michaelb323

I thought this thread might be a good place to share oddball foods for fish. Some foods that may seem unconventional can lead to a huge benefit to your tank.

Let me share some ideas.

Vitamin C tablets: "What?" You say. Indeed, one must take care as citric acid is just that, an acid, but the health benefits in some cases may outway the danger. Think of when you get sick, what you eat to help your immune system, now apply some of those foods to your fish. By breaking up a vitamin C tablet and adding a few pieces to the tank, my fish were quick to consume a vital nutrient not readily found in fish food. Another way to get your fish eating Vitamin C is to feed them tiny pieces of an orange or lemon. I know for a fact that some of my fish would be dead right now had I not fed them vitamin C in tablet form.

Earthworms: Natural is always better, I buy a can of 20 live bait nightcrawlers every few months and cut them up with scissors into tiny pieces. My goldfish are doing much better after adding this to their diet, my tropical fish love earthworms as well.

Nerds: This is a fun one, after bleaching the dye off the nerds candy, one can feed their fish a piece of candy from time to time. Turns out my crayfish has a real sweet tooth.


I'm sure others have some great oddball ideas as well, post away.

Amanda

My Oscars LOVE earthworms. They go nuts when they see it wiggling outside the tank.

Slug

Heres my list, remember, for me most of these are put into a mix and not fed seperatly.

Ground Pumpkin seeds
Bananas
Spinach
Seafood - Shrimp, Prawns, Scallops, Clams, Salmon, Tuna...
Beefheart, ground beef, turkey heart, chicken heart, veal heart, liver
Ground Multi-vitamin/or liquid!
Egg Yolk
Carrots

I'm sure there is more...

michaelb323

I just tried banana, my molly tried it once and spit it out. My goldfish acted the same way with banana.

btate617

Don't give up on a food after one try.
Sometimes it will take a few times.

Brian

Slug

I use banana as a filler or glue per say for some of my mixes. A very ripe, often black/brown banana holds together the mix in the water quite well.

Again, most of my list i do not feed separately, only as a mix.

Borisbbadd

I'm still wondering about the Nerds.........

aquarist48

Hello. I'm still amazed at the way my Silver Dollars devour Romaine Lettuce. They see me coming and they are on the lettuce before it even has a chance to sink to the bottom. They can devour an entire stalk in less than 90 minutes. (8 Silver Dollars). Too, they like to nibble on the Pleco's zucchini. They nibble on the green skin and not the center white part.
My Pleco can devour a slice of zucchini in the same amount of time. So much fun to watch.
Ken

michaelb323

I am seriously impressed sir. This is a novel idea that has real potential in my fish flake mix. Thanks.

As to the question about nerds. I sometimes feed my fish odd things like candy, nerds being such. It seems that tossing shards of chocholate into my tropical tank, every fish tried it at least once, but the Molles went totally nuts on the stuff. My betta swam in the opposite direction the next time I gave the Molles flakes of chocholate.

Also, freezing soda in a straw and breaking it into small chunks can be fun. I wish I had my camera last night when my juvinile Molle ate a chunk of Mountain Dew. The Molle was racing around the tank for over an hour.


Now that it's in the stores for Thanksgiving and Christmas, butternut squash is available. I stuck a rather large piece of cooked squash skin in my 55 gallon tank, the next morning there was barely any skin left.

Lastly for this update I would like to mention that my pleco completely devoured red bell pepper slices, while other fish nibbled at it. The peppers are a fantastic source of carotinoids and vitamin C, along with a plethora of other nutrients that are not found in flake food.

Shawnie

why would you feed your fish frozen mountain dew? or any soda/candy for that matter? is there a purpose other than for thrill seeking?

bolivianbaby

I know chocolate is poisonous for dogs, isn't it poisonous for fish as well? I don't know for sure, but it's information I think is important.

Amanda

Since fish cannot break down food like humans, it's very important to only feed them food that they can digest.
It IS possible to have an obese fish, and it's not a good thing.

namehater

fish are like children, just because they will eat it doesnt mean we should feed it to them!