How to improve my fishes diet

[Brieninsac]

My tank is fairly new and undeveloped. I have two clowns, a firefish and Royal Gramma. I'm currently feeding them twice a day either frozen Mysis or Brine shrimp with an occasional meal of NLS Thera-A.

I understand a variety of food is good for their health. Based on what I'm feeding them what additional food source should I add?

Also, I haven't started a vitamin regimen. What would be a good way to start adding vitamins to the tank/food?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

You're doing fine with what you have. I feed more of the NLS pellets than I do frozen mysis. The frozen brine isn't very nutritious so kind of like giving them potato chips instead of a good meal. Adding vitamins is fine I wouldn't over do it though. Most of the foods you're feeding are pretty well balanced. You could also get one of the many frozen blends, several out there. I buy one that's made here in Iowa from a guy that's a Fish biologist. Just check your LFS or you can check online. Rods is one LRS is another.

 

[Moeshi]

Many planktivores (such as clowns) can benefit a great deal from algae-based foods, since it's a large part of their natural diet. You might want to take a look a pellets like Formula Two from Ocean Nutrition, if you are trying to optimize their diet. This will also serve as a vitamin source.
As Dkuhlmann mentioned, brine shrimp aren't good meals for marine fish, if you compare them to krill or mysis which are much more nutritional dense.

Personally I feed a mix of lobster eggs, finely chopped mussles, finely chopped squid, small krill, mysis shrimp, red plankton, green phytoplanktion, cyclops, spirulina pellets and nori flakes.

I mix a big cup at the start of every week and keep it one degree above freezing in a cooler. This is definitely not necessary, but I prefer to feed all tank inhabitants at the same time, whilst giving them the most to choose from. It works fantastic for me.

As a general rule of thumb you'd want to stay clear of any terrestrial-based flake or pellet foods. These contain things like beef or soy. Other than that you can read on the back if the protein source is fish, shrimp or squid-based and from here experiment with new products.
You can absolutely get by with just one or two different types of foods, but mixing it up never hurts. Aim for products with above 50% protein on the label. This is generally a sign of minimal amounts of ash and starch etc.

 

[Brieninsac]

Good info, thanks! I didn't know brine was not as nutritious as mysis. Why do they both have roughly 4% protein then? I'll check out the Formula Two.

 

[Moeshi]

Good info, thanks! I didn't know brine was not as nutritious as mysis. Why do they both have roughly 4% protein then? I'll check out the Formula Two.

Brine lack the fatty acids, oils and vitamins associated with mysis. The "50% rule" only works on processed foods. In frozen food 90% will always be water.

 

[CStrickland]

Another great treat is fresh clams.
You just buy a couple clams from the supermarket, open them up with a knife, throw away the top shell, and freeze the bottom one with the meat in it. Then at feeding time just use a small knife to shave some flesh into the tank.
Fish go crazy for the clams, and I think the clams gut are very nutritious cause they are full of plankton and stuff that the clam started to digest.

I feed my tank a mixture of frozen seafood that I chop in the blender and then freeze in cubes.