# Live fish...what would be the best one?



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I feed my rhom squid,krill,silversides, and now i'm going try stuffing shrimp with cichlid gold pellets. But once in while i want to give him live food.
What would be the best choice?


----------



## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

convicts?


----------



## bigshawn (Dec 29, 2005)

Tetras


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I just got him convict. He ate this morning so i don't think he'll touch the convict yet. But he's clearly agitated....swimming back and forth none stop!!!


----------



## marilynmonroe (Jan 8, 2009)

i feed mine 3 zebra dainos last night boy did he ever get a work out.... he's like lighting in a bottle chasing them, but after about 45 minutes they were all gone.


----------



## Piro (Dec 1, 2008)

The only live fish I feed is bass, because many other fish (like goldfish) contain something that´s called Thiaminase (in the Netherlands), this breaks down vitamines and it´s bad for the growth of your fish, allthough I don´t think it´s bad if you will feed it once in a while


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

1rhom said:


> I feed my rhom squid,krill,silversides, and now i'm going try stuffing shrimp with cichlid gold pellets. But once in while i want to give him live food.
> What would be the best choice?


Fish you bred yourself that don't contain thiaminase are best. Convicts are easy to breed and don't contain thiaminase. Guppies also don't have thiaminase, I believe.

A bunch of fish contain thiaminase is varying levels, but the biggest group of fish that are easily available to hobbiests are cyprinids like bards, danios, rasorbas, and some ID sharks like balas. These should be avoided, but if you are absolutely positive they are disease/parasite free I doubt a snack every once and a while would hurt at all.

Don't pop something out of a lake or a buy something in a LFS to throw into your fish's tank. I don't care how much you trust the store or how clean you think the lake is. Our fish have been kept in a closed, relatively disease and parasite free environment, so their immune system isn't as robust as a fish caught in the wild. Even the wild caught serras and pygos should not be fed fish with an unknown backround. They may be wild caught, but I'm sure parasites and bacterias in Lake Michigan are different than the ones found in the Rio Orinoco, Amazon system, or any other SA river.


----------



## Buckman (Jan 10, 2007)

breed convicts and then gut load them. they'll be stuffed with protein like a jelly filled donut for your fish.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I put in a 1" convict on friday and so far he's still alive. The rhom has attacked but the little guy finds little hiding places .


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

is it ok to feed live shrimp?


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

Sure are. Shrimp do contain thiaminase, but I still don't think it's enough to worry about. Many of us here do feed ghost and cherry shrimp live, and pretty much all of us feed marine shrimp. Just out of curiosity, what kind do you wanna feed him.


----------



## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

Plowboy said:


> Sure are. Shrimp do contain thiaminase, but I still don't think it's enough to worry about. Many of us here do feed ghost and cherry shrimp live, and pretty much all of us feed marine shrimp. Just out of curiosity, what kind do you wanna feed him.


I already feed him marine shrimp stuffed with CG pellets,just want to know if it's ok to feed other types of shrimp.


----------



## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

it is as long as your your pretty certain they are disease and parasite free.


----------



## Us And Them (Dec 4, 2008)

Piro said:


> The only live fish I feed is bass, because many other fish (like goldfish) contain something that´s called Thiaminase (in the Netherlands), this breaks down vitamines and it´s bad for the growth of your fish, allthough I don´t think it´s bad if you will feed it once in a while


Piro has it it Correctly , If Your near a Lake or River , Fish out nice Bass TREAT WITH PRAZI PRO FIRST though.
You dont wanna Kill Your Rhom.


----------



## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

convicts, tetras and platies gutloaded

stay away from "carp like fish"


----------



## TJcali (Mar 27, 2009)

I agree^^^^^


----------



## weerhom (Jan 12, 2007)

Catch as many little bluegill you can, freeze them first and your set.


----------



## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

weerhom said:


> Catch as many little bluegill you can, freeze them first and your set.


I could be wrong but I dont think freezing them would kill off all bacteria/parasites, I think only boiling or treating them with every possible treatment would.

Best thing to do IMO is get some cons to breed and feed those


----------



## Ja'eh (Jan 8, 2007)

weerhom said:


> Catch as many little bluegill you can, freeze them first and your set.


I think he meant live food so sticking them in the *FREEZER* won't work.


----------



## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I would breed convicts or something and treat them with prazi pro... to make sure their in good health. No feeders is obviously safer though. And feefe, i dont think bacteria could survive a duration in a freezer. I know some places that deal with biomaterial freeze it before throwing it out to kill everything. There may be bacteria that lives in extreme cold, but i doubt they would be found living in our enviroment as any bacteria liek that would most likly specialize


----------



## Bradabolics (Oct 27, 2007)

I had a single red-belly years ago, when i was in my teens, and knew nothing about the "proper" diet. All I fed him was goldfish and the odd piece of beefheart. He still grew to around 8" and was very still very colorful....


----------

