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Plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aquarium fish feed is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macronutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping hobbyists feed their fish exclusively prepared foods that most commonly are produced in flake, pellet or tablet form.[1] Some fish foods also contain additives such as sex hormones or beta carotene to artificially enhance the color of ornamental fish.
Prepared foods are those foods that are non-living and are made by the aquarist or bought already prepared for consumption for fish.[2]
Dry food is a type of proprietary or artificially manufactured fish food consumed by a wide variety of tropical and saltwater fish and invertebrates. It is ideally suited to top dwellers and mid-water fish though numerous bottom dwelling species consume flake food once it has settled on the bottom. Flake food is baked to remove moisture, ensuring a longer shelf life.[citation needed] Generally the more moisture a particular example of fish food contains, the more readily it will deteriorate in quality.[citation needed]
Dry foods are also available as pellets, sticks, flakes, tablets, granules, and wafers, manufactured to float or sink, depending on the species they are designed to feed.[citation needed]
Vacation foods, also known as "food blocks" (or "weekend blocks" for smaller versions), are designed to be placed inside the aquarium to forgo feeding while the owner is absent. These blocks release small amounts of food as they dissolve. Food blocks can be a good choice for smaller tropical fish, but can pollute the water if the tank is neglected for too long.[3]
Medicated fishfood is a safe and effective method to deliver medication to fish. One advantage is that medicated food does not contaminate the aquatic environment and also, unlike bath treatments, does not negatively affect fish, filtration and algae growth in the aquarium. The parasites will get treated spot on by medicated food, because the fish is ingesting it.[citation needed]
Freeze-dried and frozen fish foods were primarily developed for tropical and marine fish and are useful in providing variety to the diet or specialist feeding needs of some species.[4] These include tubifex worms, mosquito larvae, bloodworms, water fleas (Daphnia and Cyclops spp.) along with brine shrimp (Artemia salina).[citation needed]
Perishable food can be preserved by frozen storage, and is often sold in blister packs or resealable packets. These can contain a variety of ingredients such as bloodworms, Daphnia, or brine shrimp, and are commonly used to feed such fish as Discus which require a high protein diet. Often fed on beef heart fish food within the aquaculture industry, the discus fish are not the only fish which can benefit from a high quality prepared frozen mixture such as beef heart, although by far these are the fish most associated with this particular frozen food. [citation needed]
Live foods are based on small living creatures in their recognizable form and can be either still living, dried or frozen. Live fish food include earthworms, sludge worms, water fleas, bloodworms, and feeder fish. Food for larvae and young fish include infusoria (Protozoa and other microorganisms), newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms. These are the most preferred type of food for fish, but are difficult to get and can be quite expensive. However, freeze dried forms of earthworms, tubifex etc. are available now.[citation needed]
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Fish food should ideally provide the fish with fat (for energy) and amino acids (building blocks of proteins) and the fish food (whether flake or pellet) must be speedily digested in order to prevent buildup of intestinal gas, kidney failure and infections (such as swim bladder problems and dropsy) and to avoid aquarium pollution due to excessive ammonia. Aquatic diets for carnivores must contain vegetable matter such as spirulina.
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