Fish food and Coral Food is an integral part in any fish or reef keeping activity. In fact, it is an integral part of life itself. Of course, when you are setting up a saltwater fish aquarium or Reef tank, you need to really know how to balance the ecology within and provide fish food and or coral food supplements to its inhabitants. Not all fish, coral foods are the same, and not all fish, coral and organism share the same preference for nutrition. If you are not careful, you may even find yourself mixing the wrong balance of fish food or coral food and the fish and coral of your salt water aquariums will be suffering gravely for your negligence. 

An imbalance of Fish food or coral food might take two grave actions: one, it will make your fish, coral ill; and two, it will cause your fish or coral to excrete more ammonia into the water which will make them very ill.  

When it comes to fish food, your primary concern is really the fish or fishes you are intending to feed. Naturally, different marine animals have varying nutritional needs. Although most fish food these days are already prepared, as flakes or pellets, some animals still need to be supplemented with live foods once in a while.  

Dry Fish Food 

Flakes or flakey food is almost as standard as hamburger take-outs in the dry fish food department. There are of course, fish flake food for marine fish and a separate kind of flakey food for Invertebrates. Other examples of dry fish food include the granules, pellets, sticks, tablets, and wafers. Depending on the density and water content, some of these food float (for top dwellers) and others sink immediately to the bottom (where it is more accessible to fish species that prefer not to surface when feeding). 

You should also consider the ingredients of the fish food you are putting in the aquarium. Some ingredients may not be suitable at all to some invertebrates. The most common ingredients for dry fish food are fish meal (herring, menhaden, pollack, salmon, and/or tuna), plankton, shrimp meal and brine shrimp, squid meal, soybean and whole wheat meals. Not all these ingredients will be beneficial to all fishes, so moderation is essential as well. 

Freeze Dried and Frozen Fish Food 

Bloodworms, brine shrimps, mosquito larvae, tubifex worms and water fleas have all been freeze dried or simply frozen to become supplementary fish food. These are particularly beneficial to tropical and marine fishes and invertebrates that need a bit of protein in their diets. Of course, live food is still the best source of protein, but we all know that this is not always available (and they are very difficult to store for future use). Freeze dried and frozen fish food is the next best alternative but you have to make sure of the ingredients before you actually start feeding your pets. Not all marine inhabitants benefit from eating brine shrimps, and bloodworms may prove too toxic for others.  

Live Foods 

Live foods are the best source of proteins, and fortunately, some fish shops and pet stores offer these – but not always. However, aside from getting your hands on a supply of live foods, you should know when and how often you should feed your marine fish and invertebrates these tasty morsels. Too much of a good thing is still too much, and having your aquarium and tank inhabitants heavily dependent on live foods can be taxing to the fishes and the provider of these live foods (meaning, you).  

Some of the more common live foods are bloodworms, cultured earthworms, infusoria (mixture of micro organisms, planktons, and protozoa), feeder fishes, micro worms, newly hatched brine shrimps and brine eggs.  

We offer our customers the most popular brands of dry fish food , coral food like: Cyclop-Eeze, Hikari Fish Food, Kent Marine, Liquid Life USA, New Life Spectrum flakes and pellets, Ocean Nutrition, O.S.I. Marine Lab Fish Foods, San Francisco Bay Brand, Sera, and Two Little Fishies. Our selections of live fish food brands include DT’s phytoplankton, guppies and mollies.