As described in the Types Of Diet and Dietary Requirements Of Tropical Fish pages, different fish require a variety of foods consisting of a range of nutrients and vitamins. On visiting your local retailer, one will be faced with a bewildering range of foods developed for every kind of fish and choosing the right food can be a daunting process.

The following paragraphs aim to explain the differences between the main types of food and the advantages and drawbacks of feeding each kind.

Dry Foods - Flake, Pellets, Wafers etc.

In the early days of the hobby, dry foods were poor quality, bland and only fed when no other food was available. Now-a-days, science has prevailed and modern dry foods have been developed to contain all the necessary vitamins and a perfect nutritional balance for virtually every fish.

Dry foods have also evolved from the humble floating flake to include slowly sinking granules to allow mid water fish to feed and fast sinking pellets and wafers for bottom feeders. Additionally, there are dry foods specifically designed to enhance colours, improve growth, feed fry, reduce waste and to keep the water from going cloudy.

The choice of exactly which dry food to feed depends largely upon the type of fish that you keep. Large fish such as some Catfish and Cichlids will ignore small foods as they are too much effort to "catch" for such little return. Similarly, smaller fish and fry in particular, may choke if a piece of food presented is too large. There are also different dried foods for carnivores, herbivores, piscivors and limnivores. Your retailer will be able to advise on the best choice for your fish. In any case, as with most pet foods, it pays to choose a premium brand to avoid any dietary deficiencies and ensure good digestion.

The convenience of dry food is often such an advantage that it is frequently fed exclusively. Dry food is clean and easy to handle, disease free and removes the worry of feeding a balance diet. Additionally, dry food lasts a long time without requiring to be frozen or kept cool although their vitamin content may deteriorate over time so keep an eye on the sell by date.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks of feeding dry foods. Flake food in particular, soaks up a lot of water and can swell to several times its original size. If a fish reaches the flake before it has had a chance to soak up some water, it may expand inside the fish and cause digestive problems. Additionally, flake and other dried foods have a tendency to float for a period even if they are designed to sink, and fast greedy fish may prevent other tankmates, particularly bottom dwellers who will wait for food to reach the substrate before eating, from feeding at all.

For this reason I hold dry foods in the water for a few seconds to allow it to become wet before releasing it. Inevitably some food will disperse as soon as it touches the water but this usually distracts the faster fish allowing more sedate specimens to be aware that it is feeding time. Wetting the food also allows it to sink quicker affording mid water feeders a better chance of feeding.

Pellets that are pressed to the front of the tank are a great way to feed flake foods. The positioning of the pellet allows one good observation of the fish and its slow rate of disintegration enables and all fish a chance of picking from it. This is especially good for small omnivores that like to feed on small amounts at one any sitting. After some time the pellet will eventually fall from the glass enabling bottom feeders to get some nourishment. The obvious drawback of these pellets is that they do not cater for surface feeders.

It is best not to feed dried foods exclusively. You would not appreciate the same meal every day and fish are no different. Variety is spice of life and as different fish have different dietary requirements a choice should be offered. It is also worth remembering that fish are wild animals and they prefer foods similar to those found in nature. Try offering live or frozen foods along with some flake and observe which is taken first.

Finally, some fish will not accept dried foods at all. It is a myth to think that a fish, which after thousands of years of evolution has been conditioned to eat live food, will not just learn to eat an alternative if hungry.

Live Foods, Worms, Larvae, Fish

If a food moves and wiggles it is more appealing to the fish. Live food brings the aquarium closer to nature and the fish are encouraged to naturally chase or hunt.

Live food is available from most aquatic stores. The most popular live foods are, Red Mosquito Larvae (bloodworm), Black Mosquito Larvae, White Mosquito Larvae (glassworm), Drosophila (fruit files), Daphnia (water fleas), Cyclops, Artemia (brine shrimp), Tubifex Worms, Grindle Worms, Earthworms and fish.

Like dry foods, although each of the above is abundant in vitamins and nutrients, it is wise to feed a variety.

Mosquito Larvae, particularly Bloodworms are a magnificent food. Supplemented with a good dried food, they provide plenty of protein and nutrients and can themselves form a basic diet for carnivorous and omnivorous fish. White mosquito larvae contains a much lower concentration of nutrients and my experience with White Mosquito Larvae is that they are largely ignored by fish.

Daphnia, found in ponds, is an excellent food for small fish and fry and they provide a stimulant for the digestive tract however, if fed for long periods some fish begin show signs of vitamin deficiencies. Daphnia is best used as a supplementary food as is Tubifex worms.

Tubifex worms or river worm, are found in muddy polluted water often supporting no fish. Although relished by fish, I cannot recommend them as a staple food. Tubifex are not particularly rich in nutrients or roughage necessary for good digestion. Additionally, because of their origin, there is a high risk of introducing disease. Tubifex should fed in small amounts at any one sitting as they burrow into the substrate and will pollute the water if not eaten or they subsequently die there.

Cyclops is an excellent source of nourishment and fish are attracted by its bright red colour. Do not feed Cyclops to very small fish or fry. Since Cyclops are a small crab, they can dig their claws into fry and eat into the flesh.

Artemia, or brine shrimp is an ideal deal first food for fry and can be easily cultivated and grown on for feeding larger fish (see Making A Brine Shrimp Hatchery for more details). They must be well rinsed before serving and the salt content can be a problem over time so again, complement the fishes diet with other foods.

Grindle worms are a good alternative to Artemia for smaller fish . They can be cultivated on moist foam pad in a bowl or margarine tub using a starter culture available form good aquatic stores. Feed the culture with a mix of oatmeal which has been boiled in 1/3 milk and 2/3 water then allowed to cool. Leave the bowl in a cool dark place for the worms to develop.

For large or predatory fish, the above foods can be too small to bother about. Alternative live foods include Earthworms which can be found in the garden or live fish - usually surplus fry, damaged or deformed offspring.

Earthworms are high nutritional value and ideal for large cichlids but they should never be fed directly to fish. First place them in a box of damp clean sand to allow their digestive system to clean out. They can then be chopped up or fed whole. Earthworms should be kept alive until ready for feeding. They do not freeze well and tend to go mushy.

The nutritional benefits and "close to nature" factor that live food affords make it the best choice for your fish. However, cultivating live food can be a time consuming process and buying live food can introduce disease to the aquarium. An easier and safer alternative is frozen or freeze dried foods.

Frozen And Freeze Dried Foods

All the foods mentioned above are available in frozen and freeze dried forms. Frozen and freeze dried foods hold all the benefits of live food but in a much less risky and more convenient package.

Freeze dried food, is first frozen and then dried to remove excess water. It retains all the nutrients and vitamins of the live form and can be stored indefinitely. The drawback with this type of food is that like dried foods, it must soak up water before being consumed.

Frozen food is a cheaper alternative but contains a higher water content than other foods. It must be defrosted before use but this is quickly done by placing the food in a cup of tank water for a few minutes.

Although both types of food are disease free, frozen food should never be re-frozen after thawing as this will harbor bacteria an cause disease.

Human frozen foods are often relished by fish. Silver Sharks love shrimp and an ideal food for pufferfish is mussels or oysters. These should be fed with care though, as the oils contained in these foods can quickly pollute the aquarium.

Vegetable Foods

As mentioned on the Types Of Diet page, not all fish are meat eaters. Vegetable matter plays a large part in the dietary requirements of most fish.

Algae, although normally considered a pest is a good food source for herbivores such as some catfish. I keep the front of my aquariums clear of algae but allow it to grow on the back and sides for my catfish.

Duckweed, blanched lettuce, spinach, peas, cucumber and zucchini are all readily accepted by fish and a great way to detract their attentions from you plants.

If feeding vegetables, feed sparingly as a at tropical temperatures they breakdown quickly and can cause the water to turn cloudy.

Bread should never fed to fish as this expands in the stomach and causes constipation and other digestive problems.