live saltwater feeders (opinions)

Has anyone ever noticed that lfs dont sell live saltwater feeders of any kind?Just every one pushes goldfish and guppies. I was ordering live silversides for my eel today and was talking to the marine biologist that works there. He has tried to make a go of getting live feeders into the market but says it hasnt taken off at all no one is really interested in carrying them for commercial purposes. IMO i cant figure out why this is i think if a lfs would start carrying them they would go over very well for fish like eels, lionfish, groupers and such. He was saying fresh water feeders get the fish by for a while but they actually end up with deficiancies because they dont carry the fatty acids and nutrients that saltwater feeders have. It would make more sense to feed a fish a natural food source one would think. Some fish do not take to frozen food and this would be a great alternative to fresh water feeders. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Just thought it would be an interesting subject to bring up.

 

I've never had a fish that required live food other than pods, but I would imagine live food take a lot more effort than frozen and people may try it but not stick with it in the long run

J

 

Interesting Karla. What would the live saltwater feeders be?

 

other than live brine or mysis shrimp and of course the smaller plankton foods, I can't think of any other live foods for marine life. I definitely know that guppies and goldfish are the worst food for marine life and offer very little nutritional value.
Frozen silversides and clam are my best choice, or should I say, my snowflake eels' first choice for dinner...
I guess possibly black molly's may be an idea! As they can be slowly changed over from freshwater to salt!

 

If you live near the ocean you can usually buy live bait fish like Killifish or sardines for a very reasonable price. You ought to think about setting up a breeder tank for black or sailfin molly's.

 

The mollies or guppies can be gut loaded as well. Making them very nutritious as feeders. I think cost is the major factor. Oscar and Piranha owner gripe over paying more than 10 cents a piece for FW feeders. The LFS would have a hard time pushing SW feeders at more than a dollar a piece. The DIY SW molly or guppy is a good option.


My LFS got a $1000 Hawaiian dragon eel in stock recently. They have been feeding it green chromis. At $4 a pop that might get a tad expense!

 

hey matt
i found a few sites with feeders

live mysid shrimp, insland silversides, saltwater rotifiers and opposum shrimp
http://mblaquaculture.com/content/organisms/cyprinella_leedsi.php

opposum shrimp, shore shrimp, rotifiers, plankton, amphipods copods, and fiddler crabs

http://www.aquaculturestore.com/swinverts.html

flagfish, marine shrimp
http://www.livebrineshrimp.com/