Fish, like any other organism, require food to sustain their metabolism. Properly feeding your pet fish will help them stay healthy and will help you with the maintenance of your home aquarium . However, it is important to know about different types of fish food and how feeding your fish different foods may affect their health, your fish tank maintenance chores, and your budget.

In most cases, you only need to feed your fish once per day and you only need to feed a small amount. Not overfeeding your fish at any particular feeding will do more to keep your fish tank clean and healthy than cutting back on the number of feedings. Your fish should be able to get all the nutrients they need in the amount of food they will eagerly eat in under two minutes. Excessive fish food - that is, food that is not eaten promptly - will stay in your fish tank and decay, contributing to poor water quality and increase your aquarium maintenance.

Most fish, like most cold-blooded animals (and most cold-blooded vertebrates in particular) are primarily carnivorous, consuming mostly meaty foods. However, most fish also eat some plant matter, including some algae. When feeding your pet fish in your aquarium, you do want to provide them with both meat and vegetable foods, with few exceptions.

Your feeding choices will include live foods and processed foods, both of which have appropriate and inappropriate uses.

Author: Keith Seyffarth

Copyright 2010 Keith Seyffarth, First Tank Guide

Click here to read more from The First Tank Guide