Challenged feeding correct amount of daily food

[FishHobby99]

I continue to find feeding the correct amount of daily food a challenging task for a novice.

What exactly is a pinch? The guy who sold me ~20 fish, some relatively large, said 2 pinches twice a day. The guy who sold me a few guppies said the same thing. I see some saying all they can eat in a given period of time, usually 2-5 minutes. I would prefer something more precise, even if it meant using my gram sensitive scale for a while.
What do y‘all do?

 

[Byron]

My neighbour (knows nothing about aquarium fish) once asked me how I knew how much to feed, and i could not really answer her. It is something I learned over the early years. Different fish have different feeding methods and take considerably different time to eat their food. For example, cories and plecos feed from tablets/disks/wafers/pellets, and some of these foods can remain on the substrate for an hour or even longer, with the cories working on them continually. Upper fish tend to eat more rapidly, and I aim to have the food for them (flake primarily, small pellet) eaten within a matter of seconds. If the upper fish are still finding and eating their food after say 10-15 seconds, I probably fed them far too much.

I use a 2.5 ml measuring spoon, not to measure but to ensure I don't accidentally put too much food in, as I can judge it best in the spoon.

 

[FishHobby99]

My neighbour (knows nothing about aquarium fish) once asked me how I knew how much to feed, and i could not really answer her. It is something I learned over the early years. Different fish have different feeding methods and take considerably different time to eat their food. For example, cories and plecos feed from tablets/disks/wafers/pellets, and some of these foods can remain on the substrate for an hour or even longer, with the cories working on them continually. Upper fish tend to eat more rapidly, and I aim to have the food for them (flake primarily, small pellet) eaten within a matter of seconds. If the upper fish are still finding and eating their food after say 10-15 seconds, I probably fed them far too much.

I use a 2.5 ml measuring spoon, not to measure but to ensure I don't accidentally put too much food in, as I can judge it best in the spoon.

Having greatest difficulty lately with new 90 G tank. Has 5 pico cqts cats, a big fat 5-6 “ cat and 12-15 cichlids of varying sizes, none large as the fat cat. Can’t say exact number because they hide & I am unable to properly ID, although Colin and someone else has been tremendously helpful re IDs.

The cichlids devour pellets on the way down. Not much is hitting the tank bottom. The big cat comes out in the late evening & I have been doing second feeding then per Colin‘s suggestion. The water params are perfect & I don‘t want to alter that with excess food. Also want everyone to get enough. They come to the side of the tank when I walk by. Tried to eat syringe I used this morning to take water samples. They act like they’re staving & that makes me feel badly.

 

[Myraan]

Tetra sells in the uk food for small mouths that comes with a little spoon. If you don't like the food - keep the spoon after you finish to use on bug bites or whatever. I have no idea how to advise about quantities though - so I am hoping someone else has some ideas to help me too.

Fish like Gourami and Cichlids seem to eat whatever other fish eat, as they feel they own the aquarium. I sometimes "forget" to feed cory tablets everyday, as I assume I have overfed the bug bites, also the cories seem to prefer the bugbites, i just worry that there aint much left for them except when I deliberately overfeed to make sure there is. I like the Fishscience cory tablets... they are soft enough that once the cories (and the gouramis pretending to be cories) start picking at it sorta breaks up into tiny pieces that the other cories go for and the cardinals will hang around above it waiting for scraps too.

 

[Colin_T]

You learn how much your fish will eat over a period of time. As Byron mentioned, some fish eat faster than others.

I used to crumble up some flakes and put a little bit in the tank and let the fish eat it. Then offer a bit more and do this 3 or 4 times. The food was gone in a few seconds.

After I fed flake food, I used some frozen (but defrosted) foods like marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up). I would use a pr of scissors to cut that up into little tiny bits for small fish but leave it bigger for bigger fish. I offer a bit at a time and let them all eat well.

After the marine mix I might use some live food like mozzie larvae, brineshrimp, daphnia, microworms or grindal worms.

I fed my fish like this each day. If the fish were being prepared for breeding I fed them 3-5 times a day, but if they weren't for breeding, I only fed them once or twice a day. Baby fish were fed like this 3-5 times a day every day until they were mature.

It's all trial and error, just offer a little bit at a time and add more if needed.

 

[FishHobby99]

You learn how much your fish will eat over a period of time. As Byron mentioned, some fish eat faster than others.

I used to crumble up some flakes and put a little bit in the tank and let the fish eat it. Then offer a bit more and do this 3 or 4 times. The food was gone in a few seconds.

After I fed flake food, I used some frozen (but defrosted) foods like marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up). I would use a pr of scissors to cut that up into little tiny bits for small fish but leave it bigger for bigger fish. I offer a bit at a time and let them all eat well.

After the marine mix I might use some live food like mozzie larvae, brineshrimp, daphnia, microworms or grindal worms.

I fed my fish like this each day. If the fish were being prepared for breeding I fed them 3-5 times a day, but if they weren't for breeding, I only fed them once or twice a day. Baby fish were fed like this 3-5 times a day every day until they were mature.

It's all trial and error, just offer a little bit at a time and add more if needed.

Was that sea food people food? Thanks for all the good info here.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I continue to find feeding the correct amount of daily food a challenging task for a novice.

What exactly is a pinch? The guy who sold me ~20 fish, some relatively large, said 2 pinches twice a day. The guy who sold me a few guppies said the same thing. I see some saying all they can eat in a given period of time, usually 2-5 minutes. I would prefer something more precise, even if it meant using my gram sensitive scale for a while.
What do y‘all do?

I believe a pinch is just a tad over a smidgin.

The thing with feeding is that you're dealing with living things and so precision doesn't really come into it. This is why the 'time it takes' measurement is often used. That said, all of the food could be eaten within the 'prescribed' 5 minutes...and your substrate dwelling Corys still haven't eaten!
Alternatively, you could drop pellets in for the Corys, that yum it all up within the 5...but your hatchets up top are still hungry.

For me, feeding time is a fun activity and so I have no problem whatsoever paying close attention to each of my fish when grub's up.
I know which fish didn't appear to have eaten and which fish have eaten so much, not only have they stopped eating, but they're spitting out every other bit that they taste...just in case!
(Bulemic fish?)

So, for me, it's an art, picked up from years of experience.

At the back of my mind, I've always gor the spectre of over-feeding, looming large and leery and so tend to underfeed.
If the food I offer disappears quickly, I can feed some more or, more likely, will offer another feeding time later on. The next feed will see me deliberately trying to offer the food to those I know missed out last time. Sometimes, that involves me distracting the more assertive fish to the opposite end of the tank, leaving the less assertive to get fed.
As it happens, my current community doesn't appear to have any bullies or victims, so feeding is a lot easier.

 

[FishHobby99]

Thanks, Bruce, it sounds simultaneously complex and straight forward. guess it’ll take time for me to feel confident. My dogs and cats are easier to feed! Even the parrot!

Sure the pinch isn’t 11.35% over a smidgen?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Thanks, Bruce, it sounds simultaneously complex and straight forward. guess it’ll take time for me to feel confident. My dogs and cats are easier to feed! Even the parrot!

Sure the pinch isn’t 11.35% over a smidgen?

I think you'll find that a tad IS 11.35%.

 

[FishHobby99]

Why can’t you fish people ever make anything simple?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Thanks, Bruce, it sounds simultaneously complex and straight forward. guess it’ll take time for me to feel confident. My dogs and cats are easier to feed! Even the parrot!

Fishkeeping really is an art, in spite of all the science behind most aspects of it.
It is the artistry that makes each and every tank unique.

With feeding, assuming you're giving the right foods, the only wrong thing to do is to overfeed. Once you've avoided that, you'll have it sussed.

I once went through a really bad patch and feeding my fish was one of my few joys. I soon learned that I could safely give them very little food, often.

 

[FishHobby99]

very little food often? you mean like 6+ very small meals? That’s the way some ppl diet!

 

[Colin_T]

Was that sea food people food? Thanks for all the good info here.

Yes I used seafood that was for human consumption. However, you can use bait from a fishing store if it is good quality and hasn't been defrosted and refrozen.

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very little food often? you mean like 6+ very small meals? That’s the way some ppl diet!

Offer a small amount, let the fish eat it, then offer a little bit more.

By offering small amounts of food, the fish are more likely to eat it all and less will sink to the bottom where it can rot and cause water quality problems. You have catfish so they will help reduce this but just offer a small amount at a time until you work out how much food your fish can eat.

 

[itiwhetu]

I have always said " A fish will eat what you can put on the black bit of its eye each day"

 

[FishHobby99]

I do have some tilapia in the freezer. Perhaps they would enjoy a fellow cichlid. Finely chopped of course.