Platy fish are omnivores, which means that they can eat practically everything, including fish pellets. If you feed your platy pellets, make sure the pellets you select are high-quality and include an ideal nutritional ratio for platy fish. You can also feed platy live food and vegetables.
Still, there’s a lot to know about feeding platy fish a healthy diet. To ensure your platy gets the best food based on its needs, keep reading. This article fully looks at the nutritional needs of a platy and discusses why pellets are suitable for platy fish. Scroll down.
What Do Platies Eat?
If you want to feed your platy fish the best food possible, you first have to understand what platy fish eat in the wild. Luckily, this question is easily answered.
Platy fish are considered a type of omnivore. An omnivore is a creature that eats both plants and animals. Humans, for example, are frequently omnivores, except for those that decide to live vegetarian or vegan lifestyles, of course.
Wild Platies
Since platy fish are omnivores, they can eat practically anything. They are known to eat insects and shrimp, but they also eat algae and other plants found in freshwater. In the wild, platy fish eat algae, plant material, insects, fish eggs, and larvae. In other words, they will eat anything that fits into their small mouths.
Pet Platies
Since wild platies eat such a vast array of food, pet platies can eat many foods too. They are considered some of the least picky fish. You can feed practically any type of fish food to this creature, including flakes, pellets, frozen food, live food, and fresh veggies.
Here are some specific ingredients and foods that platy fish enjoy:
- Blood worms
- Brine shrimp
- Plankton
- Daphnia
- Spirulina
- Blanched or boiled veggies (broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, peas, squash, etc.)
What Is the Ideal Nutrition for Platy Fish?
As omnivores, platy fish need a mixture of protein, fiber, and vitamins to live a long and healthy life. The majority of their diet should come from fiber, such as that found in vegetables and plant matter. Only a small portion of its diet should come from protein, including invertebrates and insects, though its protein needs are much smaller than other fish.
It’s best to provide your platy fish with a diet of about 50% protein and 10% fiber. This nutrition can be attained by having live plants in the tank and feeding your platy a primarily plant-based diet with invertebrates and insects too.
What Is the Best Food for Platies?
The best food for platies are the type of food that replicates its diet in the wild. In other words, it should contain a mixture of animal and plant matter so that the fish gets enough protein, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals to survive.
The absolute best diet for a platy fish involves live or frozen protein with fresh vegetables. This diet will not include any additives or fillers that can make the platy fat or unhealthy. Unfortunately, feeding your fish a raw diet can be expensive and confusing. Unless you are a fish expert, it can be difficult to determine if you are feeding it the right amount of nutrients.
Pellets for Your Platy
Instead, you can consider food pellets. However, you need to be careful if you are feeding pellets to any fish. Many commercial pellets and fish flakes are unhealthy for fish. They contain fillers like corn, soy, and rice. You will need to avoid these pellets to make sure your platy is getting the best food.
By selecting a high-quality pellet diet, your platy will get all of the nutrition it needs, and the food will likely be more affordable and convenient for you, which is a win-win. Add occasional frozen protein as a nice treat for your fish as well.
How to Select High-Quality Platy Pellets
To ensure that the pellet you get your platy is healthy, you need to read the ingredients on the back of the container. There should be no mention of rice, soy, wheat, or corn. There should not be any artificial flavoring, colors, or preservatives either.
The best bet is to look for all-natural or organic platy fish food. Organic food will be more expensive, but it will be healthier for your platy because it ensures your platy gets just the right ingredients it needs to live a healthy life.
How to Feed Pellets to Your Platy Fish
Feeding your platy fish is pretty simple once you get the right ingredients. Select a high-quality platy pellet mixture and follow the portion sizes on the back of the container. For treats, you can feed the fish brine shrimp or bloodworms.
How Often Do Platies Need to be Fed?
How much you feed your platy depends on its age. Adult fish need to be fed once a day. Juveniles should be fed two to three times a day in small portions until they reach adult size.
You will know that you are feeding your fish too much if you notice strings of poop dangling from the fish frequently. If you see this, decrease the amount you are feeding the platy.
How Often Can Platies Go Without Food?
In the wild, fish can go a few days without food since resources are not constantly available. Even so, try to feed your platy every day since this is the ideal feeding amount for an adult fish. If you forget to feed the fish one night, just feed it the next day. The fish won’t die from one lack of feeding.
If you know you will be going out of town for a week or more, consider a pet sitter. The pet sitter will be able to feed the fish while you are away. You could also consider a fish food feeder instead.
Final Thoughts
You can feed your platy pellets, but make sure they are high-quality pellets. High-quality pellets will deliver the right nutrition for your fish without overloading it with unnecessary fillers and ingredients. If you want to give your fish a treat, offer frozen protein as well.