Feeding the livestock.

A proper diet is essential for your livestock to flourish, generally fish are not too fussy and can be fed squid, mussel, krill, shrimp, fish and commercial frozen foods in pieces small enough to fit into their mouths. It is essential that some species of wild caught stock are fed live foods until you are able to get them onto other foods, seahorses and plankton feeders are prime examples of this. Live foods can be bred by you such as  Brine and Mysid shrimp or supplemented with mosquito wrigglers, daphnia or white worms, if you live near the ocean you can collect your own. Running  a fine net through seaweeds in a tide pool or round weed covered boulders will usually produce a plethora of various small shrimp, amphipods and copepods. Excess food collected can be kept in fresh NSW with an airstone or frozen then fed out, this is useful to help wean them onto commercially available foods. Generally fish will eat foods they recognise as part of their natural diet.

Some types of fish can be too slow or shy to compete for food with faster moving individuals or indeed may be considered prey by them, these types are better housed together to ensure longevity. Knowledge gained from nature guides, websites and experience should give you an understanding of the feeding requirements and compatibility of your livestock within your aquarium community.

Feeding invertebrates presents more of a challenge because they exhibit a far greater diversity of feeding styles. Some invertebrates, such as sponges and tunicates, filter tiny plankton particles, while others graze or prey on more substantial items. Some proprietary tropical coral foods can be used but in general, filter feeders are the most difficult to satisfy in the aquarium and should be avoided in favor of those that select larger foods. Some time should be devoted to learning about the general feeding habits of each invertebrate species you plan on maintaining.