Like us, we have to consume a variety of food to sustain our growth and also to protect us from any infection. Therefore, the advise is to get the most ‘complete’ fish food / pellets in your local pet store. One of the most important ingredients to look at is the protein content, this is very important for small to medium flower horns. This is the time where they will require fish food that has high protein content. Some quarters believe that feeders will be the best solution, but, at times, if the feeders were contaminated, this will cause your fish to come down with serious infection. So, be forewarned that feeders will have to be quarantined before being fed to your flower horn. Another feed that is quite popular is the bloodworms (frozen / fresh). Please be aware that feeders and bloodworms will be easily accepted by the flower horns. So, we are sure you do not want your fish to be hooked to feeders and bloodworms. So, the best solution is to feed them sparingly. My suggestion is that you feed your fish will pellets first and then, only you feed them with some feeders / bloodworms. Or, what you can do is to only use the feeders and bloodworms as a treat for your flower horn where you only feed your flower horn like once a week. In this way, you will get the best of everything. No doubt that the flower horns are ferocious eaters, but too much pampering with live feed / bloodworms will cause a little bit of headache where the flower horn decides not to consume the dry fish food.
Next thing that always come to mind is the frequency of feeding your fish. In the Far East (Penang), home of the Flower Horns, we usually feed the fish 3 – 4 times a day. But, for those who do not have the time or convenience, you can actually feed them twice a day. Just make sure that you provide them with enough food. But, DO NOT OVERFEED. Only feed the amount that the fish is able to consume within 5 minutes. Once the fish has finished, you can add a little more fish food for the fish to consume. It will actually be great if you are able to feed them as much as possible especially when the flower horns are at the growing stage, this will greatly help the fish in projecting the true potential of the fish. As for those who will be going away for a short trip (3 – 4 days), the fish will be fine if it is not fed for a few days. Just before you leave, just feed the fish as you would normally do. Again, DO NOT OVERFEED. But for longer trips (more than 5 days), it will be advisable that you get someone to feed the fish when you are away.
Another question is whether your fish should be fed with color enhancer. There are a lot of color enhancing fish pellets in the market. Usual ingredient that most manufacturers use is astaxanthin. So in this issue, our advice is to practice moderation. Too much will cause the fish to look fake as the color projected is unnatural. We recommend that you mix your regular pellets with the color enhancing pellets when feeding your fish, like 1 part color enhancing pellets with 2 parts of regular pellets. No doubt that there are some quarters that believe or claimed that too much color enhancer will cause the coloration of the fish to turn black. We have yet to see this scenario. Anyway, it is best to practice moderation, rather than be sorry later on. Besides, most of us would like some color on the fish than to have a plain looking one. In fact, what attracts most people apart of the protruding hump of this great fish is the coloration.
Good luck ! And we hope that this will clear the air on this issue, which some hobbyists, especially first timers, are facing.
