Feeder fish
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Feeder fish is the generic name for certain types of inexpensive fish commonly fed as live prey to captive animals such as sharks and turtles.

Advantages of using feeder fish

The species of fish usually sold as feeder fish are invariably some of the easiest fish for fishkeepers to rear and breed, such as goldfish and guppies. Typically, these species are tolerant of overcrowding and have a high fecundity and rapid growth rate. This makes it easy for fish farmers, retailers, and hobbyists to maintain large populations of these fish that can sold off more cheaply than more delicate ornamental fish that require better conditions.

In some cases, species of predatory animals, typically large fish such as catfish and cichlids but sometimes also animals such as freshwater turtles, are provided with feeder fish because they accept them more readily than alternatives. Other animal keepers believe that feeder fish are particularly nutritious, being what their pets would eat in the wild. Still others view feeder fish as a stimulating treat that encourages predatory animals to exhibit their natural hunting behaviours. Some animal keepers simply enjoy watching the hunting and eating techniques involved when one animal eats another.

Disadvantages of using feeder fish

Many aquarists view the use of feeder fish as cruel and unnecessary, arguing that the feeder fish is introduced into a small tank it has no chance to escape, and such a contrived situation cannot be considered “natural” in any meaningful sense. Most predatory species that eat live fish can also be weaned onto dead alternatives, so that the use of feeder fish in most situations tends to be because the aquarist wants to use them rather than needs to use them. Some of the species used as feeder fish (goldfish and rosy red minnows) contain high quantities of thiaminase, an enzyme that destroys Vitamin B1 and when fed in large quantities cause nutritional imbalances. Because of the squalid conditions under which feeder fish are often reared and held, they may also be likely to carry bacterial infections and parasites, which can be passed along to any fish that eat them. ^{[1] [2]} A large disadvantage of using feeder fish, particularly goldfish, is that they do not actually simulate what tropical fish eat in the wild. The only safe fish to use as feeders are home-raised livebearers (mollies, platies, guppies).

Species used

Several fast-growing and hardy species are commonly sold and used as feeder fish. Depending on the locality, feeder fish may include:

• Low-quality guppies
• Small cyprinids, particularly rosy red minnows and goldfish
• Unwanted livebearer and cichlid fry
• Female Siamese fighting fish
• Young tilapia
• Defective and weak fry
• Young Bluegill

Opinions within the hobby

Although the use of feeder fish is fairly common in the United States, in the United Kingdom it is much less common, with aquarists and hobby magazines in Britain generally rejecting the use of feeder fish as being unnecessary and likely to cause health problems.^{[2] [3]}

Legal considerations

In the UK, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 prohibits deliberate and “unnecessary suffering” to animals, but contrary to widespread belief, it does not explicitly outlaw the feeding of live feeder fish to other fish. However, it does prohibit introducing two animals for the purpose of “fighting, wrestling or baiting”. ^[4] Nonetheless, the assumption is that a legal case could be made to class the use of feeder fish as a “fight” and though as-yet untried in the courts, the risk of such a prosecution has led many retailers and hobbyists simply to treat the use of feeder fish in the UK as illegal.^{citation needed}

See also

• Aquarium fish feeder

References

External links

• Feeder Fish Mini-FAQ, the pros and cons Review of the merits and problems of using feeder fish