Talk:Feeder fish

Remove tadpoles as a species used
Tadpoles should be removed from the species used section as they are not fish.EricRoscoe (talk) 16:33, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Divergent experience
It's true that feeder fish are generally sold in appalling conditions, but they don't just die when brought into good ones; my own experience keeping them as pets neatly contradicts this article. My first fish were relatively costly zebra danios, which died quickly. I later added feeder guppies to the tank, and from there maintained a breeding population for five years. (It wasn't new tank conditions that killed the danios; I had the same results with more zebra danios months after buying the guppies.) The reason why the guppies didn't last longer was that my parents added some feeder goldfish to the tank, which quickly became large enough to cut the guppy babies' survival rate from replacement (something like 10%) to 0%. Those goldfish are now all living happily, or at least as happily as can be expected with a full-grown African clawed frog for company. I've also had success with "feeder livebearers," mostly platies, though at one point I had a male swordtail (apparently an unwanted baby), which cost 15 cents and grew to be just as big and beautiful as the ones which cost over $1. Food is obviously an issue in the cost; this led me to view "feeder livebearers" as discount baby fish, the same fish as adults but cheaper because of their becoming state, like a tadpole instead of a frog or a plant bulb instead of a potted flower. The article makes it sound like feeder fish are always on the brink of death when bought, but I've only had one such experience. And it was apparently caused by their having previously been left in decorative bowls with floating candles for several hours. -AndromedaRoach 04:23, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Everyone cries so much over this, though are willing to breed and slaughter cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and fish in masses... generally because it comes dead and wrapped in plastic. Although our dead (fish) food was once alive... idiots. I don't like the use of italics for MUST and NEED, it seems biased to me. And I don't think it's a want to have a balanced diet for fish. Who says feeders don't have anywhere to hide, that depends on your tank, mine would have loads of places to hide away.

Regarding the quality of feeder fish... I know various people that ONLY buy feeder goldfish and the like because they are cheaper and they survive just like any other fish. 81.6.244.121 (talk) 16:50, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

External link
I added a link to a forum article I wrote about the pros and cons of feeder fish. It covers the basics, and tries to be as neutral as possible about this issue. Personally, as an experienced aquarist I would never recommend anyone use feeder fish except in very specific circumstances (ones that 99.9% of aquarists will never encounter). You certainly don't need feeders for oscars, piranhas, or any of the other "predatory" fish sold today.

Anyway, in due course this Wikipedia article does need to become more encyclopaedic. Specifically, there are management, health, and ethics issues. Management is whether or not feeders are an easier option than dead foods. Health is about whether feeders are the best food. This isn't just parasites, but also the thiaminase present in rosy red minnows and goldfish that cause long-term problems to the predators that eat them. The ethics are about whether it is right or not to feed one live fish to another in an environment (the aquarium) where the prey species has no chance of survival (contrary to the wild, where the prey usually survives).

Cheers, Neale Neale Monks 11:17, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

External links modified
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