How to Feed Your Fish Throughout the Day

[leebca]

One of the greatest difficulties in this hobby is feeding your fish like they feed in nature. Most wild caught fish that aren't strict predators (like the Lionfish) are grazers. They eat throughout the day.

How do you think this can be accomplished in an aquarium where the owner works all day?

I'll start with two things I do:

1) When I feed algae, I put it on a clip. The herbivores in the tank graze on it throughout the day. Most of you likely do the same.

2) I can put cubed/gelled food into a cage so that the fish have to pick through the openings in the cage to get to the food. It takes them time through the day to get it all, and it gives them something to play with.

Have any other ideas? Please post!

[BubbaWPB]

OK... I've heard you mention the cube cage a couple of times... I've never seen one (of course I haven't been looking for one either). The closest thing I've seen is the cubes floating toward my overflow.

You have any details, helpful hints, or sponsors that can shed some light on the "cages"?

Thanks!

[leebca]

It's one of the things I guess I take for granted.

Any store that carries Ocean Nutrition (ON) products has access to carry the Ocean Nutrition 'cage.' ON makes it. When ON came out with their gelled cubes, they had a gel formula that would not dissolve for hours. So they 'invented' the cage. It's a standard suction cup (like on an algae clip) but the other side is a plastic meshed 'cage' (for lack of better description). It's not square or sharped edged, it is more like folded over plastic.

Actually, I think an aquarist could make one on their own, and probably a better one at that.

It holds the cube and fish can peck at it through the mesh.

[leebca]

Back to the original subject. . .

I don't keep puffer fishes, but there is a 'feed throughout the day' trick you can do for your puffers and help out a little bit with keeping their teeth ground down.

You mix whole krill, shrimp, etc. in a Plaster of Paris mix. Shape it into blocks or put into an ice cube tray to harden.

After you feed them breakfast and just before you leave the house, you place one (or more depending upon the size of your pet) in the tank. The puffer spends some time chewing down the block to get at the goodies you mixed in.

The Plaster of Paris is not hard enough to keep the puffer teeth ground down, but it does help.

[Ixthys]

I think this is the feeding clip:

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=ON1131

[leebca]

RIGHT ON IXTHYS

That's it.

THANKS!

[charlie]

Lee, that is the feeding clip, correct??? Do you have a picture of the cage that you were talking about?

[BubbaWPB]

OIC now! Charlie, the clip has a plastic grid that the cube is held in "cage".

Well, all of the LFSs carry Ocean Nutrition, but I haven't seen the "cage" until today.... thanks

[charlie]

Well, DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't had enuf coffee yet Bubba.

[leebca]

Probably my fault. I call it a 'cage' but it's not the right term.

[dreams]

thanks, i wss wondering what those mesh clips were used for...great idea

[leebca]

We missed the obvious.

Another way to feed fish throughout the day is with a an automatic feeder. They work with dry foods (flakes, pellets, etc.).

I wish there was a commercially available automatic feeder for 'wet' or 'frozen' foods. Maybe one connected to a cooler? More realistic and probably more practical would be an automatic feeder that would deliver foods at mid-day that were put into it frozen in the morning.

[leebca]

I put one on order, but has anyone used or tried to use or heard about someone using the Pro Feeder?

Sales blurb:

Pro Feeder
* Easy-to-install feeder slowly disperses frozen food in your aquarium
* Automatic fish feeder allows fish to forage to encourage natural feeding behavior
* Use with frozen foods like brine shrimp for your fresh or saltwater aquarium

The Pro Feeder makes it simple to recreate a natural feeding environment in your aquarium. Simply place frozen food in the basket and hook the unit to your air pump. The bubbling action makes frozen food come "alive" and slowly disperses food over a course of several hours. Keeps fish actively foraging to provide a more stimulating environment. Great for fresh or saltwater aquariums and ideal for reef aquariums with filter feeders.

[bguile]

Any reviews on the use of this item? I'm thinking about purchasing one.

[leebca]

I did buy one to try out. It works. A bit tricky to set to operate efficiently, but once set properly, it does what it says.

My problem is the 'junk juice' that is in most frozen foods. I always rinse the prepared frozen foods to remove the organic juice around the solid bits. This juice just feeds the algae and not the fish. But if that isn't a concern or matter, then I would recommend it.

It is best to watch it closely a couple of times before leaving it unattended.

[weez1959]

Back to the original subject. . .

I don't keep puffer fishes, but there is a 'feed throughout the day' trick you can do for your puffers and help out a little bit with keeping their teeth ground down.

You mix whole krill, shrimp, etc. in a Plaster of Paris mix. Shape it into blocks or put into an ice cube tray to harden.

After you feed them breakfast and just before you leave the house, you place one (or more depending upon the size of your pet) in the tank. The puffer spends some time chewing down the block to get at the goodies you mixed in.

The Plaster of Paris is not hard enough to keep the puffer teeth ground down, but it does help.

Doesn't the plaster of paris do anything to the water, clouding or whatever. It isn't bad for the fish? I'm asking for my daughter, she has a small puffer in her tank...
Louise

[leebca]

I've had no reports that the P of P redissolves or otherwise causes problems. The waste comes in two forms: It passes through the fish as fish waste, or it is broken off as the fish munches on the block. Either way, the build up has to be removed.

The same draw-back of another 'feed throughout the day' food -- an opened once live clam. I have way too many empty shells I need to 'fish out' of my aquariums.

[rjs5134]

Lee,
I have begun defrosting squid, brine shrimp, bloodworms, clam & prawns and blending with a little fresh garlic. I rinse all defrosted foods with RO/DI water to eliminate the junk juice. I re-freeze the mixture in a small zip-lock bag in a thin sheet which makes it easy to break off and defrost quickly for feeding. I have noticed a reduction in the cyano growth and hope the MR-2 skimmer for Christmas will take care of the rest. Am I correct to think I've eliminated the junk juice almost completely, or is there something else I should be doing in my feeding regimin?

Thanks
Rob

[leebca]

That process takes care of the vast majority of 'wasted' nutrition (juices and small particulate foods). The second freezing process breaks up some cell structures (e.g., the cell wall) that releases more 'juice' but this can't (traditionally that is) be avoided. An extra step would be, after thawing for the feeding, to rinse the food in salt water (this is actually a use for the salt water you throw down the drain after a water change, or freshly made salt water you'd use for the water change) just before the feeding.

I truly wish, Rob, that your procedure was good, but through no fault of yours or mine this procedure has a significant drawback. The prepared foods (e.g., brine shrimp, blood worms, etc.) are usually loaded with bacteria from those who package them. Even packagers that claim to have sterilized their packaged foods had their foods tested and been found to contain bacteria deadly to our fishes. A thaw, rinse and re-freeze usually means the bacteria increase in numbers. This is basically undesirable. Controlling the length of time for the thaw and keeping the foods away from counter-tops, cutting boards, etc. that harbor more or different kinds of bacteria needs to be of high priority. Better still is that for those kinds of foods, you thaw, rinse in salt water and feed rather than re-freeze, thaw, and rinse a second time.

Lastly, you want to avoid blood worms and brine shrimp for marine fishes, also making sure the 'prawns' are marine/sea shrimp (not freshwater).

[rjs5134]

Yeah Lee, since I purchased both the bloodworms and the brine shrimp I've read another post of yours concerning them. The prawns are marine, not FW. That's what I had at the time and know better in the future.