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HERE ARE A FEW BUILDING BLOCK INGREDIENTS:
AMINO ACIDS:
 An amino acid is any molecule that contains both amines (organic compounds that contain nitrogen as the key atom. Structurally amines resemble ammonia) and Carboxylic acids (organic acids characterized by the presence of a carboxyl group). Amino acids are used as the basic components of proteins.
The net protein utilization is profoundly affected by the limiting amino acid content or protein quality (the essential amino acid found in the smallest quantity in the foodstuff), and somewhat affected by salvage of essential amino acids in the body. It is therefore a good idea to mix foodstuffs that have different weaknesses in their essential amino acid distributions. This limits the loss of nitrogen through deamination and increases overall net protein utilization. Eggs (whether fish or even chicken) have the highest protein quality of any source. Which makes hard boiled egg crumbles an excellent food source for fry.
DL-methionine is an essential amino acid for producing the “Lionhead” feature in goldfish. Methionine is one of eight essential amino acids.
High levels of methionine can be found in the vegetable proteins of spinach, green peas, garlic, and Vegetable protein extract which is used in many commercial foods such as Sanyu Koi and Goldfish Food. DL-methionine can also be found in whole fish meal.
Other essential Amino acids include (essential meaning amino acids that cannot be produced within the fish’ body from other nutrients and proteins): Arginine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine + Cystine3, Phenylalanine + Tryosine4, Threonine, Tryptophan, and Valine.
Other quality sources of usable amino acids include: Whole fish meal (salmon is best), Cylcops, fish roe, squid meal, and even spirulina algae.
Bottom line; Not all protein sources are equal. An analogy used at a pet food seminar I attended was this: You can achieve the protein analysis on many pet foods with a used pair of leather shoes, but leather shoes contain little usable proteins.
Another point as to grain or plant sources (Spirulina does NOT fall into this category), is that proteins in cereal grains and other plant concentrates do not contain complete amino acid profiles and usually are deficient in the essential amino acids lysine and methionine.
FATS (lipids):
Molecular compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Fats are important for insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy. The fatty acids are the main source of energy in fish, especially for many tissues, such as heart and skeletal muscle. Another important function for fats are for vitamin absorption. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats.
The lipids (fats) in fishes can be separated into liquid fish oils and solid fats. This is why fats/lipid for use in fish food are best obtained from aquatic sources such as Whole Fishmeal. Fish lipids are highly digestible by all species of fish (& animals) and are excellent sources of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in both the omega-3 and omega-6 families of fatty acids. The predominant omega-3 fatty acids in fishmeal and fish oil are linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Both DHA and EPA fatty acids are produced and passed along the food chain by small-size algae and zooplankton, which are consumed by fish. Fishmeal and oil contain more omega-3, than omega-6 fatty acids. In contrast, most plant lipids contain higher concentrations of omega-6 fatty acids. For example, oil extracted from soybeans, corn, or cottonseed is rich in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid. Some oils, like those from canola and flax seeds contain linolenic acid (of the omega-3 family), however, its conversion into essential DHA and EPA by most animals may be limited.
More about Omega 3 & 6
As with most animals, it is important to maintain an appropriate balance of omega-3 and omega-6 in the diet, as these two substances work together to promote health. However in fish it is the Omega 3 that is most needed and many warm water freshwater do not readily produce this fatty acid like most coldwater marine fish can.
Omega-3 fatty acids are THE essential fatty acid and one of the benefits is that they help reduce inflammation, while most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation.
One problem with many fish foods that are void of Whole Fish Meal (vs. plain fish meal which has often lost most oils), Fish oils, or similar are that they often will get their fats from plant sources that lack even short-chain Omega 3 and only contain Omega 6.
Very few plants produce Omega-3 fats, and plant-based Omega-3 fats such as Flax, walnuts and camelina are slightly different than fish omega-3s. Plants produce a shorter chain molecule than fish, while fish produce long-chain omega-3 oil, but even warm water freshwater fish may be able to convert these short-chain omega-3 oils to the long-chain version.
An ongoing study has shown where farmed fish were fed partially with camelina suggested that they were converting the oil to the longer chain Omega 3 fatty acid.
Reference:
http://www.montana.edu/news/1114097858.html
CARBOHYDRATES:
Molecular substances which include the sugars, starches, gums and celluloses. The common attributes of carbohydrates are that they contain only the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and that their combustion will yield carbon dioxide plus one or more molecules of Water.
Most of the carbohydrates that enter the diet of fish are of plant origin. Carnivorous fish such as groupers, therefore, deal with little carbohydrate. Indeed, experiments have shown that these species are ill-equipped to handle significant quantities of raw carbohydrate, in their diets. The ability of fish to digest carbohydrates depends on their ability to elaborate amylase. All species of fish have been shown to secrete at least some amylase. It has also been demonstrated that activity of this enzyme was greatest in herbivores.
Carbohydrates are not a superior energy source for fish over protein or fat although digestible carbohydrates do spare protein for tissue building. Also, unlike in mammals, glycogen is not a significant storage depot of energy in fish. The more efficient metabolism of amino acids over carbohydrates (glucose) for energy could be due to the ability of fish to excrete nitrogenous waste as ammonia from their gills without the high cost of energy in converting the waste to urea.
FISH FOOD SOURCES:
FISH MEAL:
 Fish meal has been widely used as a protein source for many years for fish.
High quality whole fishmeal provides a balanced amount of all essential amino acids, phospholipids, and fatty acids for optimum development, growth, and reproduction, especially of larvae and brood stock. The nutrients in fishmeal (such as Omega 3 fatty acids) also aid in disease resistance by boosting and helping to maintain a healthy functional immune system.
Two basic types of fish meal are produced;
(1) Fish Meal from left over parts:
Produced from fishery waste (salmon, tuna, etc.) that are associated with the processing of various edible human fishery products and this fishmeal is rendered from fish offal, trimmings or cuttings, and other wastes principally from filleting and canning operations from the edible fisheries (e.g., tuna, cod, haddock, hake, pollock).
In addition to being a by-product of human fish production it is also a by-product associated with fish oil production, which is where many commercial fish foods obtain fish meal from.
Unfortunately many of the major fish food brands use this poor source of nutrition rather than the vastly superior whole fish meal.
(2) Whole Fishmeal:
When specific fish (Herring, Menhaden, Anchovies, Hakes, Jacks, Pollack, etc.) are harvested just for the purpose to produce fish meal. The fish can be dried directly drying or cooking prior to drying and oil extracted. Most of these fishes are small, bony, with high content of oil (especially the important Omega 3 discussed in the “Fats” section), and considered of little edible use for humans (e.g., anchovies, herrings, capelin, menhaden).
Fish that are only used for the production of fish meal are the best source, listed on ingredients as “Whole Fish Meal” or “White Fish Meal”. Fishmeal of high quality provides a balanced amount of all essential amino acids, phospholipids, and fatty acids (Omega 3, DHA or docosahexaenoic acid and EPA or eicosapentaenoic acid) for optimum development, growth, and reproduction, especially of larvae and brood stock. The nutrients in whole fishmeal also aid in disease resistance by boosting and helping to maintain a healthy functional immune system.
Most plant-based proteins (with the exception of Spirulina, which is not actually a plant or even a true algae), even when properly processed, are usually not as digestible as fishmeal; and their inclusion rate into the diet is often limited as it results in depressed growth rates and feed intake. Over-all protein digestibility values for fishmeal are consistently above 95%. In comparison protein digestibility for many plant-based proteins varies greatly, for example, from 77% to 96%, depending on the species of plant.
Whole Fish Meal is an excellent source of DL-methionine which along with some fats such as the VERY important Omega 3 fatty acid is important to large head growth in certain cichlids and Orandas/Lionhead goldfish.
Unfortunately many leading brands of fish food use only bi-products or low quality Fish Meal which is not complete.
Whole Fish Meal averages between 17% and 25% ash content. More ash indicates a higher mineral content, especially calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Calcium and phosphorus constitute the majority of the ash found in fishmeal. This makes
Whole Fishmeal an important source of very essential minerals that fish need for osmoregulation.
Fishmeal also contains certain compounds that make the fish food more acceptable and agreeable to the taste (palatable). This property allows for the feed to be ingested rapidly, and will reduce nutrient leaching. It is thought the non-essential amino acid glutamic acid is one of the compounds that imparts to fishmeal its palatability.
Use of high quality fish meal as a percentage of processed/prepared foods ranges from 5-7% for koi and goldfish, and up to 40% to 55% for high protein tropical fish, trout, salmon, and some marine fishes diets.
Unfortunately the cost of high-quality whole fishmeal (65% protein) is 2.0 to 3.5 times the price of soybean meal so its use is often low as compared to soybean meal or lower quality fishmeal in low end fish foods (which make up the more popular brands too).
Further reading for Fish Meal (resource)
Fish Meal in Aquaculture Diets; University of Florida
SHRIMP MEAL (& Plankton/Krill):
 Shrimp meal can be made from either cull shrimp that are being processed before freezing or from whole shrimp that is not of suitable quality for human consumption. The material to be made into shrimp meal is dried (sun or using a dryer) and then ground. Shrimp meal has been used in trout and salmon diets as a source of pigments to impart the desirable color in the tissues.
Shrimp/Plankton either whole or as a part of another prepared food is an excellent source for fats needed for the growth of heads in Flowerhorn Cichlids.
Krill Meal is similar (& often Krill Meal is labeled as Shrimp Meal).
 Another positive aspect of Shrimp/Krill Meal is that it often has a high palatability for many fish, especially small “finicky” fish such as many small Tetras. For this reason many quality fish foods specifically designed for small finicky fish such as Hikari Micro Wafers include this food source (along with Garlic) as a major ingredient.
Shrimp/Krill meal has been found to be an acceptable supplemental protein source for fish, but inferior to whole fish meal for pepsin digestibility.
SQUID MEAL:
Squid Meal is made from squid viscera portions from cannery plants including egg and testis.
Squid Meal is high digestibility of protein source, which provides a full range of amino acids for fish. It provides various kinds of vitamins and minerals and also 1.0-1.5% of cholesterol that is suitable for fish fry and young fish.
BRINE SHRIMP:
 Just over a centimeter in size, the adult brine shrimp (Artemia) is a common food source for fish. They can be purchased at many Pet Stores as adults, Freeze dried or even eggs. The eggs look like a powdery brown substance but in reality the substance is thousands of cysts—eggs surrounded by protective cases. When added to water, these cysts will hatch into shrimp nauplii within a few hours.
As a food source brine shrimp are relatively limited (mostly because of their high water content). They are a good source of carotene for color and act as a natural laxative in fish digestive systems. The proteins they do supply are of high quality. Depending on the source they also can supply vegetable matter due to their consumption of algae.
As I noted, Brine Shrimp have a natural laxative ability and along with shelled peas makes for an excellent laxative. Even better would be to combine a high content Spirulina Flake such as Spirulina 20 and make a thick soup and soak some frozen or even FD Brine Shrimp (frozen or live is slightly better) for a natural immune boosting/laxative that is excellent for Bettas, goldfish, etc. Ocean Nutrition also makes a Spirulina enhanced Frozen Brine Shrimp product that is excellent as well, see this article for more information: Spirulina Algae; The aquatic health benefits for Tropical, Marine and Goldfish.
SOYBEAN MEAL:
Use of soybean products in the aquaculture industry have become the focus of protein substitution in fish food around the world. The high protein level makes it a key ingredient for aquaculture feeds since soybean meal is considerably less expensive than traditionally used marine animal meals.
However, proteins in cereal grains and other plant concentrates do not contain complete amino acid profiles and usually are deficient in the essential amino acids lysine and methionine.
The limiting amino acid content of soybean meal is high, and is not on the level of Whole fish meal and especially egg.
SPIRULINA:
 Spirulina is a blue-green plant plankton rich in raw protein and seven major vitamins: A1, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E.
Spirulina naturally contains beta-carotene color enhancing pigments (1500 mg/kg. Carotenoids; Orange/ Red pigment enhancers), and whole range of minerals. In addition, it contains all essential fatty acids and eight amino acids required for complete nutrition. Spirulina is different from other algae and is similar to bacteria in many ways, occupying a niche between plants and bacteria. Spirulina is similar to cyanobacteria in structure (spiral shape, unlike true plant plankton), which can be toxic. Spirulina Blue- Green algae are recognized by the body (fish in particular) as a bacterium, causing an increase in antibodies, which in turn increases disease resistance. Spirulina is also high in usable or digestible amino acids.
Spirulina is probably one of the best fish food ingredients available, INCLUDING for carnivores (usually fed via gut loading, more information later in the article). Any staple fish food diet for community fish is improved by the addition of Spirulina Algae, which is why Spirulina 20 which has Spirulina as its number one ingredient is superior to most other basic fish food flakes for everyday feeding of general/community aquarium fish.
For much more about Spirulina of which there is MUCH new evidence as to the health benefits there in:
Spirulina Algae; The aquatic health benefits for Tropical, Marine and Goldfish. THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE!
WHOLE WHEAT:
Carbohydrates as explained earlier are not the best source of energy in fish, but still can be useful, especially when whole wheat is used. One reason is for roughage, especially in goldfish and koi, but also for other fish for the wheat-germ found in whole wheat is a natural source of vitamin E, an important vitamin to promote healthy growth and fish color.
GARLIC
 There is a lot of anecdotal evidence about the use and effectiveness of garlic for fish
Much of this is positive, but there are also negative anecdotal reviews of the use of Garlic.
I myself have used Garlic as an appetite stimulant with good results, but admittedly this was not a controlled study and is also anecdotal evidence.
Based on a study ("Using Garlic as an Appetite Stimulant in Sand Tiger Sharks." Drum & Croaker, January 2004, Volume 35, pages 59-63"), I would have venture a guess that the results that I and others have observed were real, it simply depends upon the fish and what stimulates certain fish, as this study was quite flawed and only dealt with one type of fish. My positive results were with omnivores and herbivores, but not carnivores (in particular Yellow Tangs and some livebearers I only used Garlic to stimulate appetite).
Here are a couple other claims of benefits for Garlic use:
• Anti-bacterial
• Anti parasite including internal worms as well as Freshwater Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis) & Marine Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans).
I do not have good evidence of the benefit of Garlic for parasite prevention/treatment, however I do have good scientific evidence of the use of garlic for bacterial treatment (which may at least allow for a stronger immune system to aid in treatment of parasites)
Garlic contains the active (& proven) ingredient; Allicin, (a.k.a. Diallyl thiosulfinate)). Allicin is a broad-spectrum agent against both Gram Positive and Gram Negative bacteria, with more gram positive activity (which unfortunately most aquatic diseases are gram negative). Fish Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium marinum) has been demonstrated to be effectively treated with Allicin. Some human studies show the effectiveness of Garlic (Allicin) in treatment Streptoccocus (which can affect fish).
Garlic can be added to fish food at about 1-2% (generally during manufacture or homemade fish food) or an aquarium keeper can add products such as SeaChem Garlic Guard to fish food prior to feeding (a half hour or more is best to allow food to absorb the garlic)
BEEF HEART:
Although still fed to fish and often part of many homemade fish food recipes, Beef Heart is a food source that should be used very sparingly.
Although many carnivorous fish enjoy it and it may be a good way to kick start growth in juvenile fish, excessive long term use can add stress to the fish' digestive tract and kidneys, thus lowering resistance to disease and shortening lifespan (which I noted in some side by side fish food comparisons in the 1980s where Oscar that were fed a diet primarily of Beef Heart had clearly shorter life spans and were more prone to infections or other problems such as HITH).
Although lower in fats than most warm blooded animal meats, Beef Heart is still about 18% Saturated Fat. These fats are very difficult for fish to process these fats, especially older fish
The well known aquatic author Martin A. Moe (my favorite is the
"The Marine Aquarium Handbook") states: Fish are cold blooded and all digestion reactions take place at 70 to 80F, the temp of aquarium water. Thus they may not be able to efficiently digest or use the types of fats present in the flesh of warm blooded animals. They are much better off with the flesh of animals that are similar to their normal prey.
As well the amino acids (which make up proteins) are not ones that are easily utilized by fish.
FISH FOOD SOURCES NOT TO USE:
*Lettuce; this is mostly cellulose and empty nutrition and worse lettuce is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria that can in turn cloud your aquarium and compete with fish for oxygen (many labs use lettuce for this).
*Bread; again mostly empty nutrition to fish (maybe not for humans, but as noted earlier fish get their energy primarily from fats). Also bread again will attract un wanted bacteria.
HOMEMADE FISH FOOD:
You can make your own supplement for general fish feeding that is high in DL-methionine; Start with whole salmon which is an excellent source of carotene for color (frozen or even canned works), frozen peas, hard boiled egg, frozen or FD brine shrimp, duck weed or spiulina powder, and fish oil (cod liver oil works fine). Blend this mixture then add corn starch to the paste to dehydrate. Spread this paste on small strips of foil (or even wax paper if your dehydrator does not get to hot). Make sure you leave room for air circulation.
*For a frozen food, substitute the corn starch with unflavored gelatin powder.
*For goldfish and koi, add wheat germ powder.
*For more carnivorous fish increase the whole fish and decrease the spirulina powder or duckweed. Calamari (squid) can be added too for carnivorous fish, but make sure that all the ink is removed from whole squid.
* For better attraction (smell) as well as a parasite repellent (Ich), you can add garlic powder to each batch of frozen or dried fish food at a rate of less than 1% of the prepared batch, this comes to about ½ teaspoon (or less) per one cup batch of wet fish food (before drying/freezing)
For spirulina powder, Spirulina 20 Flake can be substituted, but since this already a complete diet for many fish, I double the amount of this and decrease other ingredients by comparable amounts.
Here are basic percentages, please note that you can change these percentages to suit your fish food requirements:
| INGREDIENT | BASIC | GOLDFISH | CARNIVORE |
| Whole Salmon | 25% | 20% | 30% |
| Peas | 25% | 25% | 15% |
| Egg | 20% | 15% | 25% |
| Brine shrimp | 15% | 15% | 15% |
| Spirulina Powder | 10% | 15% | 5% |
| Wheat Germ | 0% | 5% | 0% |
| Squid | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| Fish Oil | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Corn Starch or Gelatin | 3% | 3% | 3% |
LIVE, FROZEN OR FD FOODS:
As stated earlier, this article has been primarily about prepared foods; however this is not to say that this is all you should feed, far from it. Many fish benefit from live, frozen or freeze dried supplements such as Brine Shrimp, Blood worms, Daphnia, Microworms, Whiteworms, Walter Worms and more. Make sure that you make sure that live foods come from an uncontaminated source and some foods such as Tubiflex Worms are raised in polluted waters which make them a poor choice.
As I will discuss shortly, gut loading is very helpful in feeding live food such as feeders, crickets, or blackworms.
Generally live foods are preferable to Freeze Dried foods however both can be soaked in a multi vitamin, mineral and spirulina flake “slurry” for about 30-60 minutes prior to feeding. This will improve the nutritional value these foods (often making them more palatable as well).
Hikari has an excellent FD Brine Shrimp that contain quality Brine Shrimp immediately prior to the flash Freeze Drying process; this is an excellent product for weak, sick, or finicky fish such as Bettas that will not touch pellets or other foods that might otherwise contain immune boosting Spirulina (see Hikari Spirulina Enhanced FD Brine Shrimp).
Ocean Nutrition and other brands of frozen foods often have excellent formulas that provide additional nutritional additives to their frozen foods (such as Omega 3 and Spirulina enhanced Brine Shrimp)
 Gut Loading/Quarantine
If feeder goldfish are used (& they never should be the primary source of nutrition even if gut loaded), I strongly recommend not bringing them home from your LFS and dumping them in your aquarium, rather I recommend a 30 minute Methylene Blue bath followed by a day in a quarantine tank (so as to prevent disease which feeder goldfish are notorious for) where they are “gut loaded” with a Spirulina Algae or vegetable based food such Spirulina 20 Flake .
In the wild most carnivorous fish get these types of nutrients form the “guts” of their prey, but unfortunately most feeder fish have empty digestive systems to keep pollution low in holding tanks and transport. This is an IMPORTANT aspect of feeding live foods such as feeders that many aquarists miss and should not be ignored for long term health of your carnivorous freshwater or saltwater fish.
This also can be applied to ANY live food fed to any fish, whether it be worms for community tanks, silversides, fat head minnows, or crickets (an excellent food for Arowanas).
In fact just about any other live food is preferable to feeder goldfish, as besides the before mentioned disease issues goldfish feeders contain the enzyme thaimase which breaks down thiamine. Thiamine is an important vitamin and if you use feeders as a large portion of your fish’s diet it will develop a thiamine deficiency which can lead to HITH in certain fish such as Oscars, Red Devils, and similar fish.
Worms & Brine Shrimp
For young fry such as Bettas; Walter Worms, newly hatched brine shrimp, vinegar eels or Micro Worms are an excellent choice (Micro Worms tend to drop to the bottom and Vinegar Eels may be a good alternative).
Here is place to purchase Grindal Worms, Walter Worms, or Vinegar Eel starter cultures:
Over a Copper Moon; Live foods
Here is a little about Micro Worms:
Micro Worms are nematodes (Panagrellus). Microworms are one of the easiest live foods to culture. Micro Worms are small .5 -1.5 mm and difficult to see individually. They are white, un-segmented worms that move continuously. The tail end is pointed while the mouth end is generally more rounded. They are approximately 15 times as long as they are wide. Due to their size and shape, they can be fed to fish that are too small to take a brine shrimp nauplii. Microworms can remain alive in fresh water for twelve hours or more.
Microworms reproduce sexually. The males have a curved tail, are smaller, more slender, and lower in number than the females. Micro Worms are live bearing, producing 10 to 40 young every 1 to 1.5 days for an average 20 to 25 day life span. This results in each female producing approximately 300 offspring. The young reach sexual maturity in approximately three days. Their size increases by three times during the first day and five to six times during the next three days. The Micro worm nematodes are 76% water and 24% dry matter; 40% of the dry matter is protein and 20% is fat.
Micro Worms are easily cultured (here is a link to a starter culture: Live Microworm culture
A simple mix is one cup of quick oats, baby cereal, Cream of Wheat or similar (with maybe a tiny pinch of dry yeast) to one and a quarter cups of warm water. Mix thoroughly and pour into a suitable container. Yogurt containers or similar types of containers work well for culturing Micro Worms. Allow cooling, and then seed the mix with worms, putting the lid on (with small holes for ventilation) and leaving in a cool place. The temperature should be between 65 to 75 degrees. Within a few days you will have Microworms to harvest.
For MORE information about worms for feeding as well as many more resources (including links from which to purchase), please see this Aquarium Answers Article (near the bottom): "Trematodes, Nematodes, Annelids, & Feeding Worms"
HOW AND WHEN TO FEED FISH
No one fish food should be relied on as your fish’ sole nutritional source. For a community freshwater or saltwater aquarium start with a good basic flake such as HBH Tropical and Marine Flake , Spirulina 20 Flake , Omega, Aqueon Fish Foods, or many other quality fish foods available (it is also a good idea to switch different flake foods day to day, especially foods such as Spirulina One which will also improve your fish immune system). Be wary of the many low quality fish foods available as well. Do not feed two different fish foods at the same time as fish will pick and choose and this will defeat the purpose of varying the diet of your fish. It is helpful to soak dry foods for about 5 minutes to prevent ingestion of air that can cause digestive problems (more so with pellet foods).
Balance these flake foods with Freeze dried foods such as FD Bloodworms or Brine Shrimp or Frozen fish foods. I especially recommend the many prepared frozen fish foods now available by companies such as Ocean Nutrition for marine fish, many of these foods address the specific needs of certain fish species. Live foods such as blackworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp also make a good additions to your fish’ diet. Make sure and soak live brine shrimp for 5 minutes in freshwater prior to feeding these to marine fish to prevent disease transfer.
For larger fish such as Cichlids, the same regime works, however you want to consider a pelleted fish food as well such as Hikari or Sanyu Tropical pellets. Be carefull with the feeding of worms in many African Cichlids as I have observed constipation when these are fed regularly to these Cichlids.
And with goldfish pelleted fish foods such as Sanyu Goldfishand a spirulina based flake food such as Spirulina 20 Flake are a good start supplemented with frozen or FD Brine Shrimp (for constipation). Hulled peas can also make a good addition for goldfish too. It is very important with goldfish to soak dry foods for 5 minutes in water to prevent air ingestion. Please see this article for more “Proper Goldfish Feeding”
Most fish generally do well being fed twice per day (sometimes three times) in aquariums (or ponds) over 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In ponds when temperatures fall this will need to be cut back, please see this article for more “Pond Information, help”
Many predators only need to be fed every other day or even less (such as saltwater lion fish or Arowanas in freshwater which due best with live or FD crickets IMO)
FISH INDIGESTION:
For problems with intestinal distress in fish (very common with goldfish, however Bettas and many other fish can suffer too), you fist want to avoid this by feeding foods with the right ingredients and keeping your fish in water with the Proper Electrolyte levels. It is also important to soak dry fish foods (especially pelleted foods) for 5 minutes to prevent ingestion of air that is trapped within dry fish foods, this air can lead to indigestion or even severe problems occasionally such as Aeromonas Bacteria infections.
However this still may occur. I have found that about a ¼ teaspoon of Epsom salts per gallon of ‘bath’ water for 30 minutes along with increased salt (sodium chloride) in the aquarium, about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons or even double this for fish that can handle this (do not double for catfish, loaches or similar).
Shelled frozen thawed Peas are recommended for strengthening digestion, reducing water retention and helping to promote elimination. And finally Spirulina Algae as well as Brine Shrimp are also effective for easing digestion and preventing these problems from the start.
POOR APPETITE, MALNUTRITION, SICK FISH:
Often new fish will not eat (more common with carnivores in my experience, especially those that are being adapted to a prepared diet such as Bettas).
Sometimes after or during treatment fish will not eat, as well sometimes fish will be suffering in malnutrion from a poor diet (often prior to the well meaning aquarist who takes care of their fish obtaining their new aquatic pet), or this malnutrition can be the result of intestinal parasites or other internal parasites.
With some carnivores, the answer may be as simple as “gut loading” their food as discussed earlier (even live worms can be fed Spirulina or similar prior to feeding), however often the answer to the problem is not as simple.
In these cases preparing a fish food soaking slurry (or thick soup) is the answer. I will generally soak brine shrimp, worms, occasionally pellets (flakes do not work) or similar foods in this slurry prior to feeding or even force feed a very weak fish this slurry by itself using an eye dropper. Let me state that this force feeding is effective less than 50% of the time for me, but still, when the other option is death, these odds are not too bad.
This slurry is NOT an exact science, but it has been effective for me, and as well for internal diseases or parasites (such as the often common intestinal flagellates found I many wild caught fish such as Clown Loaches, wild Discus, etc.), medications can also be added to this mix. The medications I primarily used to add to this slurry are Neomycin (generally for bacterial problems) or Metronidazole (for intestinal parasites as well as some bacteria). Usnea has possibilities here as well, although I have not tested it much, so it is more of an idea rather than something I have actually used effectively. When I use medications in the slurry, I generally add medications at a 10 gallon tank strength per batch (please note that I do not use medications in all food slurries).
For this Slurry, I prefer to use (1) tablespoon Spirulina Flakes, a human multi-vitamin (capsules that contain a liquid work best, however any can be ground up, as well make sure there are NO added sugars, colors, flavors, etc., only pure multi-vitamins), minerals (scrapings from Wonder Shells are what I have used since they are balanced (but likely a Sea Lab or similar will work well too), and Omega 3 fatty acids from a human capsule that is poured into this slurry. The Omega 3 (which was discussed earlier in this article as to its importance) is a key ingredient to this mix and this must be from fish sources (which most sold over the counter are, you can tell by the “fishy smell when the capsule is opened). This is important for two reasons; it is an important nutrient for fish, especially weak, sick and malnourished fish and as well often is an appetite stimulant do to its strong order!
Generally for one tablespoon of Slurry I will use half of the average Omega 3 capsule (about the same for the multi vitamin along with just a few scrapes of a Wonder Shells or similar). I mix this to the consistency of a VERY thick soup and then soak the Brine Shrimp, pellets, etc. for about ½ hour in this.
For force feedings I make this almost a paste consistency then no soaking of food is performed, just a direct feeding of this mix.
SUMMARY:
This information is intended primarily for prepared foods however it can also be applied to live, FD, or frozen foods as well. You can improve live foods by “gut loading” them such as feeding Spirulina 20 Flake to your feeder fish or to black worms 30 minutes prior to feeding your fish (I have seen good color improvement in black worms fed to Bettas this way). This is actually quite natural for carnivores in particular as in the wild a worm or food fish rarely has an empty belly.
 For head growth in Flower Horn Cichlids, Orandas, Red Devils, make sure your fish’ diet includes whole fish meal and shrimp in their ingredient list (for goldfish such as Orandas, there needs to be more vegetable higher in the list of ingredients and less raw proteins). There are many good pelleted foods such as Sanyu Tropical Pellets that achieve this.
The information given here should also help you to make a better choice when purchasing prepared fish food (especially when feeding young fish!), such as the examples below:
Here is an example of ingredients for three Betta Foods:
Tetra BettaMin;
Fish Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Dried Yeast, Shrimp Meal, Wheat Gluten, Brine Shrimps (FD), Potato Protein, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Fish Oil, Soybean Oil, Sorbitol, Algae Meal, Lecithin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Stabilized Vitamin C). Coloring Agents: Red No. 3 Dye (E127). Ethoxyquin as a Preservative.
Wardleys Premium Betta:
Fish meal, whole grain wheat, shrimp meal, soybean flour, brewers dried yeast, wheat germ meal, wheat gluten, fish protein concentrate, fish oil, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, crayfish extract in soybean oil, iron oxide, vitamin premix containing (wheat middlings, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, folic acid, pyridoxine HCI, thiamine mononitrate, d-biotin), choline chloride, marigold petal extract, canthaxanthin, ethoxyquin (as a preservative).
Sanyu Betta Gold:
White fish meal, shrimp meal, soybean meal, wheat flour, rice bran, wheat germ, yeast, vitamins A, B C, E and other minerals
Hikari Betta Gold is basically the same formula as Sanyu:
Shrimp meal, white fish meal, brewers' dried yeast, wheat flour, soybean meal, wheat-germ meal, carotene, vitamins A, B C, E and other minerals
Compare the above ingredients, the differences are striking!
Tetra starts with low quality fish meal (vs. high quality Whole White fish meal), then has cereals as the next two highest ingredients. Cereals are needed as a filler, however the cereals should not be this high in the ingredients for a carnivore such as Bettas.
Compare TetraMin to some of the facts I have explained, then compare foods such as HBH Tropical and Marine Flake ;Spirulina One Flake ; Hikari and Sanyu Foods, such as Sanyu Betta Gold (Sea Chem makes an excellent Betta Food as well).
The differences are quite clear for long term growth and health.
 When it comes to feeding young fish (fry), a quality prepared food is even more important. A comparison I would use is this; would you feed your infant cows milk instead of formula? My point is fish fry are even more sensitive to poor nutrition. I prefer to powder my fish Flake foods and my favorites are Spirulina 20 (for ease of digestibility and usable protein) and Hikari First Bites.
Here are the ingredients to compare:
Hikari First Bites:
Ingredients: Fish Meal, Milt Meal, Wheat Flour, Antarctic Krill Meal, Clam Meal, Spirulina, Seaweed Meal, DL-Methionine, Monosodium Glutamate, Garlic, Enzyme, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Inositol, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Aluminum Hydroxide.
Spirulina 20:
Spirulina, ground whole wheat, whole fish meal, defatted soy meal, wheat flour, torula dried yeast, vital wheat gluten, fish oil, biophos, soy oil, lecithin, natural colors.
As you can see, both are excellent formulas, although different in their nutrition approach (they can be used together).
RECOMMENDED FOODS (FROM EVERYTHING AQUATIC)
This list is intended as a list of fish foods intended for daily basic feeding, not as the only food to feed.
Not in any particular order of recommendation, type of fish, etc.
All these recommended foods must meet with the outline from this entire article for quality of ingredients:
• Spirulina 20 Flake
• Aqueon Fish Foods, especially the superior Aqueon Cichlid Sticks
• Most Hikari Foods;
such as Algae Wafers, First Bites, Sinking Carnivore Pellets, Hikari Spirulina Enhanced FD Brine Shrimp, & Hikari Micro Wafers (one of the best wafer/pellet foods for small tropical or marine fish!)
• Many Omega Brand Foods (although their Spirulina/Veggie Flake is very low in Spirulina and I would not recommend it against the much better Spirulina 20 and Aqueon Spirulina)
• HBH Tropical and Marine Flake as well as most other HBH foods.
• Most Ocean Nutrition Brand Fish Foods (including their excellent frozen prepared foods)
• Sanyu Goldfish/ Koi & Tropical Pellets as well as Sanyu Betta Pellets; these Sanyu foods are of the same ingredients as the better known Asian Brand (Hikari) but at a lower price.
• Pro-Gold Premium Goldfish diet
• Saki-Hikari Color Enhancing Goldfish Diet
Resources (references), further reading
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA122
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