Many fish-keepers love to see a dream of having a beautifully decorated aquarium with lively fish swimming around all the time.
If you are new to the fish-keeping hobby, you have to face a lot of questions before coming to this stage.
One of them is proper feeding of the fish.
Here are some answers to common questions on feeding your fish.
Which food you should go for? If you go for buying fish food, you will find a lot of varieties in the market.
If you take a tour to the food section there, you will be amazed by the brands and varieties available.
If you check on-line, you will come across even more varieties.
So which food should you go for? You want to go for something which your fish will like and at the same time will keep them healthy.
So you need to follow certain principles.
1.
Never take your decision based on the pricing If a type food is expensive, look at its description.
Some foods can remain fresh for a long time.
Some of it might have been prepared specifically for a particular species.
Some of it may offer some added benefits.
Depending on the combination of fish in your aquarium, you will have to make this decision.
2.
Which type of food you should buy Usually, fish food is available in categories like frozen food, flaked food and pellet food.
Flaked food is usually a mixture of many ingredients.
It is considered to be of good nutritional value.
It has a longer life and it may be suitable to most of the varieties of fish in your aquarium.
Flaked food is perhaps the cheapest available in the market.
Again, it can be fed to almost all varieties of fish and it lasts longer.
It is available in many varieties like vegetables, proteins etc.
Its nutritional value may not be equivalent to be frozen food but if you pick up food with appropriate contents, you can satisfy most of the nutritional requirements of your fish successfully.
Pellet food is not that popular amongst the fish-keepers.
However this option is good for carnivores fish.
When it is offered to the fish, it looks like live food.
The fish may go for it very fast.
It is available in many sizes and shapes and you can select an appropriate one depending on the size of fish in your aquarium.
3.
You should understand the needs of the fish You should do some on-line research to find out advice on fish food.
You can make a mix and match combination of different types of foods according to the variety of fish in your aquarium.
4.
Consider the shell life of food while buying The frozen food as well as dried food will remain good for a long time.
However when you buy flake food, if it is bought in loose form, is nutritional values may reduce over a period of time.
There is also a possibility of growth of bacteria and fungus on it.
So you need to buy this food strictly on the basis of present requirements.
You cannot stock it and use for a long period of time.
5.
You should avoid overfeeding your fish Out of love and affection you or your kids may tend to over-feed the fish.
The best solution to overcome this problem is to prepare in advance portions of suitable quantities of food.
Write down the scheduled time of offering on each of these portions.
Even after feeding in these quantities, you may notice that some food is remaining uneaten at the bottom of the aquarium.
In that case you can assume that you are over-feeding the fish.
If you notice cloudy water or growth of mold in aquarium, it is suggesting that you are over-feeding your fish.
It is an important decision to buy the food for your fish.
There are many alternatives available in the market and you may not be able to pick up a correct one at the first attempt.
However you can make some experiments and observe the behavior of fish.
On that basis you will be able to assess the exact needs of your fish.