There
are 11.5 million American households that own at least one freshwater fish. This makes fish the
most popular type of household pet other than dogs and cats.
Whether it’s a goldfish or a guppy, your fish will always rely on proper nutrition for a healthy and happy life. To make sure your pet is properly looked after, you should consider giving them live food.
Read
on to learn about the seven most important benefits of live food for fish.
1. You Can Raise The Food Yourself
Many
fish owners choose to raise their own live food. There are a few different ways
you can do this. Daphnia, for example, is easy to grow in an aquarium.
If
you don’t want to grow your own live food, there are plenty of different buying
options, such as copepods for sale.
2. More Protein
Because
of the processing that flaked foods undergo, they lose a lot of their nutrients
by the time they get to your fish. With live food, on the other hand, your pets
will be enjoying the sustenance of fresh food.
Protein
is one of the most important nutrients for any living thing, and one which
processed foods tend to be short on. A fish needs protein primarily for growth;
unless you ensure your fish have enough of it, they won’t reach their size
potential.
3. More Vitamins
Another
nutritional area in which processed food is lacking in vitamins. Vitamins are
vital for various aspects of fish health, particularly immunity
from disease.
4. Gut-Loading
If
you grow your own live food, you can gut-load it to ensure that your fish get
the best possible nutrition. Gut-loading is the process of feeding
high-nutrient food to your live food so that this nutrition passes along to
your fish.
You
can even choose the nutrients you want your fish to have more of. For a
vitamin-deficient pet, for example, you could gut-load with vitamins.
5. You Can Freeze It
Many
types of live food can be frozen. If you have too much live food on hand at a
given time, there’s no need for it to go to waste.
You
can also buy frozen live food from pet food stores. Brine shrimp, for example,
are highly nutritious and freeze well.
6. Tank Hygiene
Processed
foods can often break down in your tank, leaving residue and reducing the
quality of the water. Live food does not cause this problem, and may actually
improve the quality of your water.
7. Better Value
One
of the main criticisms of live fish food is its price. However, these critics
fail to look at the value that live food offers.
Unless
you feed your fish live food, they won’t reach their potential in terms of
size, health, or quality of life. Also, if the price is an issue, you can grow
your own live feed to reduce costs over time.
Live Food Makes Happier Fish
As
you can see, there are many good reasons to consider feeding your fish live
food. They’ll be happier and healthier, and you could even save money!
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