How to feed a varied diet.

[gingerbeer]

Most I would say accept the need for a varied diet. There then seems to me to be a bit of a breakdown where some believe that a varied means getting different pellets and putting them in a big tub, or changing the brand everytime they need a new tin.

Personally I have always believed and followed the rule of a good quality pellet as a main diet and then add other feeds based on the fish - vegatables for the herbs and omnis, live (frozen or even freezedried count too) foods for carnivores and omnivores, depending on the exact fish different live foods, love brine for tangs, mosquito larvae for apistos etc.

I think that different brands of pellets are not a varied diet, as it is kinda like having a different brand meat pie and saying that is a varied diet.

What do you think?

[Priscacara]

My way of thinking is the same as yours. I feed mine frozen brine shrimp as a treat once a week and freeze dried blackworms once a day, the morning feed is always pellets.

[Josh]

I totally agree.

Why do we need to vary the diet of our fish these days? The foods that are on the market now are much better then they were years ago. People have spent 1000's of hours researching the needs of pets and most quailty products these day meet those needs IMHO, just ask RD, I am sure he will add to this topic.

Do we all vary the diet of our other pets, Birds eat seed, cats eat cat food, dogs eat dog food.

[Ducksta]

I agree with previous posters thoughts.

I feed a staple pellet (NLS for anyone wondering) but throw in other 'fresh' foods whenever I feel like it. example - xmas prawns, veges, live f/w shrimp.

I know some people - particularly NLS advocates - will say I am reducing the overall quality of the feeding, but I personally feel that there may be other benefits to mixing up the food.

I think that providing a food that fish graze on over several hours (vege's) or hunt down (shrimp) allows the fish to exhibit natural behaviours, more than eating pellets for 60 seconds a day.

I don't have any fixed regime for doing this - whenever I buy some pumpkin they get a slice for example, or whenever I am out on my family property dam and am bothered to catch a couple of dozen shrimp.

Whether or not that is of any real overall benefit? Who knows. Not me. Someone would have to ask my fish - but they look alright.

[Gav]

in my display i feed 4 types of food. i two types that float, of these one i feed 6 days a week, the other once per week. i have algae disks and pellets that sink and i feed both of these daily. the different types of food is simply to address the different feeding behaviours of the fish I have. in the fish room, the variance is more along the line of pellet size, 2 or three times a week i will feed a smaller pellet of a different brand. not for any other reason than I have found it to be quite effective.

the main variance is throwing in stuff from the vege garden, and fish scraps. whenever my wife cooks seafood, any fresh scraps go to the fish. for the veges, any that are a bit old or nasty to eat, the fish take to pretty well. usually its cucumber or zucchini, and they knock that off pretty well. like the duck, i do like it when fish can graze on fresh produce over an extended period, and agree that its impossible to detect any real benefit. I just do it cos I want to

[moosedagoose]

Good info there Sir Duck and Gav ,, Totally Agree