Food for pet fish that is shellfish free?

[Irene]

We have pet fish and I am having difficulty finding fish food that does not have shrimp/krill in them.  I've only been able to find freeze-dried tubifex worms and pellets from Hikari that are for Cichlids (not the kind of fish I have but I've been using them).  Anyone knows of other brands that don't contain shrimp meal?  I haven't found any at PetCo. My son is allergic to shellfish but not to fish.  Thanks!

[CMdeux]

I have looked-- and the bottom line is that there isn't one.  Most tropical fix foods include shrimp or crab meals, and I suspect that it is because warm-water fishes which are non -herbivorous just plain NEED it and there isn't a great equivalent.

What kind of fish do you have?

I've had problems with tubifex worms and disease, so I don't use them. 

I just use the shaker containers of TetraMin and ColorMin/TetraColor (forget which is the name) and I'm very careful to not spill the food anywhere but into the tank.  I also wear gloves to work in the tank.

(I'm the SFA person at my house-- I feed the fish so as to minimize my risk... nobody else is as careful about not spilling the food.)

[Irene]

Okay, at least I know I'm not missing something!  The majority of my fish are fancy guppies.  They seem to be doing all right with the cichlid food pellets so I guess I'll keep using them.  I haven't had any problems with the tubifex worms but they are quite expensive.  I am the one who feeds the fish usually but sometimes my son does it.  I just don't like having anything with shellfish in the home.

[CMdeux]

Oh, I completely understand that feeling.  I kept my fish food under lock and key until DD was old enough to know that it contained shellfish, and the entire reason we went to ME feeding is that DH sort of 'sprinkled' fish food into the tank from about 14" above the hood, which meant that the front of the tank often was littered with allergenic fishy food residue...  Yeah.  I was NOT happy to be cleaning that up.

If you have a really great local aquarist shop, you could ask there if there's any long-term harm in feeding cichlid food to your guppies.  I'm guessing that they may lose some of the flashy color over time, and might not reproduce, but that may be fine.

[Irene]

This info is for CMdeux.  Just wanted to share that I have recently found fish food that does not contain shellfish in its ingredients.

Hikari Staple (for koi and pond fish)
Aqueon goldfish granules (for goldfish and other pond fish)

[CMdeux]

Thanks for the info, Irene!!  Very helpful.