A diet consisting of live food for aquarium fish used to be an almost non-alternative option, but now a large number of artificial feeds have appeared that can successfully replace live fish. And yet this kind of feeding still has their fans.
How to feed fish with live food?
Live food is usually small worms and insects, their larvae or eggs, which fish like to eat in the wild. They are also suitable for feeding aquarium inhabitants, since they contain a large number of vitamins and microelements necessary for the proper functioning of the fish organism. The most common type of live food are: Daphnia, Artemia, Cyclops, Bloodworm and Tuber. Some of them are caught in wild water in the natural environment. It is also possible to breed live food for aquarium fish at special enterprises.
If you decide to feed your aquatic life with live food, you should take into account several points: firstly, because of the high nutritional status, such foods can lead to overeating in fish and even cause their death. This is especially true for feeding bloodworms, so it should be given strictly dosage. Secondly, if live food is used in its natural form (without drying or freezing), then the uneaten larvae may, in due course, degenerate into insects. That is, you need to give a dose of feed that fish can eat without a trace. Finally, live food obtained in natural conditions can cause dangerous diseases of fish . Therefore, it is better to purchase feed from proven vendors or one that is grown in an artificial environment.
How to store live food for aquarium fish
There are three main ways of storing live food: in-kind, in freezing or in the form of a dried mixture. The natural form usually involves storing in a container with a small amount of water, where the purchased food is placed (this way it is possible to save, in particular, the bloodworm and tubule). Such a bank is placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator and can be stored for several days without freezing. In kind, the feed retains its maximum of useful properties, however, long-term feed content in this form is impossible.
Frozen live food can be preserved without damage to half a year. In this case, they usually retain most of the nutrient components. However, there is a need to allocate space in the freezer to store such food.
Drying is the most lasting way. He is usually exposed to daphnia, artemia and cyclops. Drying can be done by yourself using the oven or buying ready-made dry food. Such living mixtures can be stored from half a year to a year and a half, but a disadvantage of this method is depletion of the nutrient composition, since they are lost during processing.