I believe the most important thing there is about keeping fish healthy is their diet. Second only to water conditions. I very rarely see people or for that matter stores, feed fish a healthy diet. Most people just feed either mysis, pellets, krill or some other commercially prepared foods. Those foods are of course fine but fish in the sea never see mysis, pellets flakes etc. We have at our disposal for practically free better foods that are more available and healthier for the fish. I myself also feed prepared frozen food because it is easy but it is not all I feed. If you want to get fish into breeding condition, which they rarely are in our tanks, you must feed them other things. IMO the best food for fish is shellfish and whole fish. The reason I think this is first of all they love it but besides that, when we feed shellfish like clams, mussels and oysters we feed the internal organs of these animals to our fish which is where most of the nutrition is. There is very little usable nutrition in a fish fillet although it is better than flakes but fillets is only fish muscle. In the sea fish eat the entire fish including bones, liver guts, everything, and they depend on this. Fish get almost all of their calcium from eating fish bones, they get most of their vitamin A from fish livers.
If you do much diving you would instantly see that fish in the sea almost always look better than fish in a tank. Stress has a lot to do with it as our fish are always stressed but I think diet also plays a role. In my own tank fish almost never die of anything except old age or an accident. I am working on the accidents but I think I have the food thing down pat. I also would never just put food in my tank, it is always fed with a rubber bulb with an acrylic tube on it. All of the food is eaten and I can target different fish different foods.
Shellfish are the easiest, cheapest thing to feed. Just buy a couple of clams, oysters etc, you can even buy them shelled. Freeze them and with a sharp knife, I use an Exacto knife, slice small portions off. By doing this, we are giving the fish the entire clam with all the internal organs. You can feed shellfish fresh but they are messy and hard to cut. They also do not last more than a couple of days.
If you don't see your fish exhibiting breeding behavior, they may not be as healthy as you think. Most fish (except schooling fish) should be cleaning a nesting spot, chasing other fish away or just looking great. Of course if you have a pair, most fish will breed. You may not be able to raise the fry but they should spawn or at least attempt to. Healthy fish are always spawning they almost never get sick and they should live for many years.
Have a great holiday.
Paul
If you do much diving you would instantly see that fish in the sea almost always look better than fish in a tank. Stress has a lot to do with it as our fish are always stressed but I think diet also plays a role. In my own tank fish almost never die of anything except old age or an accident. I am working on the accidents but I think I have the food thing down pat. I also would never just put food in my tank, it is always fed with a rubber bulb with an acrylic tube on it. All of the food is eaten and I can target different fish different foods.
Shellfish are the easiest, cheapest thing to feed. Just buy a couple of clams, oysters etc, you can even buy them shelled. Freeze them and with a sharp knife, I use an Exacto knife, slice small portions off. By doing this, we are giving the fish the entire clam with all the internal organs. You can feed shellfish fresh but they are messy and hard to cut. They also do not last more than a couple of days.
If you don't see your fish exhibiting breeding behavior, they may not be as healthy as you think. Most fish (except schooling fish) should be cleaning a nesting spot, chasing other fish away or just looking great. Of course if you have a pair, most fish will breed. You may not be able to raise the fry but they should spawn or at least attempt to. Healthy fish are always spawning they almost never get sick and they should live for many years.
Have a great holiday.
Paul
