The feeding habits of tropical fish are divided into plant, animal and omnivorous, so different tropical fish have different requirements for food. According to the source of the bait, there are fresh bait, chilled bait, plant-based bait, dried animal bait, artificial compound feed.
First, fresh bait
Fresh bait mainly includes zooplankton, harvest worms, water earthworms, insect larvae, bread worms, centipedes and small fish.
Rotifers: Living in natural water bodies, it is difficult for the eyes to see directly, and they can only be distinguished under the dissecting mirror. Therefore, rotifers are mainly used in fry that have just emerged from membrane.
Rotifers - fish get water
Phyllonorycters: Commonly known as fish insects, they are widely present in natural water bodies and can be fed directly. To avoid germs, it is best to disinfect them before feeding if possible. The feeding method is: put the purchased fish worms into a small wide-mouth container, add an appropriate amount of water, fish out the dead fish worms, and feed the living immediately, for the remaining living individuals, they should be inflated, so that they can survive for a long time.
Zooplankton: Zooplankton in natural water bodies include grasshoppers, amoeba, bellhoppers, copepod rotifers, etc. These zooplankton feed mainly newly hatched juveniles. Others, such as large fleas of the branch horns, commonly known as "fish worms", are also widely used in the cultivation of small fish and tropical juvenile fish.
Water earthworm: Also known as red worm, red nematode. Water earthworms are rich in protein and have high nutritional value, but by living in sludge for a long time, the body surface contains a large number of bacteria, so it is necessary to rinse repeatedly in clean water before feeding, and it is best to be fed after disinfection. The method of rinsing is: put the water earthworm into a large mouth vessel, add an appropriate amount of water, it is best to put a bucket on top, put the breeding water in the bucket, and lead out a small stream of water to continuously rinse the water rainbow earthworm, which can be stored for a long time.
Water earthworm - fish get water
Harvest worm: Also known as brine worm, harvest shrimp, usually live in seawater. The market has worm eggs or frozen harvest worm adults, the former must be in about 30 ‰ of sea water after 24 hours of inflatable hatching, broken shell into harvest worms agnostic larvae, that is, can be used as bait for juvenile fish. The latter can be fed directly after thawing. Harvest worms have the characteristics of high protein, astaxanthin content, good palatability and so on.
Bread worm: The larvae of the yellow powder moth, which is generally used to feed arowana, arhats and other large fish. Bread worms have a relatively high fat content and should not be fed for a long time.
Bread worms - fish get water
Small fish: Generally there are wheat ear fish, trevally. The small fish purchased from the flower and bird market are inflated in a large container, pay attention to changing the water, and keep the water clean, which can make the small fish store for a long time. Dead fish should not be fed, and it is best to disinfect them with "yellow powder" (scientific name furacillin) before feeding to reduce the chance of infection in the fish being fed.
Centipede: Centipedes are more expensive and are generally used to feed valuable species such as arowana. Centipedes can be cultured with a glass jar cover, the method is: spread wet newspaper on the bottom of the glass tank, keep it moist, ventilated, and placed in a cool place for a long time, but be sure to pay attention to avoid escape, otherwise there is a risk of being bitten. When feeding, it is necessary to select healthy individuals, you can also freeze the centipede, and when you need to feed, take it out of the refrigerator directly, thaw it and feed it.
Centipede - Fish get water
Shrimp: Generally used to feed arowana, luohan and so on. Peel off the shell of the shrimp and leave only the shrimp to feed directly. Of course, you can also directly feed the whole shrimp, because the shrimp shell has a high content of aquatin, which is very beneficial to the body color of the fish, but be sure to cut off the frontal sword to avoid harm to the fish.
In addition to the above live bait, larvae such as fly maggots and silkworm pupae can also be used as bait for tropical fish, but this insect has a high fat content, is easy to corrupt the water quality, and is generally rarely used due to inconvenience.
Silkworm pupae - fish get water
2. Plant-based bait
Common algae, lettuce, spinach, sweet potatoes, etc., containing a variety of vitamins, has a good effect on the health of tropical fish, body color, and low price, convenient source. However, this type of plant-based bait has low protein and fat content and should not be fed as the main bait for a long time.
3. Chilled bait
Cow Heart: Commonly known as the Cow Heart Burger, it is mainly used to feed colorful angelfish. The production method is: the beef heart to remove the oil, pericardial membrane and other parts, leaving only muscle tissue, after grinding, add multivitamins, minerals, a small amount of antibiotics, etc., mix well, pat flat, make a thickness of about 0.5 cm sea flakes, cryopreservation, when needed can be directly taken to feed an appropriate amount.
Frozen mosquito larvae: Commonly known as blood worms, red worms, is the larvae of the mosquito. Mosquito larvae generally live in sewage and are blood-red. The eye-casting usually does not directly use the words of the mosquito larvae, but is frozen and fed. The f-worms sold in the market are easy to use and can be fed directly or after thawing.
Fourth, animal bait
Dried shrimp: Made from sea shrimp after air-dried. Because the shrimp contains a large amount of chitin, astaxanthin, astaxanthin, etc., it is more effective for the color increase of tropical fish. But you can't feed too much, otherwise it is easy to "catch fire".
Dried fish insects: you can buy directly from the flower and bird market, because fish insects will cause some nutrient loss during the drying process, so it should not be used as long-term feeding bait.
Fifth, artificially match the bait
This is the most common, widely used and convenient type of bait for tropical fish breeders. With the advancement of bait processing technology, there are now flake bait, powdered unformed bait, floating puffed bait, heavy particle bait, viscous bait and so on. Among them, thin slices of bait and powdery granular bait are mainly used to feed angelfish, lamp fish, zebrafish and small! Tropical fish; The literal puffed bait is mainly fed to tropical fish such as goldfish, koi, and fortune fish; Sticky bait, which can be directly adhered to the wall of the aquarium tank, can be nibbled on by fish at any time, which is more interesting.
Floating puffed bait: generally puffed [art, divided into large, medium and small size particles. In general, fish with a body length of about 5 to 8 cm are used with small-sized granular bait; 8 to 15 cm with medium size of granular bait: and more than 15 cm, use large size granular bait.
Floating puffed bait - fish to get water
Flakes of bait: Specially processed to make the feed into flakes that can float on the surface of the water for a long time and facilitate the feeding of tropical fish. It is widely used in the feeding of small fish such as lamp fish and zebrafish, but at the same quality, flake feed is slightly more expensive than other feeds.
Patch Bait: The feed is processed into a rao-shaped, strong stickiness, and can be applied directly to the inner wall of the aquarium glass. Fish are concentrated around the feed to compete for food, which is quite ornamental, but the price is more expensive, and it is generally used to feed small tropical fish.
Sedimentary particle bait: generally small particles, due to the surface tension of the water, the feed can be fed in an appropriate short period of time on the surface of the water, but not eaten by the fish in time, it will sink to the bottom of the tank, if not cleaned in time, it will corrupt the water quality.
Sedimentary granular bait - fish get water
Sixth, the principle of feeding
Daily feeding should be timed, qualitative and quantitative. Timing: It is convenient for tropical fish to form conditioned reflexes, which is conducive to digestion of tropical fish. Adults are generally fed twice a day, once at 8:oo in the morning and once at 5:00 in the afternoon. Fixing: The ingredients must contain nutrients and frequent bait changes are not recommended. There should be a transition period when changing the new bait, otherwise it will cause the fish to be uncomfortable. Quantitative: This is especially important. In the breeding of tropical fish, there is a saying that "hunger does not die, it will die", which shows that feeding is based on the principle of appropriate amount, and the amount of feeding is based on the ability to eat within 15 minutes.
In addition, the bait should also have good palatability, such as the most commonly used floating puffed feed, there are a variety of particle sizes, different particles suitable for fish of different sizes. Proper food and feeding methods are important for healthy growth, normal reproduction, and increased body color.