Aquatics - Health and Feeding

• wide variety available
• e.g., flake, pellets, tablets, powders
• freeze dried
• available in different sizes and concentrations 
• can be specifically designed for fish species or need
• colour enhancers
• Advantages
  • lots of variety
  • specially designed
  • long shelf life
  • low moisture
  • be taken by most species
  • good for water quality
• Disadvantages
  • easy to overfeed, very nutrient rich
  • used to be not very good, but has improved
  • expensive, if you pay for quality
  • if not stored correctly stock will be ruined

• can be brought in fresh or defrosted
• chopped into a variety of sizes
• are often of 'human quality'
• large variety if willing to shop around
• Advantages
  • variety, especially if by the coast
  • easy to cut to correct size
  • most enjoyed by fish
  • can put treatments inside
  • natural diet
• Disadvantages
  • if not used quickly, can be wasted
  • some nutritional value can be lost during thawing if not done correctly
  • disease issues
  • water quality problems

• only invertebrates, except in special cases (AWA 2006)
  • thought they cannot feel pain due to not having a central nervous system
• "a person commits an offence if an act of his, or a failure of his to act, causes an animal to suffer"
• often is zooplankton and crustaceans
• Advantages
  • important component of wild diet
  • high nutritional value if gut loading
  • movement can stimulate feeding response
  • some animals will only take live food
• Disadvantages
  • may need to be cultivated
  • can be expensive to buy in and not always available
  • disease potential
  • controversial
  • time consuming 

 Rotifers

 Artemia 

Copepod

• midge larvae and bloodworms are naturally found in stagnant ditches, ponds and can even be found in old buckets
  • high risk of disease transmission, must be thoroughly rinsed
  • very nutritious
  • commonly fed frozen
• tubifex worms and blackworms are popular with fish but carry a high risk of disease as they are collected from sewage outlets
  • seen as the 'best' and 'worst' food by aquarists depending on their experience
  • can be fed in freeze dried blocks
• copepod
  • a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat
• all often sold in frozen blocks
• other live foods: earthworms, maggots, fruit flies, crickets, snails and prawns, mussels and crabs

• water soluble vitamins
• colour enhancers
• appetite stimulators
• immune system boosters

• water quality
• overweight fish
• waste of money
• algae blooms
• lack of condition
• less chance of breeding
• death

• diet items should be able to be eaten at the fish's natural water column position
• should be the correct size for their mouths
• should be of good quality and fresh
• should be the correct food type for carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
• a variety of food
• just because an animal will eat something doesn't mean it should 

• spreading feed around the animal's aquarium
• use for filter feeders, scavengers etc.
• could use live foods or dry foods
• Advantage
  • enriching
• Disadvantage
  • food could drift to the bottom of the tank before it is eaten by the fish in the top and middle sections 

• food is fed automatically through a piece of technology
• would probably only work effectively for dried food such as pellets
  • most pictures used to advertise show pellets
• Advantages
  • if you are busy it can feed your fish
• Disadvantages
  • can cause people to neglect their aquariums
  • need to replace food every few weeks (if you forget the fish won't be able to eat)
  • automatic feeders drop the water and food may go into the overflow

• used to feed items such as krill for whale sharks

• when the fish is fed by hand
• Advantages
  • can make sure every fish gets fed, or if a certain fish needs specific supplements
• Disadvantages
  • time consuming
  • have to keep that piece of food away from other fish that have already eaten/don't need the medicaton within the fish

• obesity
• bloat
• stress
• indirect disease such as Fin Rot
• lack of breeding
• shortened life
• poor water quality
• algae or snails
• death

• malnutrition
• lack of condition
• stress
• indirect diseases
• death