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Best Food for Clownfish – Top 5 Review

Aaron Boyd June 11, 2023

Every responsible pet owner wants to do the best for their beloved animals, and since you’ve clicked on this article, you’re probably a responsibly pet owner!

Doing the best for your fish includes a myriad of things. For example, making sure their habitat is clean and healthy, making sure they are sufficiently stimulated, and of course, making sure they have the best food possible.

This article will focus on the latter point, as we explore the best food for clownfish!

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Best Food for Clownfish

We all know the old adage, ‘you are what you eat’. Well, this is equally true for fish as for humans. Diet can have a major impact on your clownfish’s health, vitality, and general well-being.

Clownfish need the right balance of vitamins and minerals, as well as proteins and carbohydrates, to stay in good physical condition. A good diet regimen will also help keep their immune system strong, which will help protect them from any potential illness or injury in the future.

Thus, a good diet can have very important and long-lasting benefits. Equally, a poor diet can lead to more frequent illnesses, a lack of color, stress or even premature death. It’s easy to see why choosing the best food for clownfish is so important. Of course, the sheer variety of different food types and brands can be confusing, but we’re here to help.

This sometimes puts novices off the idea of keeping fish in the first place. That’s why we’ve assembled a guide to the most important factors you need to look for in your fish food, and we’ve even compiled a guide to some of the top brands on the market right now.

These are the top brands available at the moment, with a comprehensive review and a list of the pros and cons for each type.

This should make your decision just a little bit easier!

1. API Fish Food Flakes

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This is a widely available, generic fish food that is suitable for a huge range of fish, including clownfish. It consists of protein rich flakes which are designed to promote growth in your beloved fish.

What’s more, this range of API fish food is known to produce less waste, thereby keeping your tanks water cleaner and clearer. This is healthier for your fish, and also better for you, as it means less annoying tank cleaning and more enjoyable fish watching!

The reason less waste is produced is because the waste food is less of a magnet for ammonia producing bacteria, which can cause environment deterioration and even illness in your fish.

The ingredients in this mix include a blend of algae, shrimp and worms, which will fulfill your clownfish’s protein needs, but you should consider adding some live feed to help fulfill their predatory needs.

The mixture also has in built Omega 3 fatty acids which are known to vitalize marine fish and bring out their resplendent coloring.

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2. Omega One Garlic Marine Flakes

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This is a well-known product from one of the most respected names in the industry. Omega One uses only the highest quality ingredients and combines a good mixture of proteins and nutrients along with much needed fatty acids from ocean kelp and spirulina. These flakes are specially formulated to boost the color in your fish.

This is one of the great perks of owning clown fish, and when they are in full color, they are generally more vital and energetic as well. The natural beta carotenes from the salmon in this product help promote this color enhancement. All the proteins included here are natural, so there are no pre-processed things here!

These flakes are also insoluble, so this makes keeping your tank clean and clear a bit easier.

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3. New Life Spectrum Marine Formula

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This is a product from a relatively new player on the market. These are sinking pellets that are designed to appeal to a number of fish types, including clownfish.

You should be happy to note they are hormone free and use natural ingredient and proteins only. They also claim that this formulation helps with color enhancement and gives extra vitality to your fish.

This product is in the form of small 1 mm pellets which are handy and easily digested by clownfish.

This avoids the hassle of you having to break up food before giving it to your fish, which you know can be a real chore!

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4. Hikari Marine S pellets

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This is another offering from the Japanese company Hikari, which produces a wide range of aquarium products. This pellet food contains much the same ingredients, including brine shrimp and algae.

It claims to help establish proper metabolism in your fish, which is of course essential for the health of clownfish. It also acts to bring out the natural strong colors of clownfish, while trying to reduce waste and detritus at the same time.

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5. Omega One Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp

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Unlike the other offerings featured here, this is not a complete diet and must be used in conjunction with other food. Nevertheless, freeze dried foods have some advantage over flakes and pellets.

Generally, they lock in more nutrients and freshness, and replicate a natural feeding experience more closely. Your clownfish will love these brine shrimp, and they provide an excellent source of protein to help your fish thrive.

Also, unlike live fish, there is no added risk of parasites or infections infesting your tank and ruining all your hard work. This is perfect as an occasional treat for your clownfish, or for regular feeding with other staple foods.

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Other Treats

The food options listed above will generally give your fish all the good stuff they need to get by day to day. But we all love treating our pets, and there are some treats that clownfish just adore.

For example, to give them an extra hit of protein, you can feed them so cooked mussels, octopus, chicken livers or even squid! They will also go crazy for live food such as worms or shrimp, but you should be careful not to introduce parasites to your tank.

In the wild, clownfish do hunt down some food, so live food can help bring out this native tendency and hence make them more confidant and stress free, which has a beneficial impact on their health.

Finally, if all else fails, you can give them vegetables such as lettuce or spinach!

What are Clownfish?

To understand what is the best food for clownfish, you need to first understand a bit about this marvelous breed. Clownfish, or anemonefish, to give them their full scientific name, are tropical fishes which come in a wide variety of different shapes, sizes and color patterns.

They were of course immortalized in the Disney Pixar film, ‘Finding Nemo’, where the main character is a clownfish. As a result, this orange and white type is probably the most recognizable species, but they can be yellow, reddish or blackish in color, and may show white stripes or patches.

They are an extremely popular fish in household aquariums, and can grow to 17 cm, while the smaller varieties may reach about 7 cm in length.

It is important to realize that clownfish are native to warmer waters such as in the Indian Ocean, as well as around Malaysia and even the great barrier reef in Australia.

This has a major impact on their diet, as manufacturers generally try to replicate their natural diet, in the wild, as much as possible.

Things to Look for in Clownfish Food

First of all, as a proud clownfish owner, you should know that clownfish are omnivores. This means that, in the wild, they eat both plants and animals.

What’s more they tend to live in shallow coral reefs, and they can feed on the undigested food from their host anemones. Because most species are so small, they typically feed on very tiny things in the water, such as small zooplankton, but they also eat some algae to supplement this.

This diet tends to provide them with the hearty balance of vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive.

Clownfish and Anemones

There are a number of things that you should be on the lookout for, when selecting the best food for clownfish. But, before even looking for complete diet fish foods or supplements, you should make sure that the basic needs of your clownfish are met.

This means you should have an adequate amount of space for the fish (generally 150 L per fish) and crucially, you must supply one anemone per fish. If you want to have more fish you should allow another 75 L of water on top of this. This is very important because each clownfish takes residency in an anemone, and essentially moves in! They have a symbiotic relationship, with their host anemone, and this provides a majority of the food they need.

Thus, it is just as important to keep the anemones hale and healthy, as it is to keep your fish. If you do not provide enough anemones for your clownfish, then they will show their territorial tendencies and fight a lot, leading to injury.

Also, before buying clownfish, you should know what type of anemones they are compatible with, so you can install these in your tank. Because the anemones are such an all-inclusive feature for the clownfish (i.e. source of shelter and food), once you install the correct type and quantity, these fish are relatively easy to look after.

Complete Food for Clownfish

In complete foods, there are a number of things you should consider. The best food for clownfish are ones that have the correct blend of vitamins and minerals to boost their immune systems and keep them healthy.

Some formulations are specifically designed to bring out the color in your fish, which is a sign of a stress free, healthy environment.

You should also consider the quantity of protein in the food, especially if you are trying to grow or breed your fish. The size of the flakes or pellets are also relevant. They must be small enough to easily be consumed by the fish, but not so small that they pass through the tanks filters and clog up the filtration system.

Each brand will have specific advantages and disadvantages, and here we will go through a selection of the most popular types on the market right now.

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Conclusion

These are undoubtedly some of the best foods for clownfish, and if you stick to these options, and follow the instructions, you can’t really go wrong.

If you are unsure why not ask a fellow fish owning friend, or pop into your local pet store, who would be happy to help.

Clownfish are wonderful creatures, and if you feed them right and look after them carefully, then their playful behavior and beguiling colors will bring you hours of happiness!