My anniversery is coming up next month and my husband wants an aquarium with dragonfish (he's dead serious about it; he's been reading up on basic aquarium care), so I plan to surprise him with an aquarium, basic supplies, and a gift card for the fish he wants. The only problem is, I don't know what the best food for a dragonfish is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
2007-02-25 05:21:29 · 9 answers · asked by cougarmint 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Dragonfish (AKA dragon goby, violet goby) will eat "leftovers" from other fish (they are filter feeders, so they will find small particles in the gravel). If you aren't planning any other fish, some finely crushed flake food once in a while will do, but you may need to turn your filter off so the fish has a chance to get the food before it's all sucked up by the intake. Occasional brine shrimp pellets (which crumble on their own) are also eaten. They also like small "meaty" items - frozen bloodworm cubes are the most convenient. Varying the diet is best for nutrition - one dry/prepared meal and one frozen/live meal each day is what I do with most of my fish - be careful not to overfeed!
Plan on lots of hiding places (the fish tend to be shy) and a cover for the tank (they can jump!).
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=2526
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/10dragonfish.htm
2007-02-25 10:04:45 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dragonfish are primarily carnivorous (meat eating) scavengers, so provide him with a high protein diet. Many high quality processed fish foods are available on the market today, and most frozen fish foods are also appropriate. In the wild, most Dragonfish eat primarily aquatic invertebrates, insects, and insect larvae, and opportunistically scavenge old carcasses, so you are best off to try to duplicate this in the aquarium environment.
2007-02-25 05:40:44 · answer #2 · answered by Jebarj90 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first off, what do you mean by dragon fish? an arowana?
do you know what kind of arowana he's going to get? i'm guessing a silver as they're the easiest to find, and the cheapest, and grow the largest, the quickest. i saw black arowanas yesterday, they were about £300 for a 1ft fish.
if it is indeed arowana's he's looking into, they need to be fed very carefully, overfeeding causes dropeye, and unsightly condition. they need meaty foods as they are carnivorous. i don't recommend live feeder fish though, they usually don't provide the arowana with the correct nutrition and you may find the arowana starting to refuse any food BUT live feeder fish. so insects, shrimp, beefheart, specialised pellets etc should be fed sparingly.
also, if you are considering a silver arowana, you will need a tank of around 250-300 US gallons. and mustn't be kept with any fish under 12" long.
"dragon fish" can also be applied to a violet goby, which is a brackish fish and NOT freshwater.
2007-02-25 05:34:40 · answer #3 · answered by catx 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They like eating live ghost shrimp, which are about 20-35 cents at most pet stores. They love frozen brine shrimp, krill, and other foods like that.
They eat earthworms, blackworms, and mealworms too, but I only gave mine mealies once a month as a treat. Dont feed flakes, as they dont really like them. Frozen brine shrimp are a perfect food, just thaw them out before use in luke-warm water and pur the water in the tank with the shrimp.
(if you have more than one dragon goby, then I suggest a 55gal tank, but remember these are bottom dwelling fish. So get a tank with a LOT of floor space, or be inventive and make cliff-like things for them to hand out on in the mid'levels.)
2007-02-25 05:28:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
do not get him a dragon fish until after it has cycled they are very sensitive to the build of chemicals in a new tank the best food would be frozen brine shrimp
2007-03-03 09:04:53 · answer #5 · answered by JENNIFER H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
beefheart i have an oscar and he loves it just look up the recipe if u dont make it urself it will be very expensive but it seems u being a spender and all u dont really care so go buy it best stuff for fish makes them colorful
2007-02-25 05:31:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Try Knightfish. Okay, seriously, any pet shop worthy of the name can tell you what the little boogers eat. And I'm sure they'll have plenty to sell to you too!
2007-02-25 05:24:07 · answer #7 · answered by texasjewboy12 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Try live frozen foods and krill.
2007-03-04 13:37:42 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would think food flakes, i don't know about pellets though because i have platies.
2007-02-25 05:24:51 · answer #9 · answered by Tiffany 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋