^Source

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Introduction

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Fish collect their foods from a variety of plants, animals and water-soluble nutrients. Directly or indirectly, various high-nutrient foods and food scraps are also consumed by fish. For balanced growth of fish, fish should be given some supplementary food along with natural food. The foods that are consumed by fish mainly come from two different sources.

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Classification Of Fish Food

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The two main sources are natural food sources and supplementary food sources.

1. Natural Food
2. Supplementary Food

• Natural Food

^{zooplankton Source}

Water and food are essential for the survival of fish. Natural foods are the nutrients that are produced in the water of a reservoir in the natural fertility of water and soil. Natural food can also be produced in the water of any reservoir through the application of fertilizers. Natural foods of fish include phytoplankton, zooplankton, various aquatic insects, small pona, plants etc. Natural foods are rich in nutrients and these nutrients play an important role in the growth of fish.

• Supplementary food

^{Pellets Feeds Source}

Supplementary food is the food that is provided as a supplement to the natural food in a pond. Supplementary food is applied to increase the growth of fish and maintain the quality of food. Supplementary foods include rice powder, wheat bran, mustard oil, etc. Fish food can be divided into different parts based on different sources such as vegetable food, animal food, mixed food and artificial food.

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Components of fish food

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The nutrients present in the fish diet play an important role in the growth of fish. There are two main components of fish food. They are Malnourished food components and Nutritious food components.

• Malnourished food components

Foods that are not used to nourish the fish, but increase the nutritional value of the fish as a result of the use of these foods, so these foods are called non-nutritious food ingredients of fish. So the need for nutritious food is immense. These foods help to increase the quality of nutritious food. The nutritious food ingredients of fish include chitagur(feed), cellulose etc. Due to these nutrients, fish food becomes tempting.

• Nutritious food components

Nutritious food ingredients are very important for the growth of fish. Sugars, fats and mineral salts can be considered the main nutrients of fish. According to a survey conducted by the Fisheries Research Institute, there are more than 30 non-vegetarian ingredients rich in fish food in Bangladesh. There are two types of these food ingredients- Plant-based Components and Animal-based Components.

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(i) Plant-based food Components and sources

^Source

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Name of the components	Source
Rice bran, wheat bran, musuri bran(lentil) and mashkalai bran	rice mill, flour mill, lentil pulse and mashkalai dal
Mustard oil, sesame oil, siagrids	Oil mills and soybean crops
Wheat Flour, Corn Flour Wheat	Automatic Rice Mill, Corn
Different types of water hyacinths	Ponds or reservoirs
Cabbage vegetable, Napier Grass	Cabbage vegetable,Napier Grass

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(ii) Animal-based Food Component and Source

^Source

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Animal feed components s are used to make a balanced diet of fish. Various essential amino acids are present in animal feed. This type of food can be easily digested by fish. So animal food is essential for the growth of fish. The following table lists some of the animal elements:

Name of the Components	Source
Fishmill Grade-1, Fishmill Grade-2, Fiscilage	Marine fish
Cattle blood, cow-goat entrails, laughter-chicken entrails	slaughtered cows, sheep, goats, slaughtered cows-goats, slaughtered ducks-chickens
Shrimp head and shellfish, snail meat, crab powder	Fish processing plants, coastal reservoirs, snails
Silkworm Mill	Silk Factory

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Conclusion

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Many ingredients are used to produce a portion of balanced fish food. A variety of natural and complementary foods are ideal foods for fish. So both natural food and supplementary food are essential for the healthy growth of fish. A balanced supplementary diet of fish can be made with the help of the mentioned plant-based and animal-based food ingredients.

Reference - Fish Biology, Aquaculture Nutrition and Population Dynamics

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Thank you for reading

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