Let's Talk About Feeding Our Fish

[10 Tanks]

Hello TFF. We haven't talked about feeding in some time. So, I'm willing to share what I've learned in the last 20 years or so about all the stuff we need to know on the subject of feeding our fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Lcc86]

I think I've got a good routine for my fish/frogs (3 days on 1 day off and mixing between flakes/frozen food/algae wafers/pellets as suitable for each). I'm never sure about my mystery snails though. Twice a week I'll drop in some blanched veg but they never show any interest, so I assume they're just surviving off algae in the tank and spare bits of uneaten food. They're about 5 times the size they were when I got them a few months ago so must be doing fine but I never really know what they're eating!

 

[Magnum Man]

I'm going to admit that I fall into the "over feeding" category... tanks newly set up & all I can get are baby fish... so I'm trying to grow them up... maybe too quickly... I feed a large variety of dried foods ( twice a day )... I tried to start growing white & grindle worms, but I just don't have time right now, & it didn't go well on my 1st go ( got a hairy fungus in the boxes ) will try again this winter...

right now my favorite foods are Ultra Fresh, but I currently feed...

Ultra Fresh
Bug Bites
a mix I buy of 10 assorted pellets ( various sizes & colors, both floating & sinking )
Freeze dried bloodworms
Freeze dried Brine shrimp ( most all the fishes favorite... they literally do the happy dance when they get those )
Freeze dried Tubifex worms
Ziegler Algae wafers

I have bought Dried Daphnia, I still have a pretty big bottle, but none of my fish like those...

 

[Back in the fold]

I really like how my Aplocheilus lineatus Golden Wonder killifish go wild for the live wingless fruit flies I feed them . Feeding prepared food doesn’t get the same reaction out of them . It’s like watching something on Svengoolie on fly feeding day .

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. If you look at the insides of a fish, you can easily see that the stomach makes up a very small part of the whole body. I read once the stomach is the size of the fish's mouth or one eye. It's really larger than this, but not by much. So, it won't take a lot of food to fill it. By limiting the food you feed, the fish stays slender and is more energetic. That's because it isn't having to move extra mass around the tank. A slender fish has a healthier digestive system and a healthier female is going to give you healthier fry.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. I have an experiment for you all. First, most tank keepers feed their fish too much. So, if you believe you're guilty, then over the next month, feed every other day. Don't worry, your fish won't starve. They're not like a dog or cat that might have a serious reaction to reducing their food by half. Fish are cooler temperature creatures and have a much slower means of using food. This is why fish can go for up to two weeks without food and still remain healthy. During the month, watch your fish. After a week or so, they'll be more inclined to move around their tank looking for that piece of food the others missed. You'll find your tank stays cleaner longer, because the fish will be doing their part to keep the tank clean. Less food in the water means, lower levels of dissolved nitrogen in the water.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Magnum Man]

@10 Tanks
so... just curious your thoughts... is this pertain to all fish, or are fry, babies, & juvenal fish exempt from that... with my Tilapia ( yes, I know that's a different story ) they encourage you to feed as often as they will eat, for fastest growth, if not, they claim the fish can become stunted, or will fall out of their fastest growth rate

I want my aquarium fish big, with mature colors, it's tempting to adopt the Tilapia routine, for my ornamental fish, when you get 1 inch Congo tetra's, or 2 inch rainbow fish both of which will look much nicer, later

 

[10 Tanks]

@10 Tanks
so... just curious your thoughts... is this pertain to all fish, or are fry, babies, & juvenal fish exempt from that... with my Tilapia ( yes, I know that's a different story ) they encourage you to feed as often as they will eat, for fastest growth, if not, they claim the fish can become stunted, or will fall out of their fastest growth rate

I want my aquarium fish big, with mature colors, it's tempting to adopt the Tilapia routine, for my ornamental fish, when you get 1 ich Congo tetra's, or 2 inch rainbow fish both of which will look much nicer, later

Hello Magnum. I have a lot of large tanks and feed every other day and just what the adult fish and fry will eat in a couple of minutes. Pregnant females will eat everything in their path in that time and so will the fry. It doesn't take much to fill a small fish stomach and when the food begins to sink, there's a chance for the other species to feed. Feeding this way means less food falls to the bottom. But, just enough to satisfy your Corys, Plecos and Nerites. So, everyone gets their share and no one over eats. I'll guarantee you most feed too much in the first place and the young fish get more than enough to grow. Encouraging tank keepers to feed even more is just an opportunity for inexperienced tank keepers to further abuse the feeding privilege. We'll talk more.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Mathew1991]

I put in small amount of bottom feeder bug bites and the blue fluval bug bites every morning and and algae wafer every 3 days and every 3 days frozen blood work in a jar for frog

I think I’m doing it right any body feel free to comment if I’m not

 

[AlexT]

I think overfeeding made one of my tetras sick the other day, possibly https://www.fishforums.net/threads/tetra-problem.489987/

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. What about what to feed the fish? Well, I'm not an authority, but I feed a variety of Spirulina, the highest protein flaked food I can get and freeze dried foods. I used to feed some frozen too, but it's a little pricey for me. I like the foods available from Chewy. I've been using them for several years. I typically get several foods that are pretty high in nutrients, but not too expensive. Some foods are very pricey, but I don't think they're two to five times better than the lower priced foods. I get several kinds and put them all into a food processor and just hit the button. I make sure I have my own processor and don't use my wife's!

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[AlexT]

I avoid fishmeal and fish derivitives on ingredients I use
- fluval bug bites
- oase organix flake
- oase organix microgranules
- oase organix snack sticks
- frozen bloodworm
- frozen daphnia
- frozen brineshrimp
- courgette / zucchini for my ancistrus

 

[AlexT]

I make sure I have my own processor and don't use my wife's!

10 Tanks (Now 11)

If I had a wife I would defrost the bloodworm in her favourite mug, which might explain why I don't have a wife.

 

[HankB]

... After a week or so, they'll be more inclined to move around their tank looking for that piece of food the others missed.

This made me smile. I'm probably close to overfeeding and yet if I move near the tank, the fish all crowd around surface closest to me, begging for food. When I add food, the diamond tetras dart to the surface to grab food and then dart back down. They remind me of feeding Piranhas. The rest of them are best dfescribed as "feeding frenzy." The Yoyos stuff themselves until their bellies are visibly distended and still root around the bottom, looking for more. Every week or so I fast them a day, at least to get the SAEs to eat some algae. They fast longer when we're out of town for a weekend and I interpret their activity on my return as "we're so happy to see you - we're STARVING!!!" But it's really no different than any time I move past the tank.

 

[GaryE]

The only fish I feed everyday are fry and young juveniles, and potential breeders. I fast the others one day a week. I use mostly live foods, once a day.

I keep insectivores. Fish like Tilapia eat bulk food with less nutrition, and so they like to eat a lot of food of that sort. Give them high protein or fatty foods, and they'll live short lives. That may be a strategy for raising food fish. That I haven't done.

As always, the only valid general statement is you can't generalize - different fish groups need different foods and different feeding frequencies. In the hobby though, we do tend to overfeed.

There have been quite a few recent threads on feeding.