Keeping feeder fish

[hybridtheoryd16]

hybrid, your ok with feeding goldfish/comets/minnows/carp?
even for a pred-lover like you, id think you would know better .

those species have growth-inhibiting chemicals and can be compared to a BigMac in relation to health, even without parasites!

id think you would be the guy to suggest convicts/tetras/guppies/tilapia and such. say it isn't so!

I agree,
my feeder regimen is quite rediculous. I have golds,fatheads,rosy's all mixed in the 55g. And then I have a 10g convict and a divided 30g convict breeders and a 5g and a 10g con grow out.

So I feed convicts a couple days a weeks and a mix of golds,fatheads,rosy's the other days. 4days carp mix and 2 days cichlids and then no food on sunday.

All feeders are fed a good mixed tropical flake daily. And pretreated for fungus and parasites.

Plus I don't know if I beleive all the hype about gold fish.

 

[krichardson]

The growth inhibiting chemicals is a new one for me.

 

[mos90]

i just picked up a 50 gal setup for my feeder tank. right now i feed guppies to my payara. i will use media and water from my 135. shouldnt have to cycle at all. but if you do have to cycle you can do fishless, if done properly should only take 2 weeks. my 135 was completely cycled in 13 days. all i did was add some filter media from my 20gal and some bacteria additive, was secham brand i think. worked perfect.

im going to add another payara some the need for a feeder tank is high i think.

u could use a uv sterizer on a quarentine tank to help with parasites.

 

[Retuks]

well im not worried about parasites and fungus at all when it comes to responsible live feedings. its just the carp species itself and also includes minnows and goldfish species.

look into the chemicals and such that inhibit growth. ive been told by many sources about it so i take the cautious way and feed other species of fish. not to mention goldfish are mostly made of fat nomatter what you feed it, its just what their bodies produce. kinda like how turkey has a sleep chemical that causes lethargy? actually nothing like it, but hard to find a relation for it.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

i do a 50% wc every time i put new feeders in my QT tank. it is a 5.5g with a 60g filter. cant remember the type and too lazy to go look. i lose usually no more than 3 if i do the WC. if i dont do it then i lose 50%.

and last but not least, i keep 4 dozen med feeders at a time. its alot of fish.

 

[tcarswell]

i do a 50% wc every time i put new feeders in my QT tank. it is a 5.5g with a 60g filter. cant remember the type and too lazy to go look. i lose usually no more than 3 if i do the WC. if i dont do it then i lose 50%.

and last but not least, i keep 4 dozen med feeders at a time. its alot of fish.

lol ever consider the big upgrade to a ten gallon ? you could probably buy two 10 gallons for the cost of your filter alone.

 

[coeus]

thiasimine, b1 inhibitor not growth inhibitor


^ i think i spelled that wrong

 

[loki132]

Rosy red minnows and goldfish are not good feeder fish because they contain Thiaminase. It is an enzyme that breaks down Thiamine(vitamin B1). Over time, the buildup of thiaminase in the fish from consuming these feeders will render the fish thiamine deficient.

Also, another alternative is to breed your own feeders. Guppies do not contain thiaminase and can breed readily in almost any aquarium set up. Even in your situation where you are feeding them to other fish theyre rate of reproduction often can exceed the rate of predation. An example of this is when my friend introduced 5 feeder guppies into a moderately planted turtle enclosure. The guppies reproduced so quickly that he found himself having to actually remove guppies and their fry every week to keep the population in check.

Taken from http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/Thiaminase.htm
Fish Reported to contain Thiaminase:
White Bass – Morone chrysops
Bowfin – Amia calva
Bream – Abramis brama (Not the U.S. fish; see this link).
Buffalofish – Ictiobus cyprinellus
Bullhead catfish – Ameiurus m. melas
Carp – Cyprinus carpio
Channel Catfish – Ictaluruspunctatus
Fathead minnow – Pimephales promelas (the red rosy is a color morph of this fish!)
Garfish (Garpike)
Goldfish – Carassius auratus
Moray Eel – Gymnothorax ocellatus (since someone recently asked about keeping the brackish water species with turtles…)
Gizzard Shad – Dorosoma cepedianum
Spottail Shiner – Notropis hudsonius
Buckeye shiner – Notropis atherinoides
Central Stoneroller – Campostoma anomalum pullum
Common White Sucker – Catostomus commersoni
Lake Whitefish – Coregonus clupeiformis

b. Fish Reported to not contain Thiaminase:
Largemouth Bass – Huro salmoides (I think that’s actually now Micropterus salmoides)
Rock Bass – Ambloplites rupestris
Smallmouth Bass – Micropterus dolomieu
Bluegill – Lepomis macrochirus
Chub (Bloater) – Coregonus hoyi
Cod – Gadus morhua
Crappie – Pomoxis nigromaculatus
Eel – Anguilla rostrata
Northern Longnose Gar – Lepisosteus osseus oxyurus
Northern Pike – Esox lucius
Pumpkinseed – Lepomis gibbosus
Salmon – Salmo salar
Brown Trout – Salmo trutta fario
Lake Trout – Salvelinus namaycush
Rainbow Trout – Salmo gairdnerii irideus

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

lol ever consider the big upgrade to a ten gallon ? you could probably buy two 10 gallons for the cost of your filter alone.

i know. all my 10s are in use. and i got the filter for free so why not? lol

well im not worried about parasites and fungus at all when it comes to responsible live feedings. its just the carp species itself and also includes minnows and goldfish species.

look into the chemicals and such that inhibit growth. ive been told by many sources about it so i take the cautious way and feed other species of fish. not to mention goldfish are mostly made of fat nomatter what you feed it, its just what their bodies produce. kinda like how turkey has a sleep chemical that causes lethargy? actually nothing like it, but hard to find a relation for it.

inhibit growth? right.....
my first gar went from 1.5" to 16" in about 10 months. its a florida. normall growth season on them is 12" to 14". his diet? feeders!! rosys,goldys,minnows,and guppies. now days its more varieted but back then it wasnt.