Should I Feed My Fish Live Food Or Freeze Dried Food?
The dietary needs of the various fish differ from fish to fish. Take piranha for instance – they need a healthy diet of meat, as do fish like parrot fish, which could do with beef heart once in a while to retain their colors. Herbivores, on the other hand, need plants for them to nibble on.
Most fish however do pretty well on a diet of flakes or worms. Both of these tend to float on the surface however, so if you have bottom dwellers, like some species of catfish, you may need to get them pellets as well.
When it comes to worms, which your fish are no doubt going to love, and are a good source of proteins for your fish, you can either get them live, or you could get them in as freeze dried. Almost all forms of live food, take tubifex, bloodworms, brine shrimp are all available as freeze dried, sometimes packed as small cubes, or as I get them, looking just like worms – only freeze dried.
Squeamishness aside, with live worms you can never be sure about the conditions in which they were bred, and hence the chances of them carrying parasites can be quite high. A friend was once recounting the time he got live worms for his fish … and ended up losing all his pets. With freeze dried food, since they float on the surface, it is easier to siphon off the extra food, while live worms tend to dig themselves into the gravel, and are difficult to remove.
Because of this, freeze dried food may be a better alternative to live worms, unless you can be sure that they are have been bred in hygienic conditions. One thing to remember is that if parasites existed in the worms before they were freeze dried, the chances of them being in existence would be very high, but I tend to feel safer with a branded freeze-dried feed entrusting them ensuring hygienic conditions.
When it comes to nutrition, freeze dried food, has pretty much the same nutrients as live food – you need to remember however that freeze dried food have shelf life, and the more they are exposed to air and moisture, the shorter their nutrient life.
The same applies to feeder fish – they might just be better replaced with fresh meat sliced into small pieces for fish who need that kind of a diet.
Pic via here and here.
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