How to feed your flowerhorn

WET FOODS

First, let’s talk about wet foods. By wet foods we mean frozen foods such as frozen bloodworms, beef or chicken heart, market shrimp/prawn, fish fillet, etc. In the early days of flowerhorns in the Philippines, and here we’re talking circa 2000-2001, we had practically nothing to bank on save the practices of equally inexperienced or novice "flowerhorn" enthusiasts abroad. The prevailing school of thought at the time was that LHs should be fed as much protein as possible and hardly any others such as carbs, fats, etc. The advantages of feeding wet foods are known by now: easy weight gains, more accessible sources of supply, and higher fish acceptability.

But in retrospect, this view was clearly mistaken. What people failed to see at the time were:

1. Balanced nutrition - Feeding nothing but, say, beef heart or market shrimp will necessarily lead to nutritional deficiencies, most especially after prolonged periods. Essential sources of carbs for energy and digestion, vitamins and minerals for increased resistance to disease and better colors, etc. were clearly lacking. Take beef heart for instance. Fish will grow quickly on this food. But their colors shall be very dull. They also tend to be more prone to disease due to a weaker metabolism.

2. Right sources of protein - Studies have shown how the sources of protein count in two ways: in terms of absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream, and in terms of digestion. In terms of nutrient absorption, the most appropriate form of proteins should come from marine animals foremost of all, and complemented by plant sources. Digestion-wise, any plant source would be OK since we’re essentially looking at cellulose common to all plants, marine or otherwise. The proportions must be proper though, most particularly in cases involving less digestible algae. But animal sources such as beef heart, liver, or other meats clearly shall fail the digestibility test. Many fish overloaded with meat-based frozen foods may suffer from indigestion and other complications including the bloat and internal parasitic infections.

3. Proper delivery systems - Frozen foods such as prawns are very good. They have good amounts of protein and natural-occurring pigments for color enhancement. Unfortunately, we have to consider the delivery system of the food. First, frozen foods once thawed have to be fed. They will have to be fresh all the time. In the case of shrimp, stock them too long, even if frozen, and they turn putrid. Then you feed this to your fish unaware of the toll on its health. More importantly, when frozen foods are thrown into the tank water, organic juices ooze out of the food almost uncontrollably. This takes its toll on water parameters as these very juices will decompose right in the water, which in turn will take its toll on your LH’s health and growth potential. Hexamitiasis, pop eye, fin rot, bloat -- these are diseases very common in tanks where too much wet food feeding is practiced.

Live Foods

By live foods, we pertain to live bloodworms, feeder fish, kataba, meal worms, super worms, etc. They may be categorized as in-water and out-water live foods.

1. In-Water: As a rule, feeding live foods found in water to LHs is extremely ill-advised. Take kataba for instance. Most of the time we don’t know the quality of the water from whence they came. As for live bloodworms, the mouths of LHs are simply too big. What binds the bloodworms together are actually bacterial clusters. LH will tend to eat these as well. Disease transmittal is therefore very high in cases of feeding live foods found in water. Feeder fish may be a possible exception if they are to be found in tanks with clean water and are disinfected first. But the risks of disease transmittal are still high compared to non-water live foods. The risks are much higher if compared to dry foods.

One colleague of mine lost hundreds of thousands of pesos worth of adult flowerhorns after feeding them bad kataba. They died just a few days after feeding. I’ve heard of a larger number of sad stories for smaller LHs fed with live bloodworms.

2.Out-water: In the context of fish feeding, out-water live foods will essentially be comprised of meal worms, super worms, crickets, and other insects. It is generally much safer to feed these depending on the choice. Obviously, cockroaches are a no-no. As for superworms, we actually see even people eating these on TV; Just one note though, superworms and mealworms will still require some maintenance in the form of beddings and changes thereof.

We have mentioned earlier that marine proteins are to be preferred to other proteins. Superworms and mealworms need some qualification. Unlike meats, they are more easily digestible. Insect protein is also generally higher on a per gram basis compared to meats from cattle or fowl. They may also contain higher amounts of fat and high levels of calcium. They will not promote color though. In sum, these foods would be OK as an additional and occasional protein kick, but they should not be relied on for staple food.

Dried Foods

By dried foods we pertain to either pellets (extruded floating or sinking, starch bound) or dried animals such as shrimp, insects, etc.

1. Pellets: There will be no debate that pellets will have to comprise the vast bulk of food a flowerhorn will need to eat for better health and optimum potential. And the better the pellet, the better the result.

1a. In terms of balanced nutrition - Unlike the above-mentioned foods, good pellets shall contain many ingredients from various animal and plant sources providing proteins, carbs, and fats plus supplemental vitamins and minerals. These cannot be provided by meats alone.

1b. Right sources of protein - Most pellets shall have ingredients coming from marine animal meal such as fish, shrimp, and crustaceans. Good brand pellets will even have carefully selected sources and types of fish meal, shrimp meal, soya, etc. for good quality and optimum results. Believe me, there is a big difference between, say, Peruvian fish meal and Dutch fish meal.

1c. In terms of delivery systems - Since pellets are dry foods, organic juices won’t ooze out immediately once these are thrown in the water. And a properly designed pellet won’t make the water milky.

2. Dried Animals: As a rule, freeze-dried foods are to be preferred over sun-dried ones since the latter shall hardly have any nutrients left once fed to the fish. A good freeze-dried food is krill (Antartica, Superba). These promote color and contain around 65% protein. But again, these alone cannot comprise a flowerhorn’s diet.

Etc.

Just some additional pointers. I’m not so sure if its expert’s opinion but it does not mean that high protein pellets should sink. This is false. Pellets that float have an outer coating that prevents water from seeping in, keeping the air packets inside filled with air. As such, it floats. Sinking pellets won’t have the same outer coating so they sink once thrown into the water. A pellet with 48% protein may be a floater. While an extruded crumble may contain 25% protein but be a sinker.

As a rule, diet requirements and feeding frequency will change with a fish’s age. But this will have to be the stuff of another post. I could only discuss this in passing later below.

As for pumping, it also has to be qualified: LH’s shall be quick growing only until around 8 inches. After that, it’s a much slower growth rate. Keep on pumping and your fish will turn fat and lethargic. Obviously, if a 10-inch fish is underweight, it may nonetheless deserve a pump. But pumping by definition is something temporary. It should not be done for too prolonged a period.

Why do we feed superworms, frozen bloodworms, etc? Essentially because others do. But we will have to give out some pointers. Superworms may be fed to your fish, but only for purposes of additional growth kicks and food variety. 1-3 times per week would already be a good baseline for such feeding. It may be lower or altogether unnecessary for large and stocky fish. As for frozen bloodworms, the same rationale and principle applies. Note however that frozen bloodworms may also provide added disease resistance. In the strict sense however, these foods could actually be considered optional, or non-essential if you may. They are occasional treats. But they can’t really be used as staple food if long term health and optimum fish potential are to be considered, most especially in the case of a hybrid such as the LH.

Pellets and Contents

As for your query about the contents in pellet labels, it would be worth elaborating in more detail. Unfortunately I’m running out of space. So I’ll just keep it short.

Pellets by definition are nutritionally dense. Just look at the moisture content. It seldom breaches the 13% mark. In contrast, all meats and live foods will have way, way more than half their weight (often some 75%) attributed to water. As such, in the case of pellets, high nutritional values are possible within compact amounts of food.

I think your concern here would be on the accuracy of the nutrients in the label. Honestly, anyone could say that their pellets or flakes will contain this or that amount of protein, etc. But in many instances, this may not be true. To be safe, be sure the fish foods you buy are accredited by the Bureau of Animal Industry.

It’s really no joke to get accreditation. It took the Grand Sumo brand for instance more than 4 months and at least 3 studies, including one from the University of Sains, Malaysia, one from the US, and one from the Malaysian Veterinary Bureau before approval was given. Conflicting results were eventually tallied and reconciled by way of the Blight & Dyer technique. Not all pellet brands in the market have gone through rigid testing, much less, accreditation.

All our products are scientifically tested and verified. GS is actually a good friend of the scientific community. GS Red in particular took up more than 9 months’ worth of serious development. Conceptualization actually occurred much earlier. Rajah was 6 months in the making. You could just imagine all the formulation, testing, trials, reformulation, etc. that came with the development of these foods. It’s really no joke. Of course, there will be serious foods designed for serious flowerhorn hobbyists. Herein lies the challenge.

On protein requirements, smaller fish shall need higher amounts compared to older ones. As a rule, a high protein pellet would be more than 40% protein. Honestly, cichlids in general will need just around 30-35% protein as a basic requirement. 48-50% would probably be optimal already for a premium line pellet. More than 52% in a pellet may be a bit redundant already if fed liberally. (The body could only absorb a given amount of protein at a given time. The surplus comes out in the form of fat.) But it is possible and will be of use for hobbyists who know how to feed properly. More than 55% protein may already appear doubtful to many, most especially if a pellet in question looks starchy and not smooth and dense.

In contrast to pellets, it will be possible for freeze-dried foods to contain very high percentages of protein, as is the case with freeze-dried krill and dried silkworm pupae or chrysalis meal, where 65% is quite common.