As with any living being, it is of vital importance that your fish receives a healthy, balanced diet. Diverse types will have different needs, some variety of aquarium fish will prefer fresh or frozen food, while others will be content with the humble fish flake. Discover just what your fish will favour using my helpful guide.

Basically, there are four types of fish food- fish flakes, fish pellets, frozen food, and dried food such as algae and seaweed.

Fish flakes

Fish flakes are possibly the most common form of fish food. You can buy specific types that will be tailored to the kind of fish you own, and they’re ideal for creating a nutritious base to your pet’s diet. Some flakes are designed to meet the nutritional needs of specific varieties of fish, some are made to counter nutritional imbalances, while others are balanced to enhance colour or growth or even to encourage spawning.

Fish pellets

Much the same as fish flakes, fish food pellets are a good stable food source. You can buy different types to suit where your fish like to discover their food, whether that’s on the surface of the tank, in the gravel, or mid-way between. This is because pellets are available in forms that are either denser or lighter than water. This means the fish are able to feed in a more natural way. Certain varieties of fish like to feed off the bottom of the tank while others prefer to feed on the water surface. In the same way as flakes, pellets come in many variations, each with an explicit purpose.

Frozen food

Frozen foods are a great option to provide a little treat every now and again. Typical frozen fish foods include krill and plankton. Frozen foods are available from most pet shops in a wide variety – from squid and shrimp to spirulina algae and vegetables. You will also find processed, vitamin enhanced staple diets as well as aquarium delicacies like insect larvae. The assortment of frozen foods available can deliver wide-ranging and steady nourishment for most fish. The procedures that the foods go through during freezing significantly diminish the danger of disease transmission when compared to live or fresh foods while still preserving a high nutritional value.

Dried food

Freeze-dried foods have all of the moisture removed from them during the manufacturing process significantly extending the long shelf life and making storage easier. Many worms, insect larvae, crustaceans are offered in freeze-dried forms. One drawback with freeze dried foods is the freeze-drying process can often remove vitamins from the food, so freeze dried foods should not be expected to make a balanced and complete diet on their own. It should be noted that freeze-dried foods can absorb a lot of water, and will expand more than you might think when looking at them in the package. I recommend you moisten them before feeding to your fish to keep your fish from overeating.

Frequent feeding

Generally, you should only need to feed your fish once a day, nevertheless, the trick with feeding them is to make sure there is nothing leftover after a minute or so of giving it to them. If you feed them too often, or if food begins to settle on the tank floor, the water can carry a higher level of unnecessary waste, which will ultimately adversely affect the welfare of your fish.