Live foods

Despite the variety, flavor and popularity of the various manufactured food that you find
in the store, there is still a need to feed your fish some varieties of live food as often as
you can. In addition to adding a welcome change to their feeding routine, it also
introduces a lot of nutrients that may be lacking in the store food. Live food needs to be
approached with a bit of caution. You should be absolutely sure that the food you provide
the fish is fresh and without any signs of decay or infection. You do not want your fish to
show signs of disease after it have innocently eaten something you provided. If you have
cultured the live food yourself in a healthy environment, then there is no fear of it being
infected or chemically treated.
Planktons are minute floating aquatic plants and animals. They are a good source of
nutrition for fish. Plankton can be trapped or netted from ponds for feeding. Tubifex
worms are a hot favorite among a large number of fish. They are unfortunately also
known to carry diseases and are very fatty which means that Tubifex only should be used
once in a while. Rinsing out live food thoroughly before introducing it into water will
greatly help reduce the chances of carrying the disease into your aquarium, but this
method is naturally only effective for the germs outside the body.
Microworms are one of the simplest fish foods to culture. These are primarily used to
feed fish fry. Fish that are too small to feed on brine shrimp will find these an excellent
choice. Brine shrimp, on the other hand, are minute shrimps collected from saltwater
ponds. Even after they are dried, they remain dormant inside cysts. These cysts can be
hatched as and when needed even after storing them for months and even years. Each
cyst will contain one single animal.
Earthworms and Redworms are other popular sources of food for tropical fish. These are
easy to rear, but are also high in fat content. They are very popular among some fish
varieties like the Cichlids.