What I feed, is it the best?

[Freshyfishy]

Hello, I was wondering if my feeding schedule for my fish is the best one.

I currently have a 85 gallon aquarium that houses (soon to be more) :

- 10 Glofish tetras
- 1 swordtail
- 1 lyertail
- 2 platies
- 16 guppies
- 1 cory (I know already, and i'm working on getting the $$)
- 6 neon tetras
- 2 endlers and 12 fry

For my fish I feed twice (sometimes 3 if all fish don't get a chance to eat) a day:

Daily - Cobalt aquatics flakes

On Tuesdays, and Saturdays - freeze dried bloodworms

Randomly (but never more than 2 times a week - Hikari nano pellets


And For my Plants I feed :

on Mon, Wed, Fri - Aquarium Co-Op Fertilizer

 

[emeraldking]

Nothing wrong with your feeding schedule...

 

[Byron]

I'm of a different opinion. Feeding any mature fish (fry are different) more than once a day is not a good idea, it is way too much food and the fish do not need it. Fish are ectotherms, which of course means they do not produce their own body heat but rely on the temperature of the water to drive their internal processes. Most of the food birds and mammals eat is used to produce heat, but fish do not have this necessity, so they require substantially less food. Aquarium fish further need less than wild fish because the fish in an aquarium do not have the energy needs of wild fish, escaping predators and such. Keep in mind that fish will eat when they find food because inherently they do not know when they may again have food. In other words, they will eat to excess given the chance.

Once a day is probably over feeding. I always had at least one fast day a week, the day I do thee water change is a good fast day. And a second and even a third would not hurt. Also, feed minimally; for the above reasons, a fish does not need much when it does eat. Fish can 4asily go two and three weeks without being fed assuming they are not fry and are healthy (like when you are on vacation). All indicative of minimal feeding for healthier fish.

As for the foods, I see problems heree too. Freeze-dried foods are not all that good. I stopped using them 15+ years ago. Bloodworms are not good, the frozen are better but only once a week. I stopped using these a couple of years ago, there are far better foods. I don't like the Hikari prepared/dried foods because of all the junk that is in them. Meals instead of whole fish for example.

Omega One is a good nutritional brand, as is New Life Spectrum. Fluval Bug Bites is one of the best foods we can feed omnivorous and carnivorous fish. Most of the fish we keep in tanks eat insects and insect larvae as their prime food with crustaceans next. Herbivorous fish need more green foods like algae and kelp and spirulina.

 

[Freshyfishy]

I just ran into bug bites when i was getting some stock for the tank. I grabbed some of those. So are you not recommending the freeze dried blood worms? What do i do with the rest if they aren't good for my fish? I switched to cobalt aquatics for my tropical flakes.


NOTE : I updated my stocking

 

[Byron]

I just ran into bug bites when i was getting some stock for the tank. I grabbed some of those. So are you not recommending the freeze dried blood worms? What do i do with the rest if they aren't good for my fish? I switched to cobalt aquatics for my tropical flakes.


NOTE : I updated my stocking

One of the big issues with freeze dried food is that it will absorb water when it gets wet. If fed dry, for example, sprinkled on the surface, the fish quickly eat it and then it swells up in their stomach causing problems. Soaking the food in tank water until it is thoroughly saturated helps avoid this. But I just find these foods a nuisance. And they are not as nutritionally beneficial as some of the others. And as I said, bloodworms are not a good food period.

I'm sure some members will say it makes no difference. Fine. But I would not feed my dog or cat inferior food, any more than I knowingly feed this to my fish.

I just looked up Cobalt flake food, and don't like the ingredients of this any more than the Hikari. The first ingredients listed are
SALMON MEAL, WHEAT FLOUR, DEHULLED SOYBEAN MEAL, BREWERS DRIED YEAST, CORN STARCH, ...

Compare this to Omega One:
Salmon, Halibut, Pacific cod, Whole Pink shrimp, Black Cod, Shrimp Eggs, Gel Binder, Vitamins
this is whole fish not fish meal and that makes quite the difference.

 

[sharkweek178]

I think variety is also key. Based on the idea that no one food will completely provide for the fish's dietary needs by itself.
I feed once a day. Something I read here that I try to take to heart, which was that you're more likely to harm your fish by overfeeding them than underfeeding. I still struggle a little with overfeeding. I've learned to appreciate my snail population as a bellwether for if I'm overfeeding. Even the assassin snails will prefer leftover fish food. So they won't do much to curb the population if you still overfeed.
I alternate between high quality flakes and pellets. (New Life Spectrum Flakes and Fluval Bug Bites). For my corys, I have two different types of pellets. (Fluval Bug Bites and Omega One Catfish Pellets). I chose these brands based on the ingredients. Which are a variety of high quality fish, shrimp and insect based without as much in the way of terrestrial grains. And I feed frozen brine shrimp, daphnia and blood worms.
I feed on a 10 day cycle. I have a little schedule that alternates foods based on the date. For example, on the threes (the 3rd, 13th, or 23rd), I'll feed Bug Bites for the top and middle fish and the Omega One pellets for the corys. Every fifth day (5 and 0), is a fast day. And they only get the frozen food once each during the ten day cycle.

 

[emeraldking]

In general, I do feed my fish once a day. But when a vivaristic event is coming up, I do feed them twice a day. For potential buyers want to see a firm build fish (that's different than bloated). Also when I'm getting new fish and they turn out to be skinny, I'll also feed them twice a day.

 

[Freshyfishy]

Ok, should i go with omega one or with the new life spectrum for flakes?

 

[Back in the fold]

Look into a live food too.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

By the numbers, most of the fish in my tanks are plecos. They breed and I have a lot of them.

-> I feed frozen (bloods, mysis, brine, daphnia, brine gut loaded w/ spirulina; cyclops and rotifers for fry).
-> I feed Repashy- Bottom Scratcher and Spawn & Grow. Both are mixed with 20-25% Soilent Green- so the fish get meat and veggies together. My clown loaches love the Igapo Explorer.
-> I used to feed kensfish sinking sticks but I recently let them go and I brought aa bunch of Ebo-Aquaristik in from Germany. Excellent food- I got the Softgran mussel and the insect, shrimp pellets and veggies plus finely Artemia (brine) brine that babies can eat.
-> I also have some of the Fluval Bug Bite line but I cannot get the ones I want in bulk. So these are a secondary food.
-> I have both my own mix of kensfish flake (not exactly the best but they are usable) and I recently got some of the Onega One flakes- I mix the basic flake and the super color flakes about 3-1.

I also fast tanks once or sometimes twice in a week. This usually does not apply to fry.

edited for a typo

 

[Freshyfishy]

I don't have room in my house to start a live food culture XD.

If i go to my local fish store, and look at the food, what are things on the ingredient label to look for that makes it a good food and things to look for on the label that is an instant put back on the shelf?

 

[sharkweek178]

I don't have room in my house to start a live food culture XD.

If i go to my local fish store, and look at the food, what are things on the ingredient label to look for that makes it a good food and things to look for on the label that is an instant put back on the shelf?

Look for whole fish and not fish meal. Fish meal is the heads, skin and other parts of the fish that we humans don't eat. Insect based foods like Bug Bites are great. You don't want to see too much of terrestrial grains like wheat or rice.

 

[Byron]

@sharkweek178 nailed it. Look at the example of bad and good in my post #5 above. The ingredients are one thing, second is the food type must be suited to the fish. Carnivore and herbivore fish have very different diets, omnivore is sort of mid-way.