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kidney failure can occur when fed a diet solely of freshwater feeder fish. For picky eaters, ghost or glass shrimp is a good live food to start them off, while mysis shrimp, fresh shrimp and squid are all foods that entice a feeding response.

Information on all marine aquarium fish can be found easily in a number of places. You should determine what your fish will require for food before bringing it home. Trying to feed the fish the wrong types of food will be wasteful for both you and the fish, and likely end with its death. Fish can be classifieds into the three main categories and broken down from there.

1. Carnivores: these fish eat other living creatures. This can vary from other fish, to invertebrates, to very specific foods. Some creatures are often referred to as planktivores, microvores, and many other descriptive terms based on what they will eat. Trying to feed flake food to fish that subsist on tiny crustaceans and other microfauna in the tank will be futile.
2. Herbivores: these fish will eat flora, ranging from microalgae to macroalgae and anything in between. Some fish have certain requirements they obtain from specific types of plants and often have health issues without them.
3. Omnivores: these are often the most simple to feed fish, and will eat most prepared foods without issue.

In addition to the three main groups, there are specialty feeders that eat very specific items.

Some larger angelfish, such as the Rock Beauty (Holocanthis tricolor) are sponge-feeders, and require a high percentage of marine sponge in their diet. Dragonets, such as the Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and Scooter (Synchiropus ocellatus) are microfauna feeders, and will usually require a large amount of natural fauna and live rock in the tank in order to subsist. Some butterfly fish (Chaetodon austriacus, baronessa, bennetti, larvatus, lunulatus, meyeri, octofasiatus, ornatissimus, rainfordi, and trifasicatus) and the orange-spotted filefish (Oxymonocanthus longirostris) are corallivores and require live corals in their diet. The orange-spotted filefish naturally eats only Acropora corals. Expecting to keep these fish in captivity is futile unless under the care of an expert aquarist.

These are just a few examples of the dietary requirements of some hard to keep marine fish. Research any potential additions to your tank before purchasing them. That beautiful fish you have your eye on may end up eating hundreds of dollars worth of your coralsand then die anyway.

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