Newbie Feeder Fish Questions

[Linds]

Ok, I need the nitty gritty lowdown on feeder fish :) I have no experience with feeder fish, I have never had to feed them to anything until now, so I have very little knowledge of the subject :o Are they like feeder rodents in the sense that they can be good and bad (not sure how to word that properly)? I know before I was breeding my own feeder rodents I was very hesitant if I had to buy from a store, and was very particular in choosing who I purchased my rodents from, is this the same with feeder fish? Are feeder fish pretty much the same wherever you get them? Would it be better to breed my own? If so, how diffiuclt is it to breed feeder fish? What is involved? Thanks for your time and patience ;)

[Youkai]

Hi Linds,

If you have a fish that needs live fish in it's diet, then you don't have a choice! Otherwise they should be only a treat. And they should NEVER come from a store. Feeder fish are the easiest way to introduce disease into your tank. :( Plus, they are rarely fed or looked after in a properly in the stores.
They are bred, en mass, in rather poor conditions in most cases.

If you want to use them, I'd use convict cichlids or guppies, depending on the size of the fish you're feeding. Convicts are nice because they breed like crazy, and grow fast. So you can use them no matter what size of fish you're feeding. Who ever used the term breed like rabbits, when there are convict cichlids....? ;)

Anyway, those are my own personal choices...both can be set up simply and are quite hardy, and breed a lot of course! Some more people might have some more ideas...

But basically, I don't trust feeders unless I've produced them.

What fish are you going to be using them for...?

[corr]

I agree with Youkai. It is better to breed your own. That way, you know that they're disease free and what their diet is. If you're keeping a large fish that needs larger feeders like goldfish, that you need to buy at the pet store, quarantine them for a couple of weeks first.

[Shane Tesser]

Linds, ive always just bought them...its true you can breed them, if it is a large fish however.....your going to be breeding quite alot. I would find a reputable store. Have a general look at what the feeders look like. Breeding things like goldfish are possible, but they take a while to grow. Convicts which i have tonnes of experience with do grow fast, but the amount you would have to grow.....i think you'll find will be quite alot, more tanks, expense etc. Parasites are your biggest concern, while there are many that are easily identified being external, there are just like snakes internal ones that are not. So, i would IMO set up a hospital tank. If your dealing with goldfish, guppy's etc i would buy a product that is called "aquasol". It is easily available, and probably the quickest easiest cure to the most common types of parasites or disease fish have. It is relatively inexpensive, only requires a drop per gallon. Most of the feeder fish that i have come across usually have common parasites like white spot. This stuff will kill it in a day or two, with a rise in temperature which ultimately causes the parasite to reproduce at an incredible rate to where it basically can no longer survive, and reproduce....if that makes sense. Now most of the problems you will find with feeder fish are common parasite, the reason being is that alot of those parasites are caused from one or two things. 1)stress, 2) Poor water conditions. So lets consider something here. If you want a fish, or any animal to breed what do you need....ideal conditions. So, a breeding pair of fish with a parasite...or a disease....id be a little leary that they would breed. So stress, magnified with the close quarters that feeders are kept in i would tend to say is where the parasites come from in the first place. So knowing that such parasites are common i would hospitalize the fish in their own tank....one week...two if possible. If it is a goldfish which is a cooler water loving species i would jack the temperature to about 80!!! Within a few days, if any disease or parasite is present on the fish, it will show. If so, i would discard the animal and or if all are diseased i would try the aquasol. Or as soon as you put the fish in the hospital tank, introduce the aquasol to be safe. I firmly believe in this stuff and keep a bottle at all time....i dont even hospitalize fish when i buy them....probably gonna get slack for this but i put them in the tanks and add this stuff....it has yet to proove me wrong....yes even adding tank mates to a $1000, pair of discus i did this without any problems....it provides a stress coat as well if anyone is wondering. Or linds....breed your own....Just remember, it doesn't matter if the fish is 12 for a dollar or twelve thousand dollars you can never be one hundred percent sure if it is sick or not....look for the obvious, funny swimming, very little swimming at all, bent or curved bodies, bulges, spots,or lack of diet...not wanting food. It is always buyer beware, and remember that new born fish are more prone to parasites living in the tank water than perhaps a grown pair of fish, so you can never be 100 percent sure your raising perfectly healthy animals either....anyone ever had eggs mold over? what do you think that was from? Linds, let us know what you are keeping and we can be a little more specific. We may also be able to find an alternative such as beef heart. I know momento feeds this to his pirahna's and they love it.....hey, if its a big enough fish, they could even handle pinkies, meal worm...fishing worms, frozen shrimp, live shrimp, the list goes on and on....so does my rambling for some reason, sorry, s.t.

[Linds]

It's not for a fish, it's for a frog. He's still a baby and is feeding on pinkies and crickets right now, but he should have a decent amount of fish in his diet as well.

Thanks for all the input guys :) I had no idea it took a while to grow feeder goldfish up. Guess breeding them is out of the question. I know guppies breed like crazy, even though they would merely be an appetizer, I guess it's better than nothing.

[corr]

I think beef heart is a good idea! You can buy it at any lfs or cut and freeze it yourself. Worms could be good too.

[Geck-co]

guppies are more bone then meat and hardly worth the effort for the fish/aphibian to eat...

I use feeders for all my piranhas (part of thier diet not souly it)

I use quick ick.. it removes ick and other problems within two days.. i normally keep feeders in a seperate tank (when available) If you do not quarantee or cant then I woudl sugest when you by your feeders to ask to see the tank they are kept in.. make sure its clean and what nto and make sure your feeders are livly and have no obvious problems... I would be carefull though... i have heard some horror stories of feeders killing off very expensive fish.. nto a good way to go "fish killed by prey" hehe