What do fishes like to eat

Never feed your fish pellets that are too big, as this can cause serious digestion issues. They are available at pet stores nationwide and can be kept in your freezer. Dried sheets of seaweed can also be purchased and fed to your fish as treats, but should be given sparingly. Home Fish Nutrition Center. What do Fish Eat? Written by: PetMD Editorial.

Published: February 11, By Kali Wyrosdic There are thousands of different types of fish in all different colors and shapes, so it makes sense that there is no one universal fish food to satisfy them all. They are a predator fish that mainly feed on other fish such as perch, bass, and even smaller pike. Carp will eat pretty much anything they can get. Obviously, they still need to eat something but the things they can find are somewhat limited.

Salmon and trout seem to be more active in the winter and can be sometimes seen near the surface. Let me know your thoughts and any questions you have.

Like this article? While bass are primarily carnivores, similar fish like trout and freshwater bream actually eat a lot of insects. This means that these fish greatly help monitor insect populations, especially those of invasive species. While this is mainly in efforts to scrape the algae off the surface, consuming wood is believed to help fiber levels and may be further broken down internally for additional micro-organisms.

Next are cleaner fish and invertebrates who actually eat parasites, dead skin, and other alien microbes off of other sea life. Then, they clean the exterior of the fish, sometimes even venturing into the mouth and under the gill flaps. However, these fish do not entirely depend on just cleaning to survive. Many of these species are also scavengers and will eat other available food. Some popular species include cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus and the cleaner shrimp Lysmata amboinensis , with some lesser-known species being orange chromide Etroplus maculatus and the juvenile striped Raphael catfish Platydoras armatulus.

It is recommended to feed your fish at least once a day with two light feedings per day being the maximum. However, some fish heavily rely on the food that is already naturally in your tank, like algae eaters and sand sifters, so sometimes it is more important to have concentrated feedings.

On the other hand, some fish, like the peacock eel , will also not eat every day. Offering too much food will result in excess nutrients in your system that can lead to an algae bloom, so finding the balance of fish food that enters your tank is important.

This, in part with your fish not being able to process all the ingredients of bread, can ultimately shorten the lifespan of your fish and cause serious discomfort. Because offering live food carries the risk of introducing parasites into the aquarium and can be difficult to provide a steady supply, many hobbyists turn to culturing their own.

Swim bladder disorders are pretty common for beginners and can become a permanent condition. Most carnivorous fish are natural predators and enjoy a chase, some are scavengers.

In the wild, they feast on live fish, insects, larvae, and crustaceans. In addition to proteins, these fish also need some fats to insulate the body, and small amounts of carbohydrates to provide energy. Carnivorous fish cannot handle or digest large amounts of carbohydrates and so the small amounts of plant matter that they eat will suffice.

Blood worms, white worms, tubifex worms and micro worms are available in live and frozen forms and provide good amounts of protein. Be aware that some worms can carry disease due to the conditions they have been bred in; they should be rinsed thoroughly and observed for a few days in a separate tank before you feed them to your fish.

The beauty about feeding live food is that none of the nutrition is lost, and some live foods such as brine shrimp and micro-worms can be grown at home.

You can feed your fish a mixture of live, frozen and cooked fish. Some carnivorous fish enjoy hunting and so live fish can be beneficial for them for exercise. Feeder fish are small fish bred specifically for feeding purposes. Whilst they are cheap, they are often bred in poor conditions and can easily introduce disease into your tank; they also carry little nutritional value.

If you do choose to use feeder fish, quarantine them for a week before introducing them to your tank. Brine shrimp is one of the best live foods you can feed your fish. Whilst live shrimps can be expensive, frozen brine shrimp is more affordable.

Daphnia are also a popular choice of live food, and whilst not widely available at stores, you can find them at local fish clubs and start breeding your own. You can also feed your carnivorous fish a number of dried foods and supplements; you can read more about this in the omnivore section below. Herbivores only consume plant matter; this is more difficult to digest than meats. Their diet includes large amounts of fiber, which is difficult to digest and so they have a longer digestive tract than carnivores.