Feeding Time At The Zoo :-)

[SensesFail]

I feed my fish twice a day and they are naturally excited when the time rolls up. How do you know how much to feed them and that everyone is getting something? I mix tetra pro flake with sera granured and on an evening spirulina flake with some sera.

I put a good amount of each in they seem to go quickly once the fish spot them so o add a little more gone straight away how do you know when to stop or who is getting fed? I need to buy cat fish food as they don't seem to get it quickly so hopefully they get the scraps need to find a store that sells good cat fish food.

As for treats what should I get them? (African cichlids with syno cats)

Cheers guys

 

[Jamepsss]

Use frozen food for treats. There's loads of choice, bloodworm, brine shrimp, cyclops, etc etc. I'm not familiar with African Cichlids at all but I'm pretty sure there's suitable frozen treats for them.

For the cats, get some sinking pellets.

The general rule is to feed as much as they can eat in two minutes. It's difficult I know because I reckon I could feed my rainbows for hours and they would consume it all no problem. Try crushing the flakes up a bit so they dispense mre and give the slower fish more of a chance to reach them. Then just keep an eye on them as they eat to make sure they're all getting some.

 

[Mogs26]

Use frozen food for treats. There's loads of choice, bloodworm, brine shrimp, cyclops, etc etc. I'm not familiar with African Cichlids at all but I'm pretty sure there's suitable frozen treats for them.

For the cats, get some sinking pellets.

The general rule is to feed as much as they can eat in two minutes. It's difficult I know because I reckon I could feed my rainbows for hours and they would consume it all no problem. Try crushing the flakes up a bit so they dispense mre and give the slower fish more of a chance to reach them. Then just keep an eye on them as they eat to make sure they're all getting some.

lol! My fish are all like that! I have dwarf rainbows, but before I added them, the golden barbs did the same-stopping everyone else from getting anything to eat. I give my fish frozen daphnia (sp) once a week or so, but only a tiny amount-I cut little bits off the cube. I had to put more fish in the tank at once than I had planned (long story) so I am not upping the feeding for another week or so, and monitoring the water levels carefully. So far all is well and fingers crossed that it stays that way. At the mo, I am doing twice weekly water changes to be on the safe side, but hope that will drop back once the bacs have caught up. Anyhow, I was advised on here to have some sinking pellets as well as floating so that the greedier fish are occupied with one lot and the others can get to the rest! I am paranoid about over feeding, but feel really stingy when they still appear starving after I have fed them-they tell lies to other family members too, pretending they haven't been fed

 

[JoshuaA]

I generally have a rough idea how much I feed mine and I usually follow the 2 minute rule on my small tank but my larger tank has a few shoals of various tetra. For 2 minutes I might see my Rummynose and Fire Tetra swarming at the food but no one else gets a look in. It seems to be the case they lose interest once they're fed though.

My ram is rather patient actually and will sit for up to 10 minutes waiting whilst the others are fed until I drop his food in at his specific place. Though after 10 minutes he gets very cranky!

 

[Gilli]

Put your flake in an egg cup and add a little tank water - swish it around then pour into the tank. It will sink rather than float on the top thereby giving the bottom feeders more of a chance. If you have problems getting algae wafers you can buy them online or on ebay.

apart from the frozen foods already mentioned if you have any prawn or shrimp in your freezer defrost and shred very finely - my rams loved them and so will your other fish!

 

[dayzofspeed]

i would feed the cats at lights out, with sinking pellets

 

[SensesFail]

Long string like poops is that a sign of overfeeding? One of the fish just swam past with a long poop awaiting deployment? When doing the gravel clean what if it goes under rocks or in hard to get places?

 

[Gilli]

You only need feed once a day. More than this you will be overfeeding and giving yourself more work in cleaning the tank with uneaten food and extra poo! Long stringy poo - sometimes it just happens! But if it is constant could mean your fish is constipated (in which case feed him crushed blanched peas ) or he may have internal parasites which you can dose with meds.

When you gravel vac you should remove all decorations, rocks ect before you vac!

 

[Mogs26]

I read on here that frequent small meals was better for fish than one large one-although I usually only feed once!
Carole x

 

[SensesFail]

You only need feed once a day. More than this you will be overfeeding and giving yourself more work in cleaning the tank with uneaten food and extra poo! Long stringy poo - sometimes it just happens! But if it is constant could mean your fish is constipated (in which case feed him crushed blanched peas ) or he may have internal parasites which you can dose with meds.

When you gravel vac you should remove all decorations, rocks ect before you vac!

Brilliant i shall remove everything bar the fish. Will they be ok not too scared by a big hand coming in and removing their hiding place for abit. The only thing ill say about sand is its a #28### when you vac! much easier with heavy gravel although any sand that get sucked up can always go back. Is there any tips on cleaning the sand with the vac?

 

[JoshuaA]

You only need feed once a day. More than this you will be overfeeding...

I noticed a member not so long ago posted and received negative responses saying he feeds his fish up to 3 times a day but in much smaller amounts, he claimed it stimulated growth and encouraged healthier growth.

Anyone know more about that?

 

[Curiosity101]

I noticed a member not so long ago posted and received negative responses saying he feeds his fish up to 3 times a day but in much smaller amounts, he claimed it stimulated growth and encouraged healthier growth.

Anyone know more about that?

This is what I have taken to doing when it fits my schedule.

And by multiple small feeds, I mean they get as much as they can eat in around 10-20s. Fish never look particularly plump, no large amounts of fish poop etc etc. I reckon it has given better growth rates (particularly with the corys). However in line with feeding more regularly I have upped maintenance as I think they are being fed more overall. It's just that unlike with one large feed, they actually get the chance to digest most of their little meals.

Put it this way, they always come flying to the front (see sig for fish types) and the food normally never actually reaches the floor unless it's specifically sinking food. Even then blood worm only gets to the bottom of the tank in the cory tank.
And algae wafers (I put 1/4 of one in the main tank for the snails every couple of days), doesn't normally last long enough for me to see any snails on it...

 

[SensesFail]

I bought some sera catfish chips and when I'm feeding the cichlids I feed them St one end of the tank soak the chip in wager so it sinks as quickly as possible the cats may spot it have a quick suck then swim off followed by the cichlids having a much I put 2 in so god knows where they are in the tank now but how do I know if the cat fish are getting enough food? That's my biggest worry lol.

Will they just find the chips lying their and have a much. That's if the cichlids don't eat it first!

 

[Ryou]

I feed once a day usually, flake.
My angel is a food hog - he tends to gobble a majority of the larger flakes haha.
I've resorted to crushing some of the flakes so they have a chance to get down to my gouramis and cory.
I also put in a third of a sinking pellet before lights out for the cory so he gets something to eat.
The gourami like to nibble at that a little too =)

 

[SensesFail]

The chips look huge compared to the synos mouth may b worth putting one in instead of2. I'll try and feed the rest normal time and throw a chip in for the cats when the lights go out would hate them not to be getting fed! Going to try and get some frozen food for the cichlids