Fish food is plant or animal material intended for consumption by pet fish kept in aquariums or ponds. Fish foods normally contain macro nutrients, trace elements and vitamins necessary to keep captive fish in good health. Approximately 80% of fishkeeping hobbyists feed their fish exclusively prepared foods that most commonly are produced in flake, pellet or tablet form.Pelleted forms, some of which sink rapidly, are often used for larger fish or bottom feeding species such as loaches or catfish.[citation needed] Some fish foods also contain additives, such as beta carotene or sex hormones, to artifically enhance the color of ornamental fish.
- Prepared foods
- Dry foods
- Vacation food
- Medicated fishfood
- Freeze-dried and frozen fish diets
- Live foods
Flake food is a type of proprietary or artificially manufactured fish food consumed by a wide variety of tropical and saltwater fish and invertebrates. It is ideally suited to top dwellers and mid-water fish though numerous bottom dwelling species consume flake food once it has settled on the bottom. Flake food is baked to remove moisture and create the flaking, thus allowing for a longer shelf life. Generally the more moisture a particular example of fish food contains, the more readily it will deteriorate in quality.
Dry foods is also available as pellets, sticks, tablets, granules, and wafers, manufactured to float or sink, depending on the species they are designed to feed.
Vacation foods — also known as "food blocks" — are designed to be placed inside the aquarium to forgo feeding while the aquarium owner is absent. These blocks release small amounts of food as they dissolve. The food blocks can be a good choice for smaller tropical fish, but can polute tank water.
Medicated fishfood is a safe and effective methods to deliver medication to fish. One advantage is that medicated food does not contaminate the aquatic environment and also, unlike bath treatments, does not negatively affect fish, filteration and algae growth in the aquarium.
Freeze-dried and frozen fish foods were primarily developed for tropical and marine fish and are useful in providing variety to the diet or specialist feeding needs of some species. These include tubifex worms, mosquito larvae, bloodworms, water fleas (Daphnia and Cyclops spp.) along with brine shrimp (Artemia salina).
Live fish food include earthworms, sludge worms, water fleas, bloodworms, and feeder fis. Food for larvae and young fish include infusoria (Protozoa and other microorganisms), newly hatched brine shrimp and microworms.