Loaches Online Forum

hiya folks
just a quick question i currently feed my clowns a variety of feed from bloodworm pellets throught to shrimps and prawns, my question is what other sea foods can they eat, for example can they have muscles and such as i already buy them fresh prawns and such i would just like to put even more variation into there diet btu i would hate to feed them somethign they shouldnt eat..

rave

Since they eat snails, I do not see why they couldn't eat that. I feed my clowns an assortment of frozen foods that I randomly buy (mysis shrimp, blood worms, brine shrimp, daphnia, beef heart, etc etc), shrimp pellets, algae wafers, lettuce, melons, beans, other random fruit and veggies - whatever is left over! (yellow pepper, broc, green beans, mushrooms etc etc etc, anything - really!). So- don't forget the veggies!

oh they get loads of veg everything from cabbage to cucumber they love it, i just wanted to add more meaty stuff like muscles to there diet lol

Sounds like they eat good!

Mine get the Ruto chopped mussel, cockle and squid and love them all.

A mate of mine is one of the main Ruto dealers in the UK so I get to try samples and to be honest there isn't a frozen food I have tried that they haven't liked, a particular favourite at the moment seems to be Pacific krill.

You can see the full range of Ruto food here: http://ruto.co.uk/page2.htm

well in that case i think tomorrow when i go to the fresh fish guy that i use i shall just get him to make me a tub of mixed seafood and give them a nice mix with there veg and such they gonna have a banquet (altho they do every day lol)

thanks guys

rave

my botias like mysis shrimp slightly smaller than krill but it's variety that makes a happy fish.

mick

Ruto are very good, I order most of my frozen foods of them

I feed what most people have said above along side any veg/fruit/fish etc that I have left over. I find my clowns prefer the more meaty foods such as cockle, prawn/shrimp, cockle, white fish etc mixed in with courgette, cucumber, melon, watermelon, banana etc. The smaller species get fed just the general frozens; mysis shrimp, brineshrimp, daphnia, white/black worm, blood worm, veg mix, some live foods (mainly microworms) and the usual fruit and veg.

I also feed some chopped up earth worms that I have in a few tubs out the back-they go particulary crazy over these. Whether its just cos they dont get them as often as they would like or they are extra yummy I dont know, all I know is they dont last long Ive also tried crickets that are left over from the spider when she has had her fill (she will eat 4-5 out of a box of 20 which lasts her for ages-why stores cant sell them in smaller boxes to make life a bit eaiser.....) , but these seem to be prefered by the rainbows and barbs rather than the loaches.



Ashleigh

Ashleigh

I have a hard time imagining smallish fish eating crickets. Would love to see a video of that some time.


Is there not any concern over the amount of salt going into their diet with all that sea food that they would never get in the wild?

palaeodave wrote:I have a hard time imagining smallish fish eating crickets. Would love to see a video of that some time.


Is there not any concern over the amount of salt going into their diet with all that sea food that they would never get in the wild?

Its not so much the salt but seafood contains thiaminases and when this is ingested in large quantities it breaks down the natural thiamin (vitamin B) which fish need and in turn cause vitamin deficiency which can lead to stunting and illness etc, I do feed a fair bit of sea food and did start to see problems which is why I now feed plenty of dried foods that are high in vitamin B (mainly B1) to counteract and negative effects.

[/quote]
I now feed plenty of dried foods that are high in vitamin B (mainly B1) to counteract and negative effects.[/quote]

and what would be a good source of food high in vitamin B?

thanks

[quote="quote]

I now feed plenty of dried foods that are high in vitamin B (mainly B1) to counteract and negative effects.[/quote]


and what is good source of vitamin B

Just check the label on your flake food etc, most companies give a break down of ingredients on the label/tub and just look for thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1) and any other B vitamins. Ocean nutrition flakes and pellets are particularly good

many thanks

Any natural foods that loaches love that are high in vitamin B?

namal kamalgoda wrote:many thanks

Any natural foods that loaches love that are high in vitamin B?

The foods richest in thiamine (B1) are:
Pork,
Offal (liver, heart, and kidney),
Brewer’s yeast,
Lean meats,
Eggs,
Leafy green vegetables,
Whole or enriched cereals,
Wheat germ,
Berries,
Nuts,
Legumes.

I suppose the most readily fed out of those would be the liver or Beef heart.