Aquarium fish feed is plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 or animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

 material intended for consumption by pet fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macro nutrients, trace elements

Micronutrient

Micronutrients are nutrients required by humans and other living things throughout life in small quantities to orchestrate a whole range of physiological functions, but which the organism itself cannot produce. For people, they include dietary trace minerals in amounts generally less than 100...

 and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping

Fishkeeping

Fishkeeping is a popular hobby concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a fishkeeping industry, as a branch of agriculture.-Types of fishkeeping systems:...

 hobbyists feed their fish exclusively prepared foods that most commonly are produced in flake, pellet or tablet form. Pelleted forms, some of which sink rapidly, are often used for larger fish or bottom feeding species such as loaches or catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

. Some fish foods also contain additives such as sex hormones or beta carotene to artificially enhance the color of ornamental fish.

Prepared foods

Prepared foods are those foods that are non-living and are made by the aquarist or bought already prepared for consumption for fish.

Dry foods

Flake food is a type of proprietary or artificially manufactured fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 food consumed by a wide variety of tropical and saltwater fish and invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s. It is ideally suited to top dwellers and mid-water fish though numerous bottom dwelling species consume flake food once it has settled on the bottom. Flake food is baked to remove moisture, ensuring a longer shelf life. Generally the more moisture a particular example of fish food contains, the more readily it will deteriorate in quality.

Dry foods is also available as pellets

Pelletizing

Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, and more.- Pelletizing of iron ore :...

, sticks, tablets, granules, and wafers, manufactured to float or sink, depending on the species they are designed to feed.

Vacation food

Vacation foods, also known as "food blocks" (or "weekend blocks" for smaller versions), are designed to be placed inside the aquarium to forgo feeding while the owner is absent. These blocks release small amounts of food as they dissolve. Food blocks can be a good choice for smaller tropical fish, but can pollute the water if the tank is neglected for too long.

Medicated fishfood

Medicated fishfood is a safe and effective method to deliver medication to fish. One advantage is that medicated food does not contaminate the aquatic environment and also, unlike bath treatments

Bath treatment (fishkeeping)

Bath treatments are disease treatments that originated since the earliest days of goldfish culture. They are easy to carry out. One of the most effective procedure is called the salt bath which is quite effective in eradicating ciliated parasites from the fish...

, does not negatively affect fish, filtration and algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

 growth in the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

. The parasites will get treated spot on by medicated food, because the fish is ingesting it.

Freeze-dried and frozen fish diets

Freeze-dried and frozen fish foods were primarily developed for tropical and marine fish and are useful in providing variety to the diet or specialist feeding needs of some species. These include tubifex worms

Tubifex

Tubifex is a cosmopolitan genus of tubificid Annelids that inhabit the sediments of lakes, rivers and occasionally sewer lines. There are over ten known species of Tubifex, but the number is not certain, as the species are not easily distinguishable from each other.-Food and feeding:Tubifex worms...

, mosquito larvae

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

, bloodworms, water fleas (Daphnia

Daphnia

Daphnia are small, planktonic crustaceans, between 0.2 and 5 mm in length. Daphnia are members of the order Cladocera, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their saltatory swimming style...

and Cyclops

Cyclops (genus)

Cyclops is one of the most common genera of freshwater copepods, comprising over 400 species . The name Cyclops comes from the Cyclops of Greek mythology which shares the quality of having a single large eye, which may be either red or black in Cyclops.Cyclops individuals may range from...

spp.) along with brine shrimp

Brine shrimp

Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...

 (Artemia salina

Artemia salina

Artemia salina is a species of brine shrimp – aquatic crustaceans that are more closely related to Triops and cladocerans than to true shrimp. It is a very old species that does not appear to have changed in .-Description:...

).

Frozen fish food

Perishable food can be preserved by frozen storage, and is often sold in blister packs or resealable packets. These can contain a variety of ingredients such as bloodworms, Daphnia, or brine shrimp, and are commonly used to feed such fish as Discus

Discus (fish)

Discus are a genus of three species of cichlid freshwater fishes native to the Amazon River basin. Discus are popular as aquarium fish and their aquaculture in several countries in Asia is a major industry.-Taxonomy:...

 which require a high protein diet. Often fed on beef heart fish food within the aquaculture industry, the discus fish are not the only fish which can benefit from a high quality prepared frozen mixture such as beef heart, although by far these are the fish most associated with this particular frozen food.

Live foods

Live fish food include earthworm

Earthworm

Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

s, sludge worms, water fleas, bloodworms, and feeder fish

Feeder fish

Feeder fish is the generic name for certain types of inexpensive fish commonly fed as live prey to captive animals such as sharks, turtles and some other fish such as oscars.-Advantages of using feeder fish:...

. Food for larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e and young fish include infusoria

Infusoria

Infusoria is a collective term for minute aquatic creatures like ciliates, euglenoids, protozoa, and unicellular algae that exist in freshwater ponds...

 (Protozoa

Protozoa

Protozoa are a diverse group of single-cells eukaryotic organisms, many of which are motile. Throughout history, protozoa have been defined as single-cell protists with animal-like behavior, e.g., movement...

 and other microorganisms), newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms

Panagrellus redivivus

The free-living nematode Panagrellus redivivus is known to many aquarium enthusiasts and fishkeepers as the microworm. It is a tiny roundworm used as the first food for minuscule newly-hatched fish, such as the popular pet fish betta...

. These are the most preferred type of food for fishes,but are difficult to get. However, freeze dried forms of earthworms, tubifex etc. are available now.

Ingredients of quality fish food

Fish food should ideally provide the fish with fat (for energy) and amino acids (building blocks of proteins) and the fish food (whether flake or pellet) must be speedily digested in order to prevent build up of intestinal gas, renal failure and infections (such as swim bladder problems and dropsy) and to avoid aquarium pollution due to excessive ammonia. Aquatic diets for carnivores must contain vegetable matter such as spirulina.

Building block ingredients of fish food

• Amino acids are the basic components of proteins. An example of an aquatic diet that is a good source of amino acid is a crumbled hard boiled egg offered to small fry
  Fry
  -Food and cooking:* Frying, the act of cooking food in oil or fat** Pan frying, frying food in a flat pan** Stir frying, frying food in a wok and stirring it while it cooks* Full breakfast, a traditional cooked meal, also called a fry-up or Ulster fry...
  
  . Large amounts of DL-Methionine enhance the headgrowth of the Lionhead
  Lionhead
  Lionhead may refer to* Lionhead Studios, a computer game development company* Lionhead , a variety of goldfish* a breed of domestic rabbits: see List of rabbit breeds* the head of a lion...
  
   goldfish
  Goldfish
  The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
  
  .

• Fat
  Fat
  Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
  
  s that are broken down into fatty acids are the main source of energy in fish especially for the heart and skeletal muscles. Fats also assists in vitamin absorption. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble or can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats.

• Carbohydrates are molecular substances that include sugars, starches, gums and cellulose
  Cellulose
  Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
  
  s. Most of the carbohydrates that are incorporated into aquatic diets are of plant origin and are sources of the enzyme amylase
  Amylase
  Amylase is an enzyme that catalyses the breakdown of starch into sugars. Amylase is present in human saliva, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Food that contains much starch but little sugar, such as rice and potato, taste slightly sweet as they are chewed because amylase turns...
  
  . Carbohydrates, however, are not a superior energy source for fish over protein or fat but digestible carbohydrates do spare protein for tissue building. Unlike in mammals, glycogen
  Glycogen
  Glycogen is a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in adipose tissue...
  
   is not a significant storage depot of energy in fish.

Sources of fish food

• Fish meal
  Fish meal
  Fish meal, or fishmeal, is a commercial product made from both whole fish and the bones and offal from processed fish. It is a brown powder or cake obtained by rendering pressing the cooked whole fish or fish trimmings to remove most of the fish oil and water, and then ground...
  
   (protein source) have two basic types: (a) those produced from fishery wastes associated with the processing of fish for human consumption (such as salmon and tuna) and (b) those from specific fish (herring, menhaden and pollack) which are harvested solely for the purpose of producing fish meal.

• Shrimp meal is made from 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-dried or by using a dryer) and then ground. Shrimp meal is a source of pigments that enhances the desirable color in the tissues of fish. It is also a secondary supplemental protein source for fish.

• Squid meal is made from squid viscera portions from cannery plants including the eggs and testis. Squid Meal is a highly digestible protein source for fish which provides a full range of amino acids, vitamins, minerals and cholesterol (1.0–1.5%) of cholesterol suitable for fish fry and young fish.

• Brine shrimp
  Brine shrimp
  Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...
  
   (adult Artemia) is a common food source for fish that are available in adult-form, as eggs or freeze-dried. Brine shrimp is a source of protein, carotene (a color enhancer) and acts as a natural laxative in fish digestive systems. Brine shrimps can also supply the fish with vegetable matter due to their consumption of algae.

• Soybean meal
  Soybean meal
  Soybean meal also known as Soyabean Oil Cake is a flour made by grinding the solid residue of soybean oil production. It is widely used as a filler and source of protein in animal diets, including pig, chicken, cattle, horse, sheep, and fish feed....
  
   is a high protein source for fish and has become a substitute for traditionally-used marine animal meals.

• Spirulina
  Spirulina
  Spirulina may refer to:* Spirulina , a health-food supplement* Spirulina , a cyanobacterium group* Ochthephila spirulina, species of gastropod in the Hygromiidae family...
  
   is a blue-green plant plankton rich in raw protein, vitamins A, B₁, B₂, B₆, B₁₂, C and E, beta-carotene, color enhancing pigments, a whole range of minerals, essential fatty acids and eight amino acids required for complete nutrition.

• Whole wheat (carbohydrates) is not the best source of energy in fish but is an excellent source of roughage for fish such as Goldfish and Koi
  Koi
  or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....
  
  . It is also a natural source of vitamin E which promotes growth and enhances coloration.

Manufacturers

• Hagen
  Rolf C. Hagen Group
  Hagen Inc. is a pet supplies company founded in 1955 by Rolf C. Hagen with the help of his brothers, Dieter and Horst. Dieter and Horst Hagen joined the company later after immigrating from Germany becoming key members of the firm.-History:Rolf C...
  
  
• Hikari
• Tetra
  Tetra Company
  Tetra or the Tetra Werke is a world leading fish food manufacturing company founded by a young German scientist, Dr. Ulrich Baensch.-History and profile:...
  
  
• Wardley
  Wardley (company)
  Wardley is one of the largest domestically manufactured line of aquatic fish foods and remedies in the United States.-Profile and history:It was primarily established as a distributor of various aquarium and pet products in 1950 and has grown into a predominant brand of aquatics products within The...
  
  

See also

• Aquarium
  Aquarium
  An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
  
  
• Aquarium fish feeder
  Aquarium fish feeder
  Aquarium fish feeders are electric or electronic devices that are designed to feed aquarium fish at regular intervals. They are often used to feed fish when the aquarist is on vacation or is too busy to maintain a regular feeding schedule.-Design:...
  
  
• Commercial fish feed
  Commercial fish feed
  Manufactured feeds are an important part of modern commercial aquaculture, providing the balanced nutrition needed by farmed fish. The feeds, in the form of granules or pellets, provide the nutrition in a stable and concentrated form, enabling the fish to feed efficiently and grow to their full...
  
  
• Pond
  Pond
  A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
  
  
• Pet food
  Pet food
  Pet food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food...
  
  

Other sources

• "An Interpet Guide to Fancy Goldfish" by Dr. Chris Andrews – ISBN 1-902389-64-6