What food to feed my first fish?

[Nickman]

Well 7 months after entering the salt water world I've gotten my first fish. It's a purple firefish. Now what do I feed it?

I've got the following:

TetraColor Tropical Flakes (Use for my fresh water fish)
Aquarian Bottom Feeder Sinking Shrimp Pellets (Use for my fresh water fish)
Hikari Sinking Canivore Pellets (Given to me with my 12G NC)
Tetra MicroCrabs Cyclopeeze Granules (Given to me with my 12G NC)
TetraColor Marine Flakes (Given to me with my 12G NC)

Any of these or all of these work for food? I've thrown some of the Cyclopleeze granules in one day and broken bits of the Hikari on a different day and the firefish seems to snatch them as they float by. Is that good enough?

 

[IPisces]

Here's a start
As stated on
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+168&pcatid=168

"Along with algae and zooplankton growing in the aquarium, the diet of the Firefish Goby should consist of finely chopped small crustaceans, vitamin-enriched brine fish (live or frozen), mysis shrimp, and prepared foods."

 

[Chichas01]

If you want to use pellets, I recommend the New life Spectrum pellets, .5mm sinking pellet. My firefish loves 'em and they have a pretty good reputation in the industry. Othere that, frozen cyclops and mysis seem to work well also. I'd skip the flakes as I've heard they are high in phosphats and nitrates or at least contribute to them.

 

[akunochi]

I highly recommend making your own food....it is the healthiest and most cost effective fod you can use!

 

[mcoomer]

I've never had firefish so I can't give specific advice but generally speaking, try a variety of products, find out what it will and won't eat, and then feed those items. Don't settle on one product. Provide a variety of items so that you don't leave gaps in the animals nutritional requirements.

Mike

 

[Nickman]

When people talk about using "finely chopped small crustaceans" or making your own food what does that mean exactly?

I have visions of me buying one raw oyster, one raw shrimp, and a piece of raw fish and putting them in a blender. Seems messy, stinky, and something my wife is going to frown upon.

 

[akunochi]

Get a bag of frozen ea food from an asian market. Add some other nutrient rich foods like cyclopeze spirulina etc. Buy a dedicated food processor (about 20$ @ WALMART) and blend away. Not really that stinky. There is a good recipe on melevs reef.

 

[Chichas01]

When people talk about using "finely chopped small crustaceans" or making your own food what does that mean exactly?

I have visions of me buying one raw oyster, one raw shrimp, and a piece of raw fish and putting them in a blender. Seems messy, stinky, and something my wife is going to frown upon.

Yep, that is essentially it. Works very well. I did this using a number of frozen fish foods (mysis, krill, Form I, Form II, cyclops) mixed in my food processor. And yeah, my wife can't stand the thought of it so do it when she isn't around

 

[returnofsid]

None of the foods you currently have are really appropriate.

In our Marine Fish Discussion forum, Lee Birch has given some GREAT feeding recommendations. Read through several of his STICKIES on feeding fish. http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Some great retail foods include:
Formula 1 (carnivore)
Formula 2 (herbivore)
Rods Food
Frozen Mysid shrimp
Frozen Cyclopeeze
etc. The list goes on and on.....

 

[Nickman]

Well I bought a pack of Hikari Mysis Shrimp Cubes from the Barrier Reef Midnight Madness Sale. While I was at it I bought another pack and a Green Banded Goby for my pico tank at work.

Soiunds like that should be good enough from the responses.

I'm guessing I'm supposed to use a razor blade or something to only feed a fraction of the cube. Shooting for 1/4 cube for firefish and whatever small sliver I can slice for the goby.

 

[TheNobleSavage]

For Flakes, In my Nano tank, for my corals to include softies and SPS, I make a concoction of Frozen Brine/w Spirilina, Mysis Shrimp (Shred them up to small bits) Chip of Rods Food, Splash of Arctipods and Oyster juice from Reef Nutrition. Looks like I make a salad since I cannot use full cubes due to pollution. I shut off my power heads and Then I Spot feed my Sun Coral, Open Brain Coral and my Alphapora and my Acros. Then after about 15 minutes or so, I hit the power heads and the food goes whereever it needs to go.

I only have 2 clowns and they prefer flakes to anything else. So once the tank clears up, I feed them Formula 1 flakes. They go nuts over it!!!