Freshwater

In This Chapter
Knowing your fish’s nutritional needs
Understanding food types
Feeding the kiddies
Chapter 10
Diet and Nutrition
for Your Wet Pets
Just like their human counterparts, your aquatic pets need proper nutrition
so that they can remain active and healthy and live long lives. A
proper diet can be found by using most manufactured fish foods, but you can
also increase your fish’s good health by providing a variety of fresh vegetables
and other products.
Basic Nutrition
Unfortunately, you can’t feed your fish the cheeseburger, fries, and apple pie
that keeps many kids happy, so you have to supply other types of food to
meet their dietary needs. Fortunately, you can combine many good nutrition
sources to form a proper diet for your fish. Aquarium food can be quite
varied and includes brine shrimp, dry flake, fresh shrimp, algae, daphnia,
pellets, algae wafers, tubifex worms, and beef heart — to name just a few
choices. These foods are all good sources of nutrition, but only if they are
distributed in proper amounts. Tossing an entire beef heart into the tank for
your guppy’s breakfast doesn’t cut it.
When purchasing any type of aquarium food, the most important rule is to
select the finest quality your finances can handle. Aquarium foods are not
really that expensive when you look at the total amount of food you get for
the price, so why not purchase the best? Top-quality commercial foods are
enriched with vitamins and minerals and help keep your fish in optimal
health. Low-grade food promotes poor health and disease.