When it comes to fish, prevention is better than treatment. Fish that are well-fed and have a strong immune system are more likely to be able to handle stress (like being moved from the breeder to the wholesaler, store, or customer’s home) and pathogens. There are many substances and raw materials in ready-made food for ornamental fish that boost the immune system. These include stabilized vitamin C, beta-glucan, unsaturated fatty acids, spirulina, Kelp algae, chlorella, probiotics, herbs, and so on. If you want to help aquarium fish’s natural defenses, look for these things in their food formulas.
Stabilized Vitamin C
Stabilized vitamin C is a L-ascorbic acid 2-polyphosphate that can stand up to heat. Vitamin C can help you feel less stressed, boost your immune system, strengthen the walls of your blood vessels, and heal wounds faster.
Fats that are not saturated (UFAs)
Unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), like long-chain Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids, speed up the healing of tissues, including skin. They help the skin do its job as a barrier and make the building blocks for hormones like prostaglandins and cells that make babies. Fish can make some of the Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids they need from the simple NKT they get in their food. This helps them meet some of their needs. But carnivorous and marine fish should also be given ready-made Omega-3 acids because they can’t make them on their own.
Beta-1.3/1.6-Glucan
Beta-1,3/1,6-Glucan is a complex sugar made from the walls of yeast cells. It is a natural immune stimulant that works directly on macrophages to make them more able to eat foreign cells and their own cancer cells. In a number of Tropical foods, this ingredient is used as a boost to help keep aquarium fish healthy. Supervit is the most useful because it can be used to feed most aquarium fish. This food comes in flakes, mini flakes, granules, mini granules, chips, and tablets, so you can be sure to find the right form for your fish.
Algae in fish diet
Algae are a source of protein and other important nutrients for ornamental fish. These nutrients are thought to be good for the fish’s health because they improve the fish’s condition, resistance, and coloration. Even though the types of algae vary a lot in how much protein they have and how they are made, they all seem to have all the amino acids that fish need. So, algae are a much more valuable part of a fish’s diet than other plant materials that are used to make protein.
Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis)
Spirulina is the algae that is most often used to feed fish (Arthrospira platensis). At first, the main reason people were interested in spirulina was because its cells have between 62% and 68% protein in them. Compared to the amount of protein in meat (15–25%) or soy (35%), this is a lot. Also, the protein in spirulina is much more valuable than protein from plants, even from legumes. High amounts of pigments like chlorophyll, caretonoids, and phycobilins were also found in Spirulina.
The amount of carotenoids in spirulina’s dry matter is thought to be 0.5%. I have beta-carotene and xanthophylls as well. Carotenoids are important in fish food because they boost the immune system, protect important cell parts from free radicals, and some of them are where vitamin A comes from. They also help the animal grow up and have babies, and they protect the skin and eggs from UV radiation. Carotenoids can’t be made by fish, so they have to get them from food. Colorful fish that are kept as decorations are especially demanding in this way. Super Spirulina Forte (which comes in flakes, granules, mini granules, chips, and tablets), Pleco’s Tablets, Hi-Algae Discs XXL, and Marine Power Spirulina Formula Granules have the most Spirulina in them. Soft Line Africa Herbivore (20%) also has a lot of these algae in it.
Chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris)
Chlorella is a single-celled green algae that lives in freshwater (Chlorophyta). In dry matter chlorella can contain 45-57% protein rich in essential amino acids. People say that chlorella is good for your health because its cells contain beta-glucan, which boosts the immune system. It also has a lot of chlorophyll, which makes up about 2% of the dry matter on average. Chlorophyll, which makes up 2% of plants, helps the body digest food, reduces the number of bacteria that make food smell bad, acts as an antioxidant, and helps rid the body of toxins. When used as a bath for fish, it helps heal skin wounds and infections, according to reports from aquarists. Carotenoids are plentiful in chlorella. About 0.4% of these pigments may be found in the dry matter of. You can find chlorella in the following foods: 3-Algae (available in the form of flakes, granules and sinking and adhesive tablets).
Kelp algae
Kelp algae are a group of brown seaweeds that are full of minerals, such as organic iodine compounds that are easy to absorb, vitamins, dietary fiber, and pigments like fucoxanthin and chlorophyll. The fiber in marine algae can make up between 33 and 50% of its dry weight. This is a lot more than what you would find in higher plants. There are two kinds of fiber in kelp algae: insoluble fibers like cellulose, mannan, and xylan, and soluble fibers like alginic acid, fucoidin, and laminarin. Dietary fiber slows down the movement of food through the intestines, helps good bacteria grow in the intestines, and binds bacterial toxins and heavy metal ions.
Several studies show that alginic acid, fucoidin, and laminarin have antibacterial and antiviral properties and help the immune system. Ascophyllym nodosum and Laminaria digitata are two types of marine macroalgae known as Kelp algae that are used in Tropical’s food. The following foods contain them: 3-Algae (which comes in flakes, granules, sinking tablets, and tablets that stick to the fish), Hi-Algae Discs XXL, and Soft Line Africa Herbivore.
Lithothamnium calcareum
They are small algae that live in the ocean. Because they make carbonate structures, people have long thought they were corals. Algae that are alive are purple-red in color and grow slowly, taking in both large and small amounts of elements. They are a great source of calcium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, iron, fluorine, phosphorus, potassium, iodine, zinc, selenium, and cobalt. Because they come from living things, these elements are very bioavailable. The following foods have Lithothamnium calcareum added to them: Soft Line Africa Herbivore, XXL Hi-Algae Discs.