Feeding Tips For A Beginner

[mr nelster]

Thanks.


I now have ten Lemon Tetra in there and they seem far happier in that size of shoal. A very calming fish IMO.

And what can I say about that shark? He looks great, but man does he act the "big I am".

 

[Ruskull]

Most schoaling fish should be kept in minimum group of 6, but Lemon Tetras are one of those shoaling fish where the minimum is 8 believe it or not. I only have five at the moment but I plan to up their numbers when I decide which permanant home tank they'll be kept in. I'm considering replacing my 20 gallon sand with either a 40 gallon breeder or a 55 gallon.

 

[OldMan47]

A common feeding practice is to feed once each day for as much as the fish will eat in a short time. Numbers given are often 5 minutes or so. Where that gets you is nowhere. Fish are generally one of two types. Some fish, especially things like large predators, are accustomed to eating a large meal every day or two and more or less starving between meals. Other fish, like the common livebearers, eat constantly in the wild and need to be fed small amounts frequently to get optimum response to feeding. They simply cannot eat enough at one sitting to last them very long. Most of the fish we keep in our tanks are actually more like that second description, they can't eat much at a single meal but will profit from lots of tiny feedings. Unless you keep things like oscars or other large cichlids, which I did not see on your list, feed as little as you can that gets all fish fed and do it several times each day. You never want anything left over after a feeding. If you can't feed that little, it can be difficult to do, then wait long enough between feedings that your fish end up finding all of the wasted food between meals.
Sorry that it is not such a simple answer as I would have once given but I also keep right on learning.

 

[mr nelster]

Thank you for that reply


You are correct and I find it easier to control the feeding now that I have seperated the Mollies back into their original tank.

I am feeding the main tank 1 cube of bloodworms late afternoon and one algae wafer late evening when the tank lights go out, every other day. I then add a pinch of flake on the in between day, but as I don't seem to see anybody eating it I haven't yet stepped that up to daily. I am being very cautious with regard to over feeding at the moment as any flake seems to sit on the top for 24 hours.


I am also a little disappointed with my tank at the moment. Although I love the look of the Clown Loaches and ther behaviour when they come out, I only get to see them for a few seconds every other night. That wasn't explained to me when they were recommended by the LFS I purchased them from. In fact one of the three is particularly aloof and seems to prefer to be solitary. I haven't seen him for nearly a week, but I don't want to start sticking my hand in and moving bogwood and rocks around with the fish still working out their territories. I have some clips to help tidy up the air tubes at some point and I am half expecting to find out where he has been hiding then.



The upshot is, I feel I need some more fish that can be seen easily on a daily basis, such as my Lemon Tetra. The LFS still says Cardinals are a bad idea with the Rainbow Shark and recommends more deep bodies such as Black Widows, but I was hoping for some more colour? The Lemon Tetra are beautiful if slightly understated, especially with the slightly "amazonian" colouring that the bogwood gives the water. Ideas anybody?

 

[Aqua Tom]

Thank you for that reply


You are correct and I find it easier to control the feeding now that I have seperated the Mollies back into their original tank.

I am feeding the main tank 1 cube of bloodworms late afternoon and one algae wafer late evening when the tank lights go out, every other day. I then add a pinch of flake on the in between day, but as I don't seem to see anybody eating it I haven't yet stepped that up to daily. I am being very cautious with regard to over feeding at the moment as any flake seems to sit on the top for 24 hours.


I am also a little disappointed with my tank at the moment. Although I love the look of the Clown Loaches and ther behaviour when they come out, I only get to see them for a few seconds every other night. That wasn't explained to me when they were recommended by the LFS I purchased them from. In fact one of the three is particularly aloof and seems to prefer to be solitary. I haven't seen him for nearly a week, but I don't want to start sticking my hand in and moving bogwood and rocks around with the fish still working out their territories. I have some clips to help tidy up the air tubes at some point and I am half expecting to find out where he has been hiding then.



The upshot is, I feel I need some more fish that can be seen easily on a daily basis, such as my Lemon Tetra. The LFS still says Cardinals are a bad idea with the Rainbow Shark and recommends more deep bodies such as Black Widows, but I was hoping for some more colour? The Lemon Tetra are beautiful if slightly understated, especially with the slightly "amazonian" colouring that the bogwood gives the water. Ideas anybody?

How about rummy nosed tetra, a very colourfull & often overlooked fish.

Tom

 

[mr nelster]

I'm not sure about the rummy nose. It looks nice but my lemon tetra are already slightly translucent. I think I'm after something a little more "solidly" coloured, for want of a better description.

Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[tribalbrit]

Cardinals would be my choice, even with the shark.

Add more clowns and you will see them more. I have 16 now and they are always on the go... great fish IMO.

 

[mr nelster]

Cardinals would be my choice, even with the shark.

Add more clowns and you will see them more. I have 16 now and they are always on the go... great fish IMO.

The only thing that stopped me getting 3 more clowns was the size of the tank. With 180L, when will the clowns be getting too big? The LFS are reluctant too advise after they've sold them!

 

[LoachLover!]

Clown Loaches take many years to grow to full size. They will most likely grow more quickly in a bigger tank. Before we knew anything much about fish we kept some clown loaches, and one took about 6 years to reach around 6 inches. I don't know whether this is a longer period of time than normal, but this is what happened with us. If you stock sensibly IMO they will be fine for now, especially if you plan to upgrade your tank

 

[tribalbrit]

IMO your tank is already small for clowns BUT on your first post you say you will be upgrading in a couple of years. So now that you have already committed to clowns you ought to keep them in a reasonable shoal 6 minimum. That way they will be a little happier. And when you upgrade a 5 or 6 footer would be great.
Others will disagree I'm sure but that's what I would do now that you already have the clowns.
Other than that would be to return them and get something else.

 

[Ruskull]

IMO your tank is already small for clowns BUT on your first post you say you will be upgrading in a couple of years. So now that you have already committed to clowns you ought to keep them in a reasonable shoal 6 minimum. That way they will be a little happier. And when you upgrade a 5 or 6 footer would be great.
Others will disagree I'm sure but that's what I would do now that you already have the clowns.
Other than that would be to return them and get something else.

I agree with this post.

 

[mr nelster]

IMO your tank is already small for clowns BUT on your first post you say you will be upgrading in a couple of years. So now that you have already committed to clowns you ought to keep them in a reasonable shoal 6 minimum. That way they will be a little happier. And when you upgrade a 5 or 6 footer would be great.
Others will disagree I'm sure but that's what I would do now that you already have the clowns.
Other than that would be to return them and get something else.

I don't want them a little happier, I want them happy!

If 180L is too small already, I certainly won't be buying more. If they will be happy for a year when I WILL be getting a 300L (1500 x 450mm) tank, then I wil keep them. If not they will have to go. I won't buy another three for them to share their suffering.