Why do so many fish get sick?

[Paul B]

So many posts are about fish dying and this is a shame. Most of the fish we keep should live at least ten years and many 15 or 20 years with the exception of small gobies, pipefish and seahorses as their life span is only a few years. Fish should also almost "never" get sick with anything. No spots, discolorations, fin rot, losing appetite, the heartbreak of psoriasis etc. I feel it is all about food. No, not water parameters, salinity, hair algae, cyano or Lady GaGa, although Rap music may cause some problems. :hmm2: Food is the secret and flake food and pellets are not helping your fish even if they love the stuff. I love peanut M&Ms but I don't eat them every day. Fishes health depends on their immune system and their immune system will hardly function without the proper food. I wrote many articles on that so I don't want to do it again but virtually all of my paired fish are spawning and they spawn all the time. That, and only that is the sign of healthy fish as healthy fish spawn continuously all of their adult lives. Almost all fish will live much better and have few if any health problems if they are fed whole foods such as clams or worms. No, freeze dried do not count at all. Some commercially available frozen foods are very good but look for whole foods on the label such as clams or fish eggs. Trout pellets, fish fillets, squid, octopus tentacles and cocktail shrimp are not real good foods so you can send the shrimp to me.
Oysters, clams and mussels are excellent foods. But then live or frozen, not canned. Freeze them and shave off thin slices. Live blackworms which I have been using for fifty years are excellent and all of my fish get some every day even my 24 year olds and they are still spawning. I realize many people live in Siberia, Tunesia or Utah and have a problem with these foods all I can say is, move. I am sure they ship clams to Utah but I don't remember the last time I was there what I ate. Live blackworms can be ordered on line. Live earthworms are also an excellent food. Hold the worm up to a faucet (preferably while your wife is out) and gently squeeze the thing down to the tail. The head is the end where the eyelashes are. Cut them up or use them whole for larger fish. Anemones and crustaceans also love them (as do Platypusses) You can also cut them up and freeze them. If you don't want to wash them, just put them in some clean soil for a week to flush them out and don't take them from a place that weed killer , bug killer or fertilizer has been used. They are a great food and free. Free is good but many people don't think a food is good just because it is free. If you feed nothing but whole foods to your fish, they will get so healthy that they will start demanding things from you like the TV remote. If you quarantine, that is up to you. I personally don't have to but I don't want to get into that because of the hate mail I will get demanding that I stick myself in the eye with a bristleworm and leave town.
For more "difficult" fish such as mandarins, pipefish, shrimpfish, manta rays etc, a target feeder is almost a necessity. Those fish will live without one, but not really thrive for many years and also spawn. I am not sure about the manta ray.
Pregnant ruby red dragonette.

Pregnant blue stripe pipefish

 

[saltkreep88]

Paul, what do you think about frozen mysis shrimp? I feed the omega one brand, because this is the only brand that when thawed is a complete (whole) shrimp.

 

[Paul B]

I also supplement my clams and worms with frozen Mysis but I wouldn't use them exclusively. Mysis are good as they are a whole food but they have a small problem. Their shell is not made of calcium and is not digestible so it is wasted. Much of those frozen Mysis is shell so I only use them in conjunction with the other things. But they are not that bad IMO.

 

[saltkreep88]

I also supplement my clams and worms with frozen Mysis but I wouldn't use them exclusively. Mysis are good as they are a whole food but they have a small problem. Their shell is not made of calcium and is not digestible so it is wasted. Much of those frozen Mysis is shell so I only use them in conjunction with the other things. But they are not that bad IMO.

What is your opinion on frozen whole krill? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

 

[Paul B]

Saltkreep88, whole krill I would think is an excellent food for fish that could eat them as they are quite big. Krill are like 1 1/2" or so. I think those small shrimp sold as krill would also be good but remember, the smaller the creature, the more of it's mass will be shell and not a real help to the animal. I think they would be suitable but I would not use that as a staple food every day. I believe most fish should get preferably a few live worms and maybe some shellfish like clam, mussel or oyster every day. I did not mention scallop because those are not a good food unless you can buy the entire scallop in the shell and I have never seen them for sale in the US. When we eat scallops, we are just eating the muscle that closes their shell. The guts of that animal are not sold. Squid and octopus are also all muscle and not the guts where the nutrition is. You can feed anything if that is all you have but I am talking about a staple food for every day. Once in a while give them M&Ms or ice cream but most of the time they need what they eat in the sea. This is what almost all fish in the sea eat. See those tiny fish fry to the left of that sleepy nurse shark? That is what fish eat, whole, live small fish. They are hard to come by so I am recommending the next best thing. Some packaged frozen foods are great but look for whole animals like what I mentioned. Fish eggs are also great as a whole food. We need to stop thinking of fish like us. We eat fish fillets, cocktail shrimp, scallops and squid. But we are not fish and most of us don't even look like fish. When a great white shark eats a surfer, did you ever see it spit out the bones, or even the surfboard? They swallow everything because they need the bones for calcium and the liver for vitamin A. I am not sure what they need the Styrofoam for but they seem to love surfboards.

 

[reef boy]

Thanks for sharing, I always enjoy reading your posts and gaining as much knowledge as I do when I read them.

 

[mrehfeld]

Paul any thoughts on bunker(Menhaden) innards as a food or supplement?

 

[Hockeynut]

Paul I have to agree 100% I feed my fish home made food every day a mixture of mostly clams, but some mysis, mussels, whole squid, fish row whatever kind I catch, and anything else I can get fresh grind up and wella great food and they love it. My chromis was spawning yesterday and my flame angel was right behind her having a healthy snack lol. My clowns also spawn regularly they are my only pairs but in sure if I had more they would be spawning.
Why buy pre made food when it is so much cheaper and much better for your fish to make it yourself.

 

[Paul B]

Bunker are awfully greasy and I think that would make quite a mess. I think they would be better food for seals and whales as they could eat the entire fish at once. If you could collect new borm menhaden, that would be great but for some reason I never saw tiny ones. Maybe this year I will trool for some with a plankton net.
Hockeynut, that is good news and what fish are supposed to do on that type of food. People buy commercial food just because it is easier but certainly not cheaper.