Tropical Feeding Guide – Herbivores and Fingerlings
Tropical Feed for Herbivorous Fish and Fingerlings
Catfish and loaches particularly enjoy cucumber, zucchini, squash, melon, and these can be cut into pieces and tied to a plant weight to sink them down to the substrate and make it easier for the fish to feed.
The potato is also popular with plecos. A lettuce clip (often sold for marine aquariums) can be very useful for securing green leafy vegetables (lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, spinach, etc.) to the cup, allowing fish such as mollies and African cichlids to consume fresh vegetables such as part of your diet.
Plant matter can be placed in the tank overnight and left overnight, but anything not consumed MUST be removed the next morning or it will foul the water.
Finally, for the fry, various ‘first foods’ are available. These range from liquid suspensions to powdery flakes for when the young are a bit older.
Alternatively, microscopic live foods such as infusoria can be easily grown in a small window sill tank, and once the fry are more developed, they can be offered frozen baby prawns and prawns.
We hope this article has been helpful in detailing all the different types of fish food currently available.
Fish that are fed a varied and nutritious diet will show more vitality, show better growth rates, be more resistant to disease, show better colors and are more likely to reproduce.