Types of Aquarium feed - Natural and Live foods

White worms (enchytraeus Albidus) are one of live foods that can be cultivated by the aquarist. They are small terrestrial worms, which are useful because they can be cultured easily, and so are available when needed. Matured white worms (2cm long) are grown in boxes of damp soil feeding on pieces of bread or baby cereal food placed on the surface where they are scraped off when needed and used from a worm feeder.

Compost worms (Eisenia foetida) are another type of worms suitable for aquarium fish. They are great for larger fishes and can be chopped up for smaller fishes or processed into a jelly food.

Fish should not be fed with worms exclusively as they are high in fat content and can cause obesity.

Microworms (nematodes) are another good food for fry, and can be fed to smaller fry. Microworms can be raised in plastic containers on a mixture of corn meal, water, and baker’s yeast.

Another type is Baby brine. “Baby brine shrimp (Artemia spp.) are the perfect food for almost all baby fish, and small adult fish such as tetras as well. Very small fry (like those of most egg scatterers) can not eat brine shrimp immediately, but larger fry (such as livebearers’ and most cichlids’) can start out on brine shrimp. Brine shrimp are hatched in salt water from commercially available dry eggs. They are usually hatched in some sort of funnel with an airstone at the point of the funnel. An inverted plastic 2-litre pop bottle with the bottom cut off works well.” (From article titled Fish foods for dummy by Grant Gussie http://www.calgaryaquariumsociety.com)

Daphnia are tiny water fleas, which are found in large numbers in ponds during the warm months of the year especially farmyard ponds that contain rotting organic matter. They are available live from a few dealers.

This animal is very nutritious and hardly any fish will refuse them. If it is used as part of a mixed diet the fish may refuse to ease other food hence, it is advisable not to mix daphnia with other foods.