Types of artificial fish food.
Continued…
Feeds also differ in how they behave in water. Some sink quickly and become prey for bottom-dwelling fish, others float on the surface for a while and go to the inhabitants of the upper layers, while others slowly sink to the bottom and are ideal for inhabitants of a decorative aquarium where “all sorts of creatures swim in pairs.” Foods are available in the form of flakes, granules, tablets, pastes, and suspensions. They are packaged in jars, boxes, and tubes of various shapes and volumes. Manufacturers usually indicate the feed composition on the packaging.
Dry compound feeds. Among dry foods, flake-like (flakes, chips) feeds can be distinguished. Their composition includes many components. These are usually fish meal, gluten, crushed crustaceans and insects, herbal supplements, vitamins, and antioxidants. These feeds can be either floating or slowly sinking (with preliminary soaking).
In the form of granules (sticks, staples, pellets) — usually floating food for large fish, such as Cichlidae. Also, such food can be sinking — for fish feeding in the middle water layer and bottom-dwelling fish. Granulated feeds usually spoil the water much less than flakes. Granulated foods are produced in any color, taste, and size, depending on the ingredients included and for fish of any age.
Food in the form of tablets (tabs) — usually for bottom fish. The food quickly sinks to the bottom of the aquarium, allows you to accustom fish to the feeding place, and helps feed timid fish since they can be hidden in secluded places. A feature of tablets is that the inhabitants of the upper and middle water layers do not have time to eat them while they fall to the bottom, and the fish living in the depths get the opportunity to eat their fill. There are tablets that easily attach to the glass and smell so aromatic that even timid fish gather around the tablet. Perhaps tableted feeds pollute the aquarium water the least.
Freeze-dried foods are a special drying method (drying at low temperatures) in which food products retain their natural composition. With this method of food preparation, excess moisture is removed from them, and this does not have a particular effect on their nutrient content. The best raw materials are used for its preparation: shrimp, Artemia and Daphnia, tubifex, and bloodworms. They quickly absorb water and acquire properties close to natural. They are considered closest in composition and properties to natural ones. But this food has one drawback: it floats on the surface without being saturated with water — and after all, many fish do not rise to it.
Lyophilized feeds are low-temperature dehydration (sublimation) of quick-frozen semi-finished products. It allows you to keep many components in their original state for a long time and preserve the feed without any significant decrease in its biological value. Sera puts the designation FD (freeze dried) on the packaging with such feed.
Extruded feeds have a porous internal texture that occurs as a result of a sharp release of steam from the feed mixture material (micro-explosion effect) at the time of its exit from the extruder. As a result of pressure and temperature in the processed material, protein denaturation, starch dextrinization, and complete sterilization of the feed occur. Particles of extruded feeds are stronger than particles of granulated feeds; therefore, the crumbling and sifting of extruded feeds is less than 1%, and for granulated feeds — from 5 to 8%. Thus, when using extruded feeds, the amount of dust entering the water during fish feeding is reduced by 75%, and direct water pollution is reduced.
Extruded feeds are more water-resistant and completely retain their shape and structure for 24 hours of staying in water. The water resistance of granulated feeds does not exceed 4 hours. Due to the application of the extrusion process, it became possible to produce high-energy feeds with a high fat content. High-fat extruded feeds have higher digestible energy, their protein is spent to a greater extent on the growth of body tissues, while, accordingly, environmental pollution indicators by fish metabolic products are reduced.
Low-temperature freezing. Deep-frozen products are also offered as food for ornamental fish. Those wishing can purchase almost all types of food in frozen form. It is this food that is eagerly accepted by those species of fish that, in principle, feed exclusively on live food.
Plankton — Contains a particularly high proportion of natural plant and animal plankton. Carefully processed, vitamin-rich treat for bottom-dwelling fish, and is also an excellent supplementary food for fry.
Jelly — A treat for fish. Natural food consisting of bloodworms, Daphnia, crustaceans, and Artemia with the addition of microelements, vitamins, proteins, and fats. The food contains no preservatives and has a 2-year shelf life without refrigeration. Nutritional value is 2 times higher than that of frozen food.
Natural food — Sun-dried aquatic organisms that serve as a supplement to the daily diet of fish. Bloodworms, Daphnia, tubifex, Artemia, and krill are a menu addition.
Micro-food — In the form of powder or micro-granules. It is an optimal food designed for rearing all fry when they reach sizes from 6 mm. It provides a fast metabolism and additional calcium for the skeletal system. A high amount of fiber prevents intestinal diseases. This food also allows small-mouthed fish to feed.
In addition, there are specialized products on the market whose composition is specially selected for specific species or groups of fish. Examples include food for guppies, bettas, Cichlidae, catfish, discus, arowanas, for herbivorous and carnivorous fish, as well as food in the form of sinking tablets or wafers designed for bottom-dwelling fish. There are other specialized dry feeds — for example, color-enhancing feeds, as well as high-protein feeds necessary for growing young fish.
Industrial dry feeds. Flakes, Chips.
Types of artificial food. Quality dry feeds. 
