If they eat it,should we feed it?

noah's nemo

Member
Well ,this morning,i made my milkshake for breakfast.Just for the heck of it i took a little piece of banana,and srawberry to the tank.Dropped it in,my angel and humu went nuts.So,good, bad,what is your take?
 

trainfever

Active Member
I was always told that if it is not naturally found in the ocean, that we should not feed it to our tank.
 

noah's nemo

Member
I knew someone would say that.So i sak you ,where do our fish naturally find garlic,and vitamins,and spinach and zucchini,romain and ect...?
 

cranberry

Active Member
Peeps feed stuff like peas and carrots... never heard of fruit. I don't think I would personally go that route.
 

noah's nemo

Member
Why?Just curious.So many of us seem to soak food in vitamins or drench it in garlic extract without thinking twice.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Just because I don't know.... I've never even heard wind of feeding fruits. If I was really interested in feeding those food items, I guess I would start some down and dirty research and make a decision based on that.
I guess I was saying I wouldn't feed it unless I knew more.
What was your avatar before?
 

noah's nemo

Member
I've been searching ,not much out there.There was a guy who feeds his puffer bananas,but i'm still looking.Its just that a strawberry is almost all vitamin c,which is highly promoted .Just a thought i'd throw out there to see if anyone knows more about it...
New Jersey Devils hockey team logo.
 

cranberry

Active Member
I will have 8gb of nutrition articles and entire aquaculture nutrition books here on friday. I will see what they have to say..... if you make me a milkshake too.
 

bang guy

Moderator
I don't see a problem with feeding unnatural foods as a small snack. The Mysis Shrimp and Cyclop-Eeze we so commonly feed are not a natural food either.
 

noah's nemo

Member

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/3234869
I don't see a problem with feeding unnatural foods as a small snack
. The Mysis Shrimp and Cyclop-Eeze we so commonly feed are not a natural food either.
I think for now i will do this.Maybe every few days i'll toss in alittle bit for them.I honestly can't see what harm it would do
,and they are loaded with vitamins, so, why not.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Noah's Nemo
http:///forum/post/3234833
I knew someone would say that.So i sak you ,where do our fish naturally find garlic,and vitamins,and spinach and zucchini,romain and ect...?
simple answer they dont but that does not mean the nutritional needs are not meet with marine food.
I personally just feed what is indigenous to the reef. You mentioned garlic. We are using it as a supplementation not as a total food source. We feed our fish, corals and invertebrates foods which tend to encompass all their nutritional needs. If you feed a piece of banana are you diminishing the amount of other food you are supplying or just adding to the bio load? What specific nutritional need are you supplying with these foods that you feel is lacking with a good varied marine diet ?
or is it just the oddity of feeding them these things that is appealing ?
 

noah's nemo

Member
I will probably stick with strawberries,not bananas.Can't really tell you why i did it or why i will continue to do so.A couple days a week is pretty much a snack and they like it.If someone can show me that it is bad for them i will stop.Look at the nutritional info for a strawberry,looks good to me.
 

gill again68

Active Member
I would say the question of if its bad you will stop is very important here. That implies that you dont know if its bad or not. You do have results that show that the vitamins and such are good so thats why we you do it. I would think that you should assume its bad until you know its not.
Just 2 cents from a nobody.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Noah's Nemo
http:///forum/post/3235007
I will probably stick with strawberries,not bananas.Can't really tell you why i did it or why i will continue to do so.A couple days a week is pretty much a snack and they like it.If someone can show me that it is bad for them i will stop.Look at the nutritional info for a strawberry,looks good to me.
i think when it comes to live stock you have to say i will not do it until there is documented proof it is not harmful not the other way around. but it is your fish your money and ultimately there life is your responsibility
 

crypt keeper

Active Member
its a strawberry people. Everything eats them in the wild. I cant see any harm. Id feed them every once in a while not a few times a week.
 

jackri

Active Member
My question is if you are feeding fruit to your trigger -- more of a carnivore -- is it getting it's own balanced diet or just getting full on fruit that it doesn't need? Honestly I don't see a big deal with a little bit here or there for s & g's but this would definately not be part of my regular feeding regimine.
On the flip side I had a freshwater oscar that would eat hamburger and valentines day hearts I put in there for him. That was for novelty and to see if he would. Yeah he would eat anything lol.
 

aquaknight

Active Member
I've done oranges, bananas, and broccoli.
It's actually somewhat common to feed bananas to Copperband Butterflies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYv6eBdtAbU
I normally would agree with the little bit doesn't hurt, but two concerns off the top of my head, acidity in some of the fruits, oranges etc. Nothing these fish normally would eat is acidic at all. I imagine it could very well border on burning a fish's stomach, say a large puffer that's used to munching on calcium rich snails/crabs, etc, then takes a chomp out of a orange slice. That straight citric acid could do a number...
The second issue is fiber. Admittedly I don't eat strawberries, but the fiber content may interfere with digestion, and become blocked/impassable for the fish. The cell walls of terrestrial vegetation are super tough compared to aquatic vegetation.
When I feed the broccoli, it was blanched, then frozen. The oranges and banana were froze and thawed twice before feeding to help break down the cell walls.
 
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