Feeder Fishes for Marine Fishes

[rmckn5]

may i ask why no Goldfish? i am a college student working with cuttlefish and we are having trouble feeding them, we were told live mysis shrimp, but where we live is so "out there" we can not get any for weeks, so we need a source of live food for a short time. I told my professor that mollies and guppies would be a better food source, but i cant tell him why. Could you explain to me this so that i may explain that to him because the cuttlefish are quite expensive. I have had lionfish before and i breed and fed them mollies until i sold him back (too big). I was planning on doing the same thing with these guys. I know for a fact that they eat fish (saw one eat the damsels lol).
thank you
Riley

 

[leebca]

Riley,

Moved your post into its own thread since the subject comes up now and then and it will help those searching for info on the subject if it is in a separate thread.

Freshwater fishes and Saltwater fishes depend upon different fats. That is the answer. To further explain:

Saltwater fish depend upon HUFA (Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids), which are a group of fats. Sometimes they are called, Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

You may be too young to know that in the early 1900's parents made their children eat cod liver oil to 'keep them healthy.' This oil is made up of those kinds of fats and high in (some) vitamins. Today people are told to each wild Salmon for those same benefits. Anyway. . .

Freshwater fish don't have these fats, they have the 'other fats' associated with land animals.

When a saltwater fish is fed on a diet of freshwater fishes it is 1) getting the wrong fats and; 2) not getting the fats it needs to live.

With regards to 1), getting the wrong fats causes internal fatty deposits in the fish. Many 'suddenly dead' Lionfish I have performed necropsy upon shows these fat deposits reach a point where the fish dies. These Lionfishes were fed freshwater feeder fishes, like guppies or goldfish.

With regards to 2), the fish doesn't get the proper nutrients and this stressor combined with 1) does the fish in.

Freshwater fishes that can be acclimated to saltwater environment, like mollies, monos, etc. have the ability to utilize the saltwater fats. But they themselves are low in those fats. So marine fishes that are fed these fishes may not die from 1) but still suffer from 2). That is to say, I don't recommend these fishes be fed to marine predators on a regular basis. But they are better than straight feeder fishes.

What ornamental marine predatory fishes should be fed is feeder marine fishes. That is their natural diet and if the hobbyist isn't prepared to provide this, then the hobbyist must train the fish to eat prepared foods that are properly balanced OR not try to keep these kinds of fishes.

 

[luke33]

What about live shrimp Lee?

Good info btw : )

 

[DonW]

Shrimp are are on the lower end of the scale. Salmon is high in omega 3 but even higher is plain old trout while rainbows are low. Its pretty hit and miss. I've never seen the number for gold fish or mollies.

Don

 

[Chichas01]

may i ask why no Goldfish? i am a college student working with cuttlefish and we are having trouble feeding them, we were told live mysis shrimp, but where we live is so "out there" we can not get any for weeks, so we need a source of live food for a short time. I told my professor that mollies and guppies would be a better food source, but i cant tell him why. Could you explain to me this so that i may explain that to him because the cuttlefish are quite expensive. I have had lionfish before and i breed and fed them mollies until i sold him back (too big). I was planning on doing the same thing with these guys. I know for a fact that they eat fish (saw one eat the damsels lol).
thank you
Riley

Not sure if you have seen this, but this guy has a really cool Cuttlefish setup and has been breeding/raising them for a while:
http://thetentacleparadox.com/CuttleFarmArmy-TheFarmOld.htm

 

[WPH]

would you like to try some SW guppies....every time Im in the saltwater ponds catching live shrimp tons of saltwater guppies get stuck in my net and rather then sort them out by the pond in the dark I put everything in buckets and take it home to sort out the little crabs,guppies,and shrimp then I stop back @ the pond on my way to my night job and release whatever is not the live shrimp I sell.....you can have them for free all you have to do is pay for the shipping material and fed ex shipping...I get a really big discount with fed ex because I use them exclusively and meet their volume requirements so to ship a box full of guppies will cost less than $20 total...Im thinking these little Saltwater guppies will do the trick for your cuttlefish....Ive seen alot of jellyfish in the pond and even caught a squid there once....but Im not sure if their related...good luck with your school project...aloha Les

 

[leebca]

Some predatory fish, like Lionfishes, do eat a considerable number of crustaceans. Triggerfishes hunt them on the ocean floor. Saltwater shrimp are very nutritious for marine fishes, luke33.

Our marine fishes are on a strict seafood diet.