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TYPES OF FISH FEEDS YOU CAN USE
1. Pellets 
The most common commercial feeds available in the market are in the form of pellets. These pellets may either be floating or sinking, depending on the species of fish that is being cultured. Tilapia and catfish respond well to floating pellets, but prawns and lobsters will feed exclusively on sinking pellets. The pellets normally come in different sizes and one must consider the size of the fish before buying. Very small fish (hatchlings and fingerlings) will not be able to feed on big pellets due to the size of their mouths. Feeding them on such pellets will be a waste since the fingerlings will waste a lot of time nibbling on the pellets with a lot of them remaining uneaten 

2. Mash
 This is a mixture of several ground (crushed) ingredients which are supplemented with nutrient premixes. In most cases, there is some form of binding of these ingredients so that they don’t separate during transportation, storage and feeding. They may be of the same nutrient value as the pellets. The only difference is that they are not pelletized. Mashed feeds are very ideal, especially for the fingerlings which are not yet ready to start consuming the larger pellets. Though they are also good for bigger fish, the problem is that they tend to spread over a larger area and make the fish spend a lot of energy trying to collect enough feed. 

3. Ingredient Mixtures 
Usually make on the farm or by small scale entrepreneurs. The only difference between them and mash is that the ingredients are just mixed in a blender (mixer) and packaged for sale. Although they are cheaper, their main disadvantage is that since the ingredients are not bound together, they tend to separate (or concentrate in certain areas) so that the fish do not get uniform feed. For, example, when feeding on a windy day, the lighter ingredients will be blown further away while the heavier ones will fall closer to the feeding point. This means that all the fish in the pond won’t be receiving the same diet. 

4. Separate ingredients 
In the absence of ready-made feeds, some farmers prefer to feed their fish on the difference feed items found within the local markets. This could include ground fish meal, soy bean cake, cotton seed cake, wheat bran, rice bran, wheat pollard, blood meal, etc. (see a detailed list in DOWNLOADS section). However, it is good to note that care should be taken to ensure the fish get a balanced diet. Feeding exclusively on high protein ingredients will be very expensive (excessive feeding will lead to water quality problems), while low protein items will lead to low harvest weights. 

REMEMBER, WHEN THE FISH ARE ACTIVELY FEEDING, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE ARE ACTIVELY GROWING!!!