Food for your fish

Golden perch header white text web web

The PERCH MAN ABN 42 065 149 145

FOOD FOR PERCH   

To order fish food email: bruce@theperchman.com
 
Silver perch and Jade perch are omnivores.
They will eat almost anything, animal or vegetable!
 Link to food trick
My food is exactly the same as used by commercial perch farms in Australia.
You can order as little as 1kg.
Food is $15.00 per KG. (Plus shipping costs.)
I can send the food with your fingerling order.
 
My fish food is a commercial diet used by commercial farms in Australia.
Diets have been developed based on scientific research, and delivers to the ideal requirements of Perch, Murray Cod, barramundi and other freshwater species.
The ingredients are safe, sustainable and Certified. Produced for performance and optimal fish growth and health.
 
When changing sizes of food, as you need to do as the fish grow, mix the new size food with the old at about 50/50 gradually reducing the amount of the smaller food over a period of days.
Following this process will help reduce the coefficient of variation in size of fish.

Special note
Over many years, silver and jade perch have been tested for Omega-3 content of their flesh.
These tests consistently show these two fish have exceptionally high Omega-3 content.
However, these tests also showed that this omega-3 level can be considerably influenced by the type of food used to grow the fish.
Note, the food I sell will result in high omega-3 levels in the fish you grow.
 
Feed care and storage
For optimum quality and shelf life fish food should be stored, below 20c, off the floor, in a cool dry place, in a well-ventilated area, and away from direct sunlight.
Vitamins, proteins, and lipids are especially heat sensitive, and can be readily denatured by high storage temperatures.
High moisture stimulates mold growth and feed decomposition.

Feed should not be stored longer than 90 to 100 days.
Older feed should be used first, and all feed should be regularly inspected for mold prior to feeding.
All moldy feed should be discarded immediately.
Mice, rats, roaches and other pests should be strictly controlled in the feed storage area, because they consume and contaminate feed and transmit diseases.

How much food should you feed your fish ?
The research done in the past for commercial producers advised commercial farmers to feed at the daily rate of 2% of the body weight of the fish.
This is a "general" guide not a rule.
Don’t be in a hurry to increase the size of the pellet.
The surface area of the pellet that is in contact with the digestive acids is greater for a small pellet.
I can tell you from decades of personal experience, that silver and jade perch can secrete undigested food.
A smaller surface area means this should be less likely to happen because the fish’ digestive acid can get to more of the pellet when they are small rather than large pellets.
Perch, particularly jade perch will grow on a vegetarian diet.
In the case of jade perch their diet should lean towards vegetables as the water temperature drops below 22c.
Below 20c feeding should be sparing, perhaps two or three times a week.
Below 18c never feed them to satiation.
Pellets consumed at these low temperatures could harm the health of jade perch.
The fish will consume the food, but can't digest it efficiently.
The food can then decompose in their stomachs and cause health issues.
I have collected many jade perch from the wild during winter.
The wild fish always excrete undigested filamentous algae in winter, pictured below.
 Filamentous algea
For your interest, in the early days I fed all my fish day old bread.
The bakeries disposed of day old bread, and I was able to get it from them.
These days that is not permitted.
I have also learned much about fish food and now know this is a bad diet for them.
However, the fish just loved it.
Like fairy floss, (Cotton candy.) to a child they just loved it, but too much was bad for them..
 
This link is for commercial producers Detailed information about food and Australian perch.