| Saltwater Reef Aquariums, Anyone who has ever | | | | their home. Predatory fish typically need to have |
| had a pet knows that one of the first things a | | | | frozen or live food. Bottom dwelling fish should be |
| responsible pet owner does is make sure their pet | | | | fed a type of food that is heavy enough to sink to |
| has a balanced diet. They know that the healthy their | | | | the bottom of the tank, these fish do not do well |
| pets eat, the more likely they are to lead long and | | | | with fish foods that float on the tanks surface. |
| healthy lives. Fish kept in saltwater fish aquariums are | | | | Aquarium owners who are interested in breeding their |
| exactly the same. The responsible saltwater aquarium | | | | tropical fish often feed their fish brine shrimp, which |
| owner knows exactly what types of food his fish | | | | they raise in their own brine shrimp hatchery. |
| needs to survive and makes sure they keep a ready | | | | Many saltwater fish aquariums caretakers like using |
| supply of it on hand. | | | | automatic fish food feeders. Automatic fish food |
| The first thing you need to know about feeding | | | | feeders are feeders that can be clamped to the side |
| tropical fish is how much food they should be getting. | | | | of the aquarium. Once the fish owner has loaded the |
| The general rule of thumb is that when you feed | | | | hopper with food, the feeder will automatically |
| your fish use a stopwatch and time how long it | | | | dispense the food at regular intervals, this allows the |
| takes them to eat. It should take approximently two | | | | fish owner to have more flexibility and not be forced |
| minutes for the fish to finish eating. If the fish in your | | | | to arrange their schedules around feeding their fish. |
| tank finish their food in less then two minutes they | | | | The average automatic fish food feeder is not |
| probably aren't getting enough to eat. If after two | | | | capable of dispensing frozen or live food, which does |
| minutes there is still food left over then they are | | | | make them convenient for predatory fish. Some |
| probably getting over fed and you'll have to cut back. | | | | absentee fish owners place food blocks in their |
| A more accurate way of measuring how much food | | | | aquariums. |
| that fifty adult tropical fish should eat approximately | | | | Tropical fish owners should store their extra fish |
| ten grams of food in one month, but that can carry | | | | food in a cool dry place in containers that won't allow |
| with variety and growth. | | | | moisture to seep in. Frozen fish food should be |
| A balanced fish food typically consists of ten percent | | | | disposed of after three months. |
| fat, thirty to thirty-six percent protein. There should | | | | One of the dangers in overfeeding fish is that the |
| also be amino acids. | | | | wasted food can wreck havoc on the pH levels of |
| The first step in feeding your fish responsibly is | | | | your aquariums water. If to much discarded food is |
| knowing what type of food they eat. Some fish can | | | | contaminating the water it can contribute to the |
| not be kept in a tank that has coral because they | | | | death of your fish. |
| like to eat the little invertebrates that make the coral | | | | |