Feeding: When, What , how and how much?
If possible, feed your aquarium fish two or three times a day in small doses, just enough so they can eat in two to five minutes. Uneaten food sinks to the bottom, decomposes, and pollutes the water. Spread the food as evenly on the surface of the water as possible. By doing so, smaller fish also get to their portion without difficulty.

Use an extra reserved spoon for feeding, because feeding the same portions is always easy, and avoids accidental overfeeding. The aroma and quality of the food remain unaffected as well. All sera granulated foods in the 250-ml size container, come with a practical dispensing cap that helps to avoid accidental overfeeding.

 Some aquarists buy food according to the formula "a 1 liter tin once a year." They convince themselves to have done everything for a nutritional requirement according to their fish. With such practice, the nutrition of the fish becomes extremely unbalanced, even if the food itself is of good quality. With every opening and closing of the package, they expose the food to light and air. By this, destroying the vitamins and precious nutrients is unavoidable, such as unsaturated fatty acids, even in high-quality food!

Fish should consume a container of food within two, maximum of four months. This prevents the valuable food ingredients from being destroyed by light and air. So, if possible, buy only in small packaging. Also, the fish will have better opportunity with change of food types more frequently. The wide range of sera foods always gives your ornamental fish a variety in the best possible quality.

The large food containers (1000 ml) are for breeders and owners of many aquariums of interest. In such cases, we also recommend offering the fish a variety frequently.
 
Ornamental fish require supplements of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and herbs for a long and healthy life.

sera fish foods are manufactured using a careful drying process with the most modern technology, which preserves the vitamins, minerals and the effects of herbs. All ingredients are free from parasites. The tasty flavor proves it  your ornamental fish like it.

 sera fish foods contain significantly more natural ingredients than many brands. Vitamins and fat in every sera fish food are in the correct ratio to enable the fish to burn the fat.
Depending on their feeding habits, ornamental fish dwell in different water layers in nature. Therefore, some of the ornamental fish in your aquarium swim at the top, others prefer to roam the middle layers or dig for food at the bottom.

It is essential to use the correct food type for each of these three groups, so every fish gets its food.

Premium food for all fish in community aquariums

The sera vipan product family

· More than 40 fresh, tasty and healthy ingredients

· Formed into a shape that fish would choose naturally

sera vipan flakes for fish that prefer to nibble from their food
(1) sera Flake food
(2) sera Granulated food
(3) sera Tablet- and Chip food
at the surface. The innovative sera vipagran soft granulate for fish that hunt their food in the middle water zones. sera vipachips for all bottom fish such as catfish or loaches.    
Flakes are the ideal food for ornamental fish whose hunting territory is in the upper water layers. These ornamental fish have a straight dorsal line, a mouth directed upwards, and dorsal fins shifted towards the back end. This allows them to nibble from their flakes at the surface. All these fish like to eat sera vipan as a staple diet.  
 




Large mouth, narrow throat (e.g., dwarf cichlids): sera vipagran soft granulate is chewed into manageable pieces for swallowing.



Large mouth, wide throat (e.g., cichlids): sera vipagran soft granulate can be swallowed whole. Once in contact with water, sera vipagran becomes soft and malleable and does not scratch the throat.

A milestone in tropical fish nutrition

The new sera vipagran soft granulate food adapts to the eating-behavior of the ornamental fish.
  • Retains its shape
     
  • Does not swell
     
  • Easily digested
     
  • Will not cloud water
     
  • Long lasting flavor
     
  • Ideal for automatic feeders



Small mouth with jaw teeth, narrow throat (e.g., characins): Using their lips and front teeth, these fish can easily bite off and swallow small particles from the sera vipagran soft granulate.




Small mouth with throat (pharyngeal) teeth, narrow throat (e.g., barbs): Using their lips to bite off small particles of sera vipagran soft granulate, these fish can then easily squeeze and crush the food particles in the back of the throat for swallowing.
Ornamental fish dwelling in the middle water layer have bent dorsal and ventral lines with mouths directed relatively straight forward. sera granulated foods are the perfect staple diet for fish with these characteristics. They soften quickly while retaining their compact consistency, yet sink slowly, suspending in the middle water layer to allow your fish to eat. sera granulated foods are the optimal diet for middle water zone ornamental fish.
New food for your discus fish

sera has developed special foods for discus fish. These are formulated to meet the requirements of the demanding discus fish. In addition to the well-proven staple diet sera discus granules, sera offers the new color foods sera discus color Red and sera discus color Blue. These granulated foods are specially designed for discus from more than 40 ingredients:

· Color enhancing
· High in natural minerals and trace elements
· Support the immune system

The granulated food sinks slowly, softens quickly, does not fall apart and therefore does not cloud the aquarium water.		  
   
Fish species that mainly dwell in deeper water zones have a mouth directed downwards. Therefore, in nature they are especially adapted to digging in the ground to look for food. For these fish, food tablets and chips on the aquarium bottom are the right choice.  
Food specialties –
sera’s wholesome natural food

High-quality live food animals are processed with the well-proven freeze drying procedure by sera. The abbreviation FD before the sera product names denotes "freeze dried.”
 
The food animals are thoroughly cleaned prior to being processed. They contain no pathogens, and the valuable vitamins are retained, by a large extent, through the careful manufacturing process. sera FD Bloodworms
Bloodworms are the ideal choice for enhancing the vitality of the ornamental fish and the healthy growth of young fish. Cichlids of the genus Tropheus must not be fed bloodworms.		 sera FD Tubifex
Tubifex worms are especially high in protein and an excellent power food for all ornamental fish.		 sera FD Daphnia
Daphnia have a high share of ballast substances, proteins and minerals.

sera FD foods are not only real delicacies for ornamental fish, but they are also indispensable for natural, well-balanced nutrition. Regular addition of these foods ensures healthy, splendid ornamental fish.		  
  sera FD Shrimps
Shrimp contain plenty of natural carotene, which enhances the splendid coloration of all ornamental fish. The well-balanced ratio of protein, fat and crude fibers is an ideal basis for healthy growth.		 sera FD mixpur
This "muesli” (granola) of ornamental fish food contains a blend of FD products – Bloodworms, Tubifex, Artemia Shrimps and Daphnia. It’s the ideal food-mix for community aquariums.

 

For which purposes do ornamental fish need the different nutrients?
The food must contain a well-balanced composition of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and trace elements to provide nutrition according to the natural requirements of the fish. We will explain the most important ingredients and their meanings.

Carbohydrates and fats are the most important energy sources in the food. However, if an oversupply occurs, especially fat, it gets enriched in the body and can lead to fattening and organ damages. Therefore, the food should be low in fat (best below 6%). Exception: Food for rearing young fish (sera mikropan) may contain up to 8% fat.

 Protein consists of long chains of connected amino acids. The protein chains dissolve into separate amino acids during digestion. The fish absorbs the amino acids, which the fish uses for building up muscles. Rich-in-protein food is real "power nutrition" for every fish. Animal protein is usually faster and easier to digest than vegetable protein. Thus, fish that mainly feed on meat or on other fish have only short, straight bowels. Herbivore fish (e.g. sucker-mouth catfish) have long, spirally wound bowels. These differences have to be considered to provide nutrition according to the requirements of the fish.

Trace elements full-fill many different functions in the body. Regarded as "tools" of the organism, they are an indispensable part of enzymes. Trace elements are, as the name implies, only required in very small amounts.

Minerals (e.g., calcium) are important for building up of the skeleton and therefore, the healthy growth

 

For which purposes do ornamental fish need the different nutrients?
Ballast substances have no direct nutritional value for the fish, yet they are very important: They have an effective defense against inertia of the bowels, which will otherwise cause intestinal complications. Bowel inertia often occurs, for example, feeding discus cichlids only with foods low in ballast substances, such as scraped beef heart, for over a prolonged period. (Apart from the lack of ballast substance, this is a severe unbalanced source of nutrition. Anyway, it is not according to the natural requirements of the fish. sera discus granules and sera discus Flakes give discus fish an appropriate nutrition that contains everything these fish need.)

"Vitamins"

"Vitamins" is a generic term from entirely different active substances, which they have nothing in common at all.

 They possess many different functions and each required amount differs strongly from the other. A lack of one vitamin cannot compensate with an oversupply of another vitamin. Thus, we composed the multivitamin complex of sera food very carefully. We will explain the most important vitamins, their functions in the fish body, deficiency symptoms and also when one feeds the fish with low-quality food that hardly contains any vitamins.

Deficiency of nearly every vitamin, furthermore, leads to lack of appetite and growth disturbances. An apathetic, ill-looking fish usually relates to the insufficient supply of vitamins!

Therefore, the importance of vitamins for the health of the fish is obvious. We have information of the vitamin content on every sera food container.

 

For which purposes do ornamental fish need the different nutrients?

Vitamin A improves eyesight and healthy growth. Furthermore, it serves as a skin protector and as a fertility vitamin. Vitamin A deficiency leads to eye defects and bleeding sores on the skin.

Vitamin B2 does an important role in the digestion of protein, for the muscle buildup and as a protection for the mucous membrane.

 Deficiency symptoms are bleeding sores on the skin and disturbances of the nervous system.

Vitamin B5 (vitamin PP) is important for the buildup of various enzymes. Typical deficiency symptoms are gill problems.

Vitamin B6 is important for the nervous system. A lack of this vitamin causes damages to the nervous system that will ultimately lead to movement troubles.

Vitamin B12 is necessary for the digestive organs and the buildup of the red blood cells (hemoglobin), which are indispensable for the oxygen transport. Lack of vitamin B12 leads to anemia and results in apathy and growth disturbances
For which purposes do ornamental fish need the different nutrients?
  A lack of vitamins in the B group leads to skin defects. The fish also take up these vitamins directly through the skin. This is the reason that the water conditioner, sera aqutan also contains a valuable, well-balanced vitamin B complex.

Vitamin C is important for the skeletal buildup. Also, it does an important role for improving the resistance to disease. Lack of vitamin C leads to gill deformity and proneness to diseases. In its original form, vitamin C is sensitive to air. sera food, therefore, contains long-term stabilized vitamin C.

Vitamin D3 regulates the intake of calcium and phosphorus and is so very important for the bone, respectively skeleton growth. A lack of this vitamin leads to bone deformity (rachitis).

 

Vitamin E stimulates the production of fertility hormones. Also, it stabilizes other vitamins and the valuable unsaturated fatty acids in the food. Typical symptoms of fish lacking vitamin E are infertility and liver fattening.

Vitamin H (biotin) is a growth factor. Accordingly, biotin deficiency leads to growth disturbances. Also, it causes the lack of appetite and cramps.

Vitamin K improves blood coagulation after injuries. A lack of this vitamin will lead to problems in skin healing, and to liver damages.

Choline is necessary for the digestion of fat. A lack of choline will lead to, among other symptoms, fattening of the
For which purposes do ornamental fish need the different nutrients?
 

Also, when using high-quality brand food, we recommend supporting the vitamin supply by adding sera fishtamin and sera activant. 

Especially, with cause of stress (e.g., by overstocking) or keeping fish that are not according to their requirements (e.g., five neon tetras are not a shoal!), increase the vitamin demand of the ornamental fish.

Lack of vitamins increases the proneness to diseases. Here, often small causes (e.g., cleaning or maintenance measures in the aquarium, introduction of new fish, etc.) may lead to a disease outbreak.

sera fishtamin is a liquid and is suitable for the following applications:

  • to support the healing process during and after diseases.
  • to strengthen weak fish. Stress factors are, for example, overstocking, insufficient hiding places, keeping the fish not according to their requirements, too frequent maintenance measures, etc.
  • before and after transferring the fish into another aquarium.
  • before and after a breeding attempt
  • to enhance rearing food (sera micron, sera mikropan, sera microgran, brine shrimp nauplii). Growing young fish have an especially high demand in vitamins.

 

Once or twice a week, simply add sera fishtamin onto the food or directly into the aquarium. Use according to the instructions for use.

sera activant contains vitamins, minerals and trace elements. It improves the health, colors and the vitality of ornamental fish.

In tablet form, the active ingredients of sera activant are suitable for use over a long period, as light and air do not diminish the vitamins. Add sera activant into the aquarium every other week. Refer to the instructions for use. It releases its valuable contents slowly. Fish nibble at the tablets and thus take up the vitamins and minerals directly.

sera activant improves the readiness to spawn and is therefore ideal for breeding preparation.
Keeping-fit with sera vitamins

Even when using a high-quality brand food, we recommend supporting the vitamin supply by adding sera fishtamin and sera activant supplements. 		 
sera fishtamin is a liquid vitamin supplement and is suitable for the following applications:

· To strengthen stress-weakened fish. Stress can come from overstocking, insufficient hiding places, poor adherence to the fishes’ natural requirements, or too-frequent maintenance measures.
· To prepare the fish before and after transferring them into another aquarium.
· To enhance rearing food (sera micron, sera mikropan, sera microgran, brine shrimp nauplii). Young growing fish have an especially high demand of vitamins.
· To support the healing process during and after disease.
Fish food must contain a well-balanced composition of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, trace elements and ballast substances for a diet according to the fishes� requirements: Ballast substances

Ballast substances are an effective defense against inertia of the bowels. Bowel inertia often occurs, for example, by feeding discus cichlids only with foods that are low in ballast substances, such as scraped 		Proteins

 
beef heart, for a prolonged period. (Apart from the lack of ballast substance, this is a severely unbalanced source of nutrition and not according to the natural requirements of the fish.

Carbohydrates and fats

These are the most important energy sources. However, excess fat leads to fattening and organ damage. Just as in sera fish food, fat and vitamins in the body must be in proper ratio to enable the fish organism to burn the fat.

Minerals

Important for building the skeleton, minerals such as calcium are essential for the healthy growth of the fish.		 Trace elements

Fulfilling many different functions in the body, trace elements are regarded as the "tools” of the organism; they are an indispensable part of enzymes. Trace elements are, as the name implies, only required in very small amounts
Here we have outlined the most important vitamins, their functions in the fish�s body, and deficiency symptoms that can arise by feeding low-quality vitamin-poor food. A lack of one vitamin cannot be compensated by an oversupply of another vitamin. We compose the multivitamin complex in sera food very carefully. The benefits of each vitamin


Vitamin A

Improves eyesight and enhances healthy growth. Furthermore, it serves as a skin protector and as a fertility vitamin.
 		 Deficiency symptoms




Vitamin A deficiency leads to eye defects and bleeding sores on the skin.



 
Vitamin B1

Necessary for obtaining energy from the carbohydrates in food and to provide the brain and nerves with sugar (nerve nutrition!).

Vitamin B2

Plays an important role in the digestion of protein, and is also necessary for muscle buildup and as a protection for the mucous membrane.

Vitamin B5 (vitamin PP)

Important for the buildup of various enzymes.

Vitamin B6

Important for the nervous system.

Lack of vitamin B1 leads to movement troubles and cramps.






Deficiency symptoms are bleeding sores on the skin and disturbances of the nervous system.




Typical deficiency symptoms are gill problems.



A lack of this vitamin causes damage to the nervous system. Irregular movements are a typical symptom.
The benefits of each vitamin Deficiency symptoms The benefits of each vitamin Deficiency symptoms

Vitamin B12		  
Vitamin H (Biotin)		  

Needed for the digestive organs and the buildup of the red blood cells (hemoglobin), which are indispensable for oxygen transport.
Lack of vitamin B12 leads to anemia and results in apathy and growth disturbances.
A growth factor.
Biotin deficiency leads to growth disturbances. It also causes lack of appetite and cramps.

Vitamin C		   Vitamin K  

Important for skeletal buildup. Also, it plays an important role in improving resistance to disease.
Proneness to disease and gill deformity are typical deficiency symptoms. In its original form, vitamin C is sensitive to air. sera food, therefore, contains long-term stabilized vitamin C.
Improves blood coagulation after injuries.
A deficiency leads to difficulties in healing wounds and to liver damage.
Vitamin D3   Cholin  

Regulates the intake of calcium and phosphorus and is so very important for the bones and, respectively, skeleton growth.
A lack of this vitamin leads to bone deformity (rachitis).
Necessary for the digestion of fat.
A lack of choline will lead to, among other symptoms, fattening of the liver.

Vitamin E		      

Stimulates the production of fertility hormones. Also, it stabilizes other vitamins and the valuable unsaturated fatty acids in the food.
Typical symptoms of fish lacking vitamin E are infertility and liver fattening.