Feeding your Fish Correctly

Feeding Groups of Fishes

Feeding Groups
Fish can be placed into one of three groups, depending on the food they prefer to eat. They can be carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores.

Carnivores, such as Needle fish, Jack Dempseys, and Bettas, are meat eaters. These predatory fish may only eat meaty foods such as brine shrimp, freeze-dried tubifex worms, bloodworms, and small feeder fish.

Herbivores, such as Plecos, African Cichlids, Pacus, and Silver Dollars, are plant eaters. They do well with staple flake foods and algae wafers. They can also be supplemented with finely chopped lettuce, spinach, zucchini, or green peas.

Omnivores are both plant and meat eaters. Almost all aquarium fish are omnivorous; even herbivorous fish are not strict vegetarians. Good examples of omnivorous fish would be mollies, catfish, crayfish, and goldfish. Their diet should consist of a staple flake food. Goldfish will benefit from specially formulated Goldfish flakes and pelleted foods.

Fish foods are designed around the way fish eat, which is why you should know about the shape and placement of the fish's mouth.

Top-feeders have an upturned, scoop-like mouth for gathering floating food. They like to feed off the surface. These fish include Mollies and Platys.

Midwater-feeders have mouths at the very tip of their snouts to gather food as it falls through the water. These include Tetras and Danios.

Bottom-feeders have mouths on the underside of their snouts to come in close contact with the bottom. These fish include Catfish and Corys. Fish foods are designed for these three different feeding levels of fish, although many fish will feed outside their preferred area when hungry. Food is designed to either float for top feeders, sink slowly for mid-feeders, or sink quickly to the bottom for bottom feeders.