need a high-protein diet, while herbivorous fish need more vegetables. In general, your fish will need about 3% of their body weight once or twice a day. However, since the fish do not require large amounts of food, it is very important to feed them the right food so that they get all the nutrients they need.
types of fish food
Flake food is by far the most popular and easiest to find fish food. Unfortunately, processed foods like these, as well as pellets and granules, aren’t rich in nutrients. They lose most of their nutrients during processing. They should not form the basis of your aquarium fish’s diet. You can keep your fish healthier by regularly feeding them live, freeze-dried, and/or frozen foods along with some of the processed foods. Some of the most popular live foods that can also be found frozen or freeze dried are bloodworms, whiteworms, daphnia and artemia. If flake food is still your first choice, choose one that’s formulated for the specific type of fish you have, or choose one that’s fortified with vitamins or minerals. After collecting different types of fish food, you can try a different types of fish food plan over the course of several days.
food amounts
There are various recommendations for the amount of food you should feed your fish. However, a good rule of thumb is to feed them as much as they can eat in about a minute or two. Overfeeding your fish can cause several problems. For example, you can become obese. Also, uneaten fish food falls to the bottom of the tank, creating a lot of organic waste. This can cause some problems. One result could be high levels of ammonia, which could cause ammonia poisoning. Another problem that could result from this is algae growth in your tank. Some algae is natural and normal and means your water is healthy. Fish like to nibble on it, too, but too much algae makes your aquarium unsightly and could turn your water green. So if you limit the amount of fish food you give your fish, they will be less likely to overeat and this will also result in less waste build-up in your substrate.
Although limiting the amount of food you feed your fish will help keep waste build-up down, you need a little help to keep your water clear, clean, and healthy. Beneficial bacteria do this in nature and will eventually find their way into your aquarium. There are also several products available that you can add to your aquarium to increase bacteria levels. The bacteria take on the task of breaking down organic waste into safer by-products and creating a healthy ecosystem in your aquarium.
Thanks to E. Russell
