best feeder fish to breed.

alright. i have a few breeding pairs of angel fish. id like to change up the diet with some live food some times.

was considering guppies or mollys.

ive been feeding them cherry shrimp every other week or so. since they are rapidly breeding in a spare tank i have.



what do you suggest i breed for feeder fish ?

thanks for readin my post.

cherry shrimp are prob the best imo. good solid protein and easy to breed.

I breed endlers as they both are popular fish and they breed in a ratio of about 1 males to 3-4 female which are bland and colourless.

Doug wrote:

cherry shrimp are prob the best imo. good solid protein and easy to breed.

I breed endlers as they both are popular fish and they breed in a ratio of about 1 males to 3-4 female which are bland and colourless.

Just wondering, but aren't feeder fish illegal ???
I seem to have read somewhere that feeding a live fish is animal cruelty.
Marty

depends on where you live. the laws vary. generally its considered to be one of those things where even if its illegal most people turn a blind eye. most fish shops sell feeder fish.

Doug wrote:

depends on where you live. the laws vary. generally its considered to be one of those things where even if its illegal most people turn a blind eye. most fish shops sell feeder fish.

Must be so stressful for the fish. I know it happens in nature but a aquarium is an artificial environment we have created for our enjoyment and curiosity and we should show compassion. The same argument goes against dog fighting. While wolves might fight with one another in nature, we do not tolerate that as a society.
There are so many other foods we can give fish that makes feeder fish unnecessary. Plus most educated aquarium keepers will point out that feeding fish on feeder fish is not a good idea due to the introduction of disease and lack of nutrition.
Marty

In the states, feeder fish are perfectly legal and I honestly don't think too many people give it a second thought. I am a proponent for only feeding homegrown feeders to prevent the issue of disease and lack of nutrition. Keep in mind too that some fish (like my old gar) only eat live foods. The question becomes, where do you morally draw the line. Is it immoral to feed fish live fish if there is a perfectly nutritious alternative that the fish accepts? I'm on the fence on this one as I believe it provides the hunter with much needed stimulus. I use to breed guppies in my turtle tank. Sure my turtle eats pellets, but it gives her something to do if she can hunt fish and shrimp.

ktk05 wrote:

In the states, feeder fish are perfectly legal and I honestly don't think too many people give it a second thought. I am a proponent for only feeding homegrown feeders to prevent the issue of disease and lack of nutrition. Keep in mind too that some fish (like my old gar) only eat live foods. The question becomes, where do you morally draw the line. Is it immoral to feed fish live fish if there is a perfectly nutritious alternative that the fish accepts? I'm on the fence on this one as I believe it provides the hunter with much needed stimulus. I use to breed guppies in my turtle tank. Sure my turtle eats pellets, but it gives her something to do if she can hunt fish and shrimp.

But the question comes down to the morality of keeping fish that need feeder fish.
Keeping fish has always to me been something for enjoyment and to enrich our lives. So specifically breeding one animal just to have it killed by another seems purely for pleasure seems to be a little barbaric and morbid.
After all we are the intelligent beings that have brought this little ecosystem into our homes in the first place.
Marty

This is a touchy issue. Us mods will be watching closely

The thing about morals is that they are a deeply personal thing. Where you draw the line is up to you.

I"m not sure I'd raise feeders just for breeding pairs of Angels. Chances are you are only giving them a taste for live fish and maybe down the road you will just be encouraging or even training them to eat their own fry. There are better commercial diets for aquarium fish on the market now, than ever before. The Spectrum line for one and many frozen diets. Its one thing to provide your own feeders for Predatory types of fish to satisfy their nature to hunt , but I'm not so sure its a good idea for breeding Angels.

Aleishoo wrote:

I"m not sure I'd raise feeders just for breeding pairs of Angels. Chances are you are only giving them a taste for live fish and maybe down the road you will just be encouraging or even training them to eat their own fry. There are better commercial diets for aquarium fish on the market now, than ever before. The Spectrum line for one and many frozen diets. Its one thing to provide your own feeders for Predatory types of fish to satisfy their nature to hunt , but I'm not so sure its a good idea for breeding Angels.

I know this is an old thread, and I'm not trying to reintroduce a moral debate (already did that on another thread ).

I'd just like to address something I've been running across all to frequently- The idea that feeding Angelfish live fish will somehow "teach" or "encourage" them to cannibalize their own fry. This is IMO 100% false, and makes no sense.

Angelfish are instinctual predators from the free swimming stage on. Try splitting an angelfish spawn in half, raise one half on live food, the other on a non-live food of your choice and compare results, you will quickly realize how vital the "live" component is.

Fortunately, older angels are opportunists and not fussy. They will consume prepared foods. Still they remain hardwired stealth predators, and will consume even angelfish fry without hesitation if they are not spawning. (When spawning they will adopt any angel fry presented to them even if they were eating live fry a week prior. )

Many species in the wild cannibalize their young, for different reasons, including stress, a perceived threat, or lack of resources. Angelfish can spawn again in a few days, so it may be in their best interest to utilize the nutrients of the eggs or fry when conditions are less than ideal. The behavior may be more normal than abnormal. It is certainly not something "learned" from eating live fish. Domestics may also suffer from the fact that most strains have been developed by pulling and artificially hatching the eggs so we haven't selected for the parenting instincts, though I'm not entirely convinced that's a major factor.

My adults were raised on and are still all regularly fed not just live fish, but specifically live cull angelfish fry. They are ruthless and aggressive about hunting them down, predatory in every sense of the word, and most are excellent parents, a couple are not. My best parents are the very settled pairs. The ones that act like they are courting again with every spawn are less successful, which makes me think egg or fry eating in domestics may also be triggered by a degree of incompatibility between mates since angels will tend to pair up with whatever we make available to them.

Anyway, I've had my say big fish eat little fish, but eating little fish doesn't turn Angels into baby killers....

Sarah