Starting a "food tank"

[Fish_King_25]

I am not sure where this thread should be posted but hopefully you guys can help me out...i have three main questions i am trying to get some opinions on?

1. What is a good balanced diet for a SW community tank like mine?

2. What would it take to start a tank up for holding "live food." I don't know anything about feeding live fish but a friend will be going in on an eel tank with me and i am curious about starting a "food tank." i can get a 10g tank for 5.00 for the LFS

3. what would be a nutritional balanced diet for a Snowflake Moray Eel?

THANKS IN ADVANCE GUYS!!

 

[LisaD]

What is a good balanced diet for a SW community tank like mine?

Remind me what fish you have. I like Ocean Nutrition frozen, flake and pelleted foods, frozen mysis (PE and Hikari), nori and other sheet algae for herbivores and omnivores.

In a 10 gallon "food" tank, you could keep saltwater-acclimated (or at least brackish) ghost shrimp, fiddler crabs, guppies and/or mollies. Gutloading, IMO, is very important for good nutrition. The feeders as you get them from the LFS are often diseased, stressed, malnourished and starved.

For a snowflake eel, I'd feed frozen food, or fresh killed live food, and no fish flesh. If you get it used to going after live fish, then the fish in your tank might be perceived as food after a while. Iavoid feeding both my eels fish because they are kept with fish, and I don't want them getting a taste for it. I usually feed my eels from feeding sticks (live ghost shrimp and fiddler crabs are the occasional exception).

Variety in the diet is important. I feed my zebra moray and Brazilian dragon moray frozen shrimp, scallops, squid, clam, whatever high quality seafood I can find. I also feed Ocean Nutrition gel cubes on a periodic basis, for variety (usually the carnivore formulation). My angler, which is in a different tank, gets a similar diet.

 

[nyvp]

another good place to get food is the asian market. they have a seafood variety pack thats cheap and has different items in it.

 

[carterd]

I feed my snowflake silversides. They are better nutrition than shrimp or squid cleaned for human consumption.

 

[pinkie]

I feed my snowflake and zebra a mix of squid, clam, silversides, krill, scallops, table shrimp, and pieces of various saltwater fillets (all soaked in a vitamin mix and frozen). About once a month I feed them either a crayfish or some fiddler crabs as a treat, they love em.

 

[Fish_King_25]

what would be the best place to by food like that?? lfs would have it, or like a food store?

 

[Fish_King_25]

anything live good? like feeders, mollies, guppys?

 

[pinkie]

Problem with feeders is that you run a risk of transmitting disease, and feeding freshwater feeders (used typically for price) is not good for Saltwater fish, poor diet which leads to short life spans.

Here is where I get everything from:

Asian market:
Squid

LFS:
Krill
Silversides
Vitamins

Grocery Store:
Clam
Table Shrimp
Saltwater Filet
Scallops

 

[Fish_King_25]

i used to have a lion so i have a whole package of frozen krill, so i should grab some other goodies from the food store and check out the lfs see what they have...so you dont think its worth it to start a little tank to keep an on hand supply of feeder fish in it?
ive heard of and seen people feed their eels live feeder fish..ive never kept an eel before and im trying to learn.

 

[pinkie]

It is necessary to have feeder fish. Especially since you have a Snowflake Eel, which typically don't eat fish in the wild, but primarily crustaceans, your fish will be better off with frozen/prepared foods as opposed to live prey.

Another benefit, as LisaD mentioned, is that if you plan on having other fish in with the Snowflake Eel it will be less likely to attack its tank mates mistaking it for food.

 

[Fish_King_25]

did you mean to say it ISNT necessary to have feeder fish

 

[LisaD]

I keep a small tank to maintain ghost shrimp and sometimes guppies, acclimated to salt. that way, I don't have to run out to get them so often, and I can make sure they are healthy and gut-loaded. I don't feed live fish (or any fish, actually) to my eels. your snowflake does not need fish, they usually eat crustaceans in the wild. I doubt you will need live feeders for an eel. the main reason I keep feeders on hand is for my Hawaiian leaf fish, which won't take frozen. now that my angler takes frozen, a lot of the pressure is off.

 

[pinkie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12592926#post12592926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fish_King_25
did you mean to say it ISNT necessary to have feeder fish

Opps! yes I do!