The digestive process is not different for any carnivore no matter where they come from or what they eat.
Some things to think about.
Why do the ornamental cichlid farmers in Florida mix their own mash to feed their fish?
Why do members here worry about sinking food not getting eaten and going to waste? Bluegill have no issue digging a tasty piece of food from the muck on the bottom of the pond. Even if they didn't some other animal in the food chain would eat it so it wouldn't go to waste. I think you guys like floating food because you enjoy watching your fish eat and I don't blame you.
I have done a lots of taste testing on different ingredients. Aquarium hobbyists are strange creatures. If their fish don't immediately go nuts for a food the are not likely to continue feeding it. I have done taste testing on two brands of whole menhaden fish meal, whole herring fish meal, salmon parts meal, tuna parts meal and "fish meal" which I suspect is either catfish or tilapia parts meal or a combination of both. The winner hands down was the whole menhaden meal made by Omega Protein. The freshest and best shrimp meal that I have found I buy from Blum and Bergeron Inc.. I made a test food I named Shrimp Po Boy that was shrimp meal bound with egg whites. It sent the fish into a feeding frenzy. They frantically swam around looking for more for at least 15 minutes after the food was gone. No this is not in any way normal! Cost from my local co-op for a 50 lb bag of whole menhaden meal including tax is $1.42 per lb. 500 lbs of shrimp meal shipped from Louisiana to Alabama via freight cost .86 cents per lb.
I hope some of you find this at least somewhat interesting.
