Subject: RE: [RML] Food
From: Julie Zeppieri (bowluvr at hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Dec 16 2004 - 11:32:31 CST
Hi Liz,
Welcome to the list. :-)
I feed my Bows anything they will eat. Big bows (eg: M. trifasciata, M.
herbertaxelrodi, etc.) seem to like duckweed and other greens more than many
smaller ones so I use them to keep this weed under control. Mutual benefit.
:-) Little bows (M. praecox, I. werneri) seem to prefer a slightly meatier
diet. The main part of all of my rainbows' diets is a good quality flake. I
supplement with live, fresh, and frozen foods of all sorts as I get them...
and when I am so inclined. I also fast them a day or so here and there --
they probably get fed about 5 or 6 times/week on average as adults. Babies
get fed daily.
I think rainbows get a wide variety of foodstuffs in the wild, both from
what they eat on purpose (their prey and anything they intentionally browse
on) and what they dont (eg: the gut contents of any prey, stuff they ingest
in the act of grabbing the prey such as a bit of algae that the prey was
hiding in, etc.). Therefore, I use a "shotgun" approach to feeding them. A
good flake will have a multitude of ingredients, and I even like to switch
around between the quality brands so as to maximize this. Different brands
use different stuff.
I think that as important as diet is, proper housing is even *more*
important to Rainbowfish longevity. Most species do not like to be too warm,
so don't go housing them with discus or anything like that. ;-) Mid 70's F
is fine for most, but a few species do like it a bit warmer or cooler. Also,
pay attention to where the species comes from as far as water chemistry
goes. Most New Guinea species do not enjoy low pH or hardness, whereas many
Australian species will tolerate a wider range. *Most importantly, do
regular, frequent partial water changes.* Rainbowfish suffer from poor water
quality much more than from the diet we tend to feed (since we tend to feed
flake and most flake is adequate).
IMHO, it is far easier to hurt rainbows with poor water quality than poor
diet. Most commercial flakes on the market are good enough to do the job, if
only *just* good enough with some brands. You can seriously hurt them REAL
quick with bad aquarium husbandry practices tho. Focus on that and the diet
will be secondary. :-) Focus on that and your fish should live long lives.
I have a male Boeseman's rainbow that is over 10 years old and has survived
many moves with me. I got him as about a 1 year old fish from a friend in
Minnesota and brought him to Arizona. I now live in Oregon and have switched
residences with him several times since coming here. He has even been in
different types of aquarium situations, from an African cichlid tank (he is
a real butthead) to breeding set ups when he was young, to his current home
in a 100 gallon "hyper" community. His main diet has always been flake or
small pellets, but I make sure to keep the water in good shape and I don't
feed too heavily. It has been more his care than his diet that has done him
well I think, since his diet is unspectacular. ;-) I also have several
other bows that are at least 6 years old that I raised from eggs. They are
all healthy and look great. These are all larger species tho. I don't think
most of the smaller bows will live quite as long. The main thing is that I
keep them in a good environment. I really don't worry much about thier
diets. A proper environment goes the farthest to long life than anything
else I think. :-)
Julie <><
>From: "Liz Wilhite" <liz_wilhite at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [RML] Food
>Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 21:55:45 -0800
>
>Hi All,
>
>I'm new to the list and new to Rainbows. My name is Liz and I'm in the US.
>My tank is still cycling, and I have been doing a bit of research on
>Rainbows while getting ready to house them.
>
>I've read just about everything I can find online and from ANGFA. There is
>one topic about which I've found conflicting information: food. I have
>read statements that Rainbows are healthiest and live longest when fed a
>high veggie/low fat/low protein diet. I have also read several recipes for
>frozen foods that are high protein/low fat/low veggie. I'd like to know
>what you feed your fish and what you would consider an optimum diet.
>
>Thanks,
>Liz
>
>
: Tue Jan 04 2005 - 17:49:02 CST