A fish aquarium is an attraction for your home. To remove your dullness and boredom and live a happier life, some people take the help of fish aquarium having colourful fishes of different species into it other than keeping dogs or cats as their pet animals. But, before keeping a freshwater aquarium at home it is important to decide whether to go for a cold water fish aquarium or heated water fish aquarium.
There are a number of fishes in cold water fish aquarium. It includes goldfish, blood fin tetras and white cloud. Whereas Danios, black molly, black skirt tetra, platies, swordtails or Betta are the different species of fishes that are available in the heated water tank. So, the important decision is to choose among both of them.
Type of fish food: The important factor to be considered while feeding a freshwater fish in the aquarium is to check that the food must be safe, healthy and a balanced diet for it. There are various fish foods made with different formulations using flakes or pellets. These food products are designed keeping in view the specific nutritional requirements of each of them. The nutritional values of the flakes and pellets are reduced if exposed to air. The flakes or pellets have considerably low fiber content and lead to constipation and problems in swimming. Also, no food product should be used after three months.
Another alternative is frozen, dry foods: These food products have high fiber content as well as a well balanced nutritional content. As compared to other food products it is very expensive.
Live foods: These food products are less costly as compared to other food products. However, live food contains some aquatic live worms that may cause certain diseases. So, it cannot be considered safe.
The other options include feeder fish, green foods, frozen foods, etc.
Fish food nutrient analysis:
Every individual has its own nutritional requirements depending upon its specie or breed. So, before feeding the pet acquired with food, it is better to collect information about the diet of it either online or with the consultation of a veterinary doctor. And as per the doctor’s recommendation a freshwater fish requires more of proteins as compared to other nutrients. But, this requirement differs from each other.
Fishes are also herbivorous or carnivorous and their nutritional requirements much more depend on this. The herbivorous fish species must be served with live and frozen foods, whereas the carnivorous fish species like Betta fish must be provided with scrambled eggs, flavored beef, chicken, etc., as they require proteins in large amounts as compared to other species.
So, it is better to provide a nutritious diet for the fish in the freshwater aquarium, but to a limited number of times so that it will not become obese, underfed or malnourished.
Pros and cons of different fish foods: There are varied food resources available in the market to feed your fish in the freshwater aquarium tank. These food products have their positive as well as negative effects. So, the pros and cons of different fish foods are presented below with the help of a table:
| Food Type | Pros | Cons |
| Flake and pellet foods | Excellent staple diet for most fish | Once exposed to air, the nutritional value of flake and pellets quickly declines |
| Live foods | Have higher nutrition content than other food products and remains constant even after processing | Reason for transmission of diseases, very expensive |
| Frozen and canned foods | Very less expensive and are very time saving | The vitamin content gets reduced after processing |
| Fresh food (fruits and vegetables) | Have high nutritional values | When exposed to heat due to its sensitive nature, its nutritional values get reduced |
So, an ideal food must be selected amongst the number of alternatives available for your freshwater aquarium fish.
Conclusion:
It is concluded after the above discussion that fresh food is the best among all the alternatives but cannot be called as a perfect food for the fishes. It can be considered as a balanced diet for the fishes herbivorous in nature and meat, chicken, etc is good for the fishes that are carnivorous by nature. So, an ideal food for fishes in the freshwater aquarium has not been made yet.