Radcliffe

Yup, asking more newbie questions!

Will fish eat foods that are unhealthy for them?

I have a false bandit cory in with tetras, and my 5 cardinal tetras went straight for the algae wafer I just dropped in for the cory cat. Cardinal Tetras and algae wafers? That just seems unlikely. Should I remove the algae wafer before they eat more, or should nibbling on it just be considered part of a varied diet for them? The cardinals are healthy, I have had them a couple of months now and they have grown up and have great color. It would be a shame if anything happened to them now!

--R

Tom

My black neons love the algae wafers that I drop in for my CAE and other bottom feeders. Even my clown loach loves them and from what I heard from other people, they are supposed to be carnivorous. But it would be considered a varied diet for the fish since they most likely don't really get vegetables in their regular diet.
Tom

Luniyn

Tetras aren't pure carnivores, they are also omnivores, so eating plant material is common. It's perfectly OK for them to eat algae wafers if they like them. Also spirulina is good for them as well which is found in a lot of the tropical wafers. It helps to keep them regular as a lot of their food also has a lot of fat which can cause problems if it is the only source of food they get. But the algae wafer shouldn't be their only source of food. They need it from time to time, but you might have to be a bit strategic in order to get them the food they need and the algae wafer to the bottom of the tank for your other fish. You can distract them with flakes at the top of one side of your tank, and while they are busy eating that, you drop the wafer on the opposite side of the tank so it reaches the bottom before they even know it went in. In any event, I found this article at Dr. Foster & Smith's site while checking out the different food for my fish, then I also found this Q&A which gives some good tips to help your fish eat healthy.

mojoman101

My black skirts wouldnt touch the algea wafer but they like the bloodworms. maybe try turn the lights off and feed the flakes and wafer at the same time so the tetras are too distracted to want the wafer right away sometimes it doesent work though.