| Foods |
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| Feeding angelfish is one of the more fun parts of this hobby. They always seem to be hungry and beg for food everytime you pass near the tank. This is especially true of older fry. They all rush forword as you approach the tank and almost jump out of the tank (sometimes they do) when you lift the lid. When you drop in some food they rush to the top and you can actually hear them smacking their lips as they ravenowsly devour the food. They seem to have an insatiable appitite. Overfeeding It is easy to see how they can be easily overfed. Overfeeding is one of the deadly sins of keeping angelfish. It is the number one cause of deformities in fry and poses numerous water quality and maintenance issues. It can easily destroy your biological filtration causing ammonia and nitrite spikes which causes stress which can lead to desease which can ultimately lead to death. In addition the excess food and waste caused by overfeeding can cause excess bacteria which lead to the same results. Few of us have the time to perform the necessary cleaning and water changes to keep up with overfeeding. How often to feed From newly hatched fry to breeders, angelfish should be fed twice a day. Newly hatched and juviniles should be fed more often if possible. Feeding should not be closer than 2 hours apart as it takes that long for fish to digest food. Newly hatched to one month old fry can be fed up to 4 times per day to achieve maximum growth rates. After the first month feedings should be reduced to 3 times per day. At fifty cent (body size) feedings should be reduced to twice a day. After angels reach full body size and are retired from breeding they only need to be fed once a day. Live foods The best first food for your free swimming fry is freshly hatched brine shrimp. There is nothing better to trigger the eating mechanism of newly free swimming fry than bbs. Their movements attract the fry to hunt them down and eat them. Nothing makes them grow faster or healthier than bbs. Bbs should not be fed after 24 of hatching. They begin to lose their nutritional value because they have not been fed. I occasionally feed live adult brine shrimp as a treat to the fish. This becomes expensive as the price is $1 to $1.50 per portion. Three portions of adult brine shrimp are about 1 feeding in my hatchery. It is also important to rinse the adult brine shrimp in a net to get rid of any brine shrimp food or deteris that may be in the portions. Feeding adult brine shrimp is also a good trigger in trying to stimulate the appetite of fish that are not eating or in acclimating any wild caught angels to prepared food. Micro worms can be fed to fry as an alternative to bbs. I find it more difficult to raise and harvest a culture of micro worms than bbs so I no longer do it. In addition, I don't appreciate the odor. There are several different types of worms that some breeders feed their angelfish. Live tubifex and blood worms are sold in many pet shops. These provide a great source of protien and can also be used to trigger eating in fish. Great care must be exercised when feeding these worms. Thorough rinsing before feeding is nescessary to prevent any pathogens from entering your tank. In addition, changing the water in the worm container at least daily is a must. They should be stored in cold conditions. Some breeders chop up earthworms and feed them to their angels. Personally I could never stomach the process and I don't consider myself particularly squeemish. I haven't fed any live worms in the last few years to any of my fish and my fish are doing just fine. To me the risk of introducing desease isn't worth any of the benefits of feeding live worms. Others may disagree and are welcome to feed what they like. Daphnia and water fleas are often collected and fed to angels. Again the risk of introducing pathogens and desease prevent me from doing this. Frozen and Freeze Dried Foods There are many frozen and freeze-dried foods available. Basically I feed my angels frozen brine shrimp and freeze-dried blood worms and krill. I usually feed each of these foods once or twice a week as an alternate to flake foods. A number of years ago one of the most popular angel foods was beefheart. Whether freshly prepared or frozen, it was fed by most angelfish breeders. Today it seems to have lost some of it's popularity partialy because of the better quality flake and frozen foods available today and because it tends to cloud the water. Flake Foods Todays flake foods are far superior to those offered in the past. After feeding bbs for the first month or so, it is entirely possible to raise an angelfish to adult size using only flake foods. Feeding a variety of high quality flake foods is the key. With the wide variety of flake foods on the market today there are many choices. The top 4 flake foods that I always feed are brine shrimp flake, spiulina flake, angel flake and a multi purpose tropical or staple flake. These seem to be my angels favorite flake foods. In addition, I usually keep a couple of the following on hand. Worm flake, plankton and krill flake, color flake and egg flake. My angels eat these but not quite with the same relish as the others. I rotate these flake foods along with frozen brine and freeze-dried blood worms and krill to provide a balanced diet for my angels. . |