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Vitamins, fatty acids



>[DYmonHead at aol_com]
>Someone suggested that maybe frozen food is lacking in vitamins.

These days most manufacturers of frozen food add a vitamin mix to the 
frozen food. However, not all feeds are being produced and frozen by the 
manufacturer himself. I suggest you contact the manufacturer of the 
feeds you regularly buy as they should be able to give you more info 
about this matter. A vitamin lack is very unlikely though, especially if 
you administer different kinds of feeds.

>David W. Webb" <dwebb at ti_com
>I've read before that it's better to feed marine fish on marine food.

It is indeed better to feed marine food to marine fish (see further), 
but occasional feedings of fresh water food will not cause any harm.

>It's something about the type of fats in the marine food versus the 
>freshwater food.

Marine organisms, especially the organisms on the bottom of the food 
chain, are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These particular fatty acids are 
poly-unsaturated, which means that they contain bonds between C-atoms 
which are not saturated with H-atoms. The first unsaturated bond of this 
type of fatty acids is located on the third C-atom of the chain on the 
methyl-end of the chain; hence the notation: omega-3. The fatty acids 
found in vegetable matter (and fresh water fish) are poly-unsaturated as 
well but the first unsaturated bond is located on the sixth C-atom; 
hence the notation: omega-6 fatty acids. Now, this difference might seem 
small but the way the fatty acids (inter)react with other compounds in 
the body (e.g. blood platelets, antibodies, prostaglandines, 
leukotrienes, cell membranes, …) is partly determined by the three 
dimensional structure of the fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are 
mandatory for all living beings and marine fish have the disadvantage of 
not being able to synthesize it themselves … here’s why you should 
administer marine feeds to marine organisms in captivity. There is no 
other way (yet) to provide your fish with these indispensable compounds.

>Unfortunately, the only marine-ish live food that I usually see at >the 
aquarium store is brine shrimp, and these are reputed to not >have the 
fatty acids that some marine fish need.

In the industry a lot of attention is being focused on 2 particular 
fatty acids, namely EPA and DHA. Brine shrimp contain almost no DHA, the 
amount of EPA varies with the strain of brine shrimp being used. 
Actually it is the location where the shrimp are harvested which is of 
importance as the food the brine shrimp consume is the ultimate source 
of EPA. This is why brine shrimp (amongst other organisms) are sometimes 
enriched with a food containing omega-3 fatty acids in the factory of 
the feed manufacturers before being sold. The technique is not difficult 
and the nutritional value of the brine shrimp is enhanced dramatically.

Steve Geerts
San Francisco Bay Brand

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