This is good stuff, folks. I've been emailing the messages in this thread to
myself, and started saving them in a folder for permanent future reference.
Thanks.

"miskairal" mehiding@Oz wrote in message
u...
OK, fresh garlic for the fish. I'm worried about adding vitamins meant for
humans too though as the "base" or crap it's mixed with might harm them or
other stuff growing in the tank. Still I will keep working on it and
thinking about it. It just seems so much more "right" to be feeding them
real food and a variety. They've been getting a reasonable mix of whiting,
prawns, the green marine, brine shrimp and flakes this last week and my 20
year old cat gets the leftovers so she thinks life is pretty good too.

I was thinking of buying a pizza cutter for chopping up those small
amounts that aren't available when I make the main food mix (eg. the
spinach). Run it back and forth quite a few times and I'd hope the result
would fit comfortably into the fish's mouths?

Now what to feed the humans?


Tidepool Geek wrote:
Hi Miskairal,

First, let me second what Fishnut said about vitamins! In the wild,
fish and inverts generally eat whole animals rather than just the
muscles like we do. By doing so they are also eating bones, entrails,
and whatever their prey had for its most recent meal. By supplementing
with veggies and vitamins you're adding back many of the things that
would otherwise be missed. I recently watched a program about the
Valencia aquarium and they made quite a point about the fact that they
supplement their food with vitamins and I also have seen this being
done at the Seattle aquarium.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I have read that fish can
utilize the pigments from plants like carrots or broccoli to help
maintain their own color. OTOH: Marine animals have no need to be able
to deal with the cellulose found in most land plants so maybe those
things need to be either cooked or pulped to do any good. The whole
subject is certainly worth a bit of Googling.

Some folks say that garlic helps fish to avoid or fight off Ich/Ick and
others claim that to be a myth. I don't know one way or the other but
as my Jewish mother used to say "It couldn't hurt." I'd be a bit
reluctant to use processed garlic though. Although the additives you
mentioned are probably present in too small a quantity to cause
problems it's just too easy and cheap to buy a head of fresh garlic to
take any risk with the processed stuff.

Dietetically yours,

Alex