Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Feeding Concerns
   1. Nutritional Concerns
   2. Determine the natural diet
   3. Determine the feeding habits
   4. How often to feed
   5. How much to feed
   6. Getting a fish to eat
   7. Freshwater concerns
   8. Saltwater concerns
   9. Care during absence

     Most vertebrates in the wild, and also man, typically assimilate about 10% of consumed food into flesh. Domestic animals and birds can assimilate up to 35%. But fish can go as high as 50%. Because of this, fish have very high protein requirements. And the higher the water temperature, the higher the protein requirement. Saltwater fish need more protein than freshwater fish, and younger fish more than older fish. But all fish do need plenty. It is therefor important to only supply foods with at least 45%-50% protein.
     Carbohydrates and fats are needed, also. Most fish cannot digest animal fat well and some cannot at all. Polyunsaturated fats, like fish oil, can be digested and should be the main fats supplied.
     B complex vitamins are needed for fat assimilation. Thiamine is needed to assimilate carbohydrates. And pyridoxine is needed for protein intake. Some fish cannot make vitamin C as can most animals, so supply it just in case. Vitamin C is used for growth and injury recovery.
     Magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus has been shown to be required in some fish where iodine deficiency and thyroid disfunction is a problem. It's a good idea to supply them just in case.
     When supplying food, the above requirements should be carefully considered.

Determine the natural diet

     As was stated above, fish are a very diverse animal group. Some are strict carnivores (meat eaters), some are strict herbivores (plant eaters), and others are omnivores (both animal and plant eaters). It is therefor very important to research your fish to determine it's natural diet. Peacock cichlids are strict fish eaters, so feeding them algae pellets is futile. Plecostomus eat almost exclusively algae, so baby gubbies will go unnoticed. What a fish eats in it's natural state is probably the most important consideration when determining what to feed it in captivity.

Determine the feeding habits

     Not as important as natural diet, but still something to consider, is the feeding habits of your fish. Questions one should ask are; where do the fish get it's food ?(at the top of the aquarium? At the bottom?), how active are the fish when feeding?, are the fish shy or bold? are they nocturnal?, are they territorial?
     Fish that swim almost exclusively at the top of the aquarium generally will not eat food that have sunk to the lower regions of the aquarium. A food that floats should be provided for them. Hatchet fish are a good example of a top feeder. Fortunetly, most fish usually swim in all regions of the aquarium, so the buoyancy of the food is not as important. Most catfish and loaches feed on the bottom, so please allow for them when feeding. A good pellet food is good for them as they tend to sink rapidly.
     Some fish are very active swimmers thus, when feeding, they tend to get to the food first and consume rapidly. A good plan to feed the less active fish is to feed the active ones at one side of the aquarium and, while they are busy eating, feed the less active fish on the other side.
     Some fish are very shy and will retreat or hide when the owner approaches the aquarium. If you have this problem, approach slowly and, after the food is provided, retreat some distance and observe. If the other fish eat all the food before the shy ones can get to it, it might be a good idea to provide a separate aquarium for the shrinking violets.
     Nocturnal fish should be fed about 30 minutes after lights out. This time usually varies from hobbyist to hobbyist, but it's the rule I follow. An example of a nocturnal fish is the Kuhli loach.
     Territorial fish, such as the more aggressive cichlids, can pose a feeding problem. What I would suggest is to feed small amounts in cycles and to cycle through the sometimes apparent territories of each fish.
     As fish are indeed a diverse group, it is recommended to research your fish and find out it's every nuance. For me this is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby. With time you gain experience and usually can solve all feeding problems encountered.

How often to feed

     This section may get me some e-mail from many who disagree. But before we get to the disagreement, allow me to make a simple point. In the wild, animals are in a constant struggle to survive. The main struggle seems to be for food. Thus animals have developed keen senses and methods for getting food. Many times food is scarce so animals become more alert and active in their pursuit. It's because of this last point that I have developed my feeding schedule.
     Most hobbyists will tell you to feed two times a day, everyday. Some will even suggest three times a day, everyday. I suggest only once a day and every now and then to skip a day or two. This may seem cruel, but it's natural and, from my experience, keeps the fish alert and active. Of course there are exceptions, especially if you plan on breeding your fish. But for the most part I stick to this method and my fish are active, alert and healthy.

How much to feed

     This is where experience pays off. A good rule of thumb is to feed only enough for all the fish to consume in no more than 5 minutes. Of course, if you are new to the hobby, determining how much is 5 minutes worth is a little tricky. My suggestion is to start off with a small amount and gradually increase with each successive feeding until the right amount is reached. In this case it may be better to under feed than to over feed. Over feeding causes uneaten food to maybe spoil and contaminating the aquarium. Under feeding circumvents this and it is easy to determine, with gained experience, what fish need more food.

Getting a fish to eat

     With most aquarium fish available for sale getting them to eat is usually no problem. But some species, especially the saltwater species, have such specialized eating habits that they do not immediately take to eating in the aquarium. Other problems encountered are the fish bought may be a wild caught specimen and has not learned to take non-natural foods.
     The first step in dealing with problem eaters is to determine why. I have covered some things to consider about fish diet above. What a fish naturally eats and how it feeds are very important in solving the feeding problem.
     Due to space consideration, what I would like to offer here is for you to me your specific feeding problem and I will research it and reply with my findings. I may also include the specific problem here with the remedy.

Freshwater concerns

     Even though there are many concerns with feeding, like fouling the water or introducing unwanted critters or diseases, what we are concerned with here is a simple but often over looked concern dealing with feeding freshwater fish. A very popular food, and well deserving of it's popularity, is brine shrimp. I will be covering this gem of a fish food in part three of this series but one particular point needs addressing. Brine shrimp are raised and live in very salty water. As a consequence the packaging of store bought brine shrimp is high in salt. Home raised brine shrimp and frozen brine shrimp also are high in salt. The fish will quickly eat the shrimp but, if precautions are not taken, the salt remains in the water and, over a period of time, slowly raises the salinity of the water. A little salinity is not bad and in some cases can be beneficial, but after a while the salinity level can become dangerously high requiring a water change to remedy. One way to prevent this is to not feed fish brine shrimp. But this would be a shame considering the great benefit brine shrimp provide as a food. The best way to prevent this condition is to thoroughly rinse the brine shrimp under the tap with a fine meshed dip net or similiar material and then feeding it to the fish. It's that simple and well worth the extra effort.

Saltwater concerns

     Probably the best example for the need to research your fish is the diet requirements of saltwater fish. Many species of saltwater fish are so specialized in their diet that it would cause even the most seasoned hobbyist a headache. Saltwater aquariums present such a high overhead (price of fish, keeping water conditions perfect, etc.) that it would be devastating to have a prized fish wither away and die because the hobbyist didn't research the fish correctly. Research, ask those with similar fish, go to the library, anything! Saltwater fish can be so picky that they will starve themselves rather than eat what is presented. I could give a detailed report on each and every kind of saltwater fish, but from my research this pickyness not only differs from species to species but also from individual to individual. My experience with saltwater fish is very limited so any help would be great. Just me like before.

Care during absence

     What to do when away from home is always a problem. Substitute feeders usually over feed, so if you arrange for a friend to come in and feed the fish and is not an experienced hobbyist, prepare several packets of food with strict instructions of which packet to feed and when to feed.
     If you are only going to be gone for a short time (up to a week) it should be okay to just let the fish go hungry.

     This ends part one of this report. I am sorry for any mistakes and for how long it took to post this. Part two will cover prepared foods and I will have it posted in the near future. Again, if you have any questions and/or suggestions just me.