Feeding tip: buy silversides in supermarket as "smelt"

[kris walker]

Hi guys,
Man, you would not believe the price difference between buying 8 oz of silversides from your LFS vs buying a 32 oz package of "smelt" from your supermarket (I saw if in SafeWay).
The silversides and smelt look idential. In fact, in other parts of the country, I think they are used as fishing bait called "shiners" (we used them for flounder fishing in the mideastern states.
Anyway,
8 oz at the LFS is about $10
32 oz at the supermarket is about $4
<img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />
And there are no preservatives in the supermarket smelt either!
Anyway, just thought I'd share, since I'm bored and an insomniac (sp?).
kris

 

[m i r a g e]

I would never have thought of that! Big price difference too! Thanks for the tip.. I'm definetly gonna use that!

 

[hunterdaddy]

smelt is a fresh water fish. I read here before that you shouldnt feed fresh water fish to salt water fish because of intestinal problems. I do however buy fresh salt water fish clams and shrimp at the super market for my guys.

 

[madd catt]

It may also be because freshwater fish do not have omega3 or omega6 fatty acids.Thats why not to feed goldfish to lionfish.

 

[kris walker]

Thanks guys for the info. I didn't know that about the freshwater thing, just looked at the minnow and it seemed to look like a silverside.
I did a little research to see if I could learn more about smelt. Here is what I found:
<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20smelt" target="_blank">http://www.encyclopedia.com/searchpool.asp?target=@DOCTITLE%20smelt</a>
<a href="http://cnet.windsor.ns.ca/Environment/Advocates/Anim/smelt.html" target="_blank">http://cnet.windsor.ns.ca/Environment/Advocates/Anim/smelt.html</a>
<a href="http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/baydelta/monitoring/delta.html" target="_blank">http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/baydelta/monitoring/delta.html</a>
Thanks again, I'll probably buy a package if it says it comes from a saltwater source, but not if it comes from fresh.
kris