# Feeding Habits - Advice Needed



## beano129 (Jul 26, 2012)

Hey everyone, 

I would like to get some advice on feeding habits because I'm not convinced I'm doing the right thing by my fish. 

I am feeding the following fish:- 
1 x Koi Angel (about 9 cm from mouth to the end of tail fin) and he's my biggest fish 
1 x Marble Angel (about 6 cm from mouth to end of tail fin) 
4 x Widow Tetras (about 5.5 cm from mouth to end of tail fin)
1 x Bronze Cory (about 7 am from mouth to end of tail fin) 

I feed Tetra Colour (see picture) pellets and 1 x Sera Vipachips (see picture). 


I hide the biscuit at the bottom for the Cory and then a 2 x small pinches of the pellets every 2 days. One pinch as normal and then the other pinch I break up into smaller pieces to give some smaller bits a chance to float down for the bottom feeders (when I had more of them... as I've only got 1 left now I don't do that anymore) 

The Tetra's and the Angels go NUTS when it's feeding time and literally consume everything in seconds.. i would estimate that each fish has 1-2 pellets at most. 

I feed every 2 days because I'm scared to death of overfeeding but....

In the past 7 months since my tank has been set up I have purchased 22 small fish and I only have 9 left. 

I did wonder if it was a food thing but I had a couple of balloon mollies that would always get at least 1 pellet of tetra colour every two days as they would but amongst the pack when it came to feeding time and they both died - i even had my local fish shop perform an autopsy and they didn't see anything (apparently)(I'm not 100% confident of most of the staff that work there) 

So, I would like to get at least 6 more cory's and 3 more Tetras but i don't want to buy them only for them to die 6 weeks later which has been the trend. 

So, am I feeding correctly? 

If I do go and buy some more fish, what should I change my feeding habit to be as well so I can be prepared? 

Thanks all


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## rexpepper651 (Dec 25, 2012)

i feed my fish about every other day sometimes every two days.i know my angels dont like the granules they sink too fast for them. my tetras love em. i feed with tetra color plus flake food every other feed an then use omega one blood worms as well. it could be your adding too many fish all at once. im not sure tho hopefuly someone will chime in with some more usefull info!


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## JDM (Dec 9, 2012)

I use New Life Spectrum medium sinking pellets for everyone. I have barbs, emerald cats, pepper corys and a betta. I don't know the ingredients in your foods but the NLS has no filler (wheat middlings comes to mind as one) and don't use leftover fish parts from processing, whole fish. $40 for a jar but I expect it to last a year or more so it's cheap enough.

The pellets float long enough for the betta to get what he needs, I spot feed him to make sure... 4-7 pellets. three generous "pinches" for everyone else. The barbs eat some on the way down then they pick off the bottom with the cats and corys. 

I feed every day, I probably overfeed but there is no visible food left after the cats spend the morning grazing on the sand. The snails and shrimp probably get any leftovers.

I see others skip one day a week in the feeding schedule, not many every second day. 

What's your water change schedule like and do you vacuum the bottom each time? This can make a difference on how meticulous you might need to be in feeding, more larger water changes and good cleaning habits go a long way in mitigating any possible overfeeding issues.

Jeff.


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## jentralala (Oct 5, 2012)

JDM said:


> . $40 for a jar but I expect it to last a year or more so it's cheap enough.
> 
> 
> Jeff.


$40 a jar?! How big is your jar? I buy it for $10 a jar, and it's going to last me at least a year, with just the 14 rasboras.

Anyways, I think you'd be best to change brands to either New Life Spectrum or Omega One, the ingredients are much higher quality.

What size tank is this?

EDIT: Is it overfeeding that you're thinking is killing the fish? I really doubt that's the case, and if you can give us the tanks size, PH, GH, and KH and tank maintence schedule perhaps we can work out what's going on.


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## JDM (Dec 9, 2012)

jentralala said:


> $40 a jar?! How big is your jar? I buy it for $10 a jar, and it's going to last me at least a year, with just the 14 rasboras.


I don't know it's volume but the jar is about 6" tall by 4" across. I have 28 fish at this point.



jentralala said:


> Anyways, I think you'd be best to change brands to either New Life Spectrum or Omega One, the ingredients are much higher quality.


Yes, the Omega looks decent as well.

Jeff.


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## beano129 (Jul 26, 2012)

Hey all, 
Thank you for your messages so far - here's the answers to the questions. 

Tank - 153 Litres (10 Gal)
Ammonia - 0
p.H - 7.4 
Nitrite - 0 
Nitrate 5.0
Tap Water - Soft 
Maintenance - Approx. 25% water change every 2 weeks with gravel vac each time. I also clean the inside tank walls with my magnet algae remover. 
I change the carbon & filter pad in my eheim 2217 canister filter every 3 months. 
When I clean, I remove all decorations leaving just the gravel, then vac, add new water with Stress Zyme & Stress Coat. 

I didn't think overfeeding was killing my fish.. i was thinking that i'm underfeeding them at the moment which is why the smaller less aggressive fish are dying because they aren't getting enough food.

What i'm after is advice on whether the amount that I feed is too little or about right and then ist the frequency too little or about right... 

As I mention above, each fish gets 1 or 2 of the little pellets and that's it.. I could count to 5 and everything that i'd put in the tank would be completely gone! it's extremely rare that anything is ever left over enough to sink to the bottom.. .almost never!


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## JDM (Dec 9, 2012)

So, is it 153litres (40 gals) or 10 gals (40 litres). One of those is too small and would be a major contributor to fish deaths.

I would say that if the fish eat it all you could feed more often, once per day, and it wouldn't be considered over feeding. 

Jeff


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## beano129 (Jul 26, 2012)

JDM said:


> So, is it 153litres (40 gals) or 10 gals (40 litres). One of those is too small and would be a major contributor to fish deaths.Jeff


1 US Gal is 3.8 Litres 
40 US Gal is 152 Litres 

Ah yes, so sorry I was way off... yes it's a 40 Gal tank and not a 10 Gal tank


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## JDM (Dec 9, 2012)

Ah, that must just have been a little Aussie math, eh? ;-)

Jeff.


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## beano129 (Jul 26, 2012)

JDM said:


> Ah, that must just have been a little Aussie math, eh? ;-)
> 
> Jeff.


Wouldn't be too bad if I was aussie... i'm a brit living is Oz! It's worse


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## fish monger (Dec 29, 2011)

Admittedly, I'm a tad generous in my feeding habits; however, there is nothing left after about ten minutes except for the veggie rounds that I drop into some of the tanks. I feed once a day. Your nitrate is a little high, but I can't believe that is feeding related with the amount you use. Weekly water changes would probably help with that unless the nitrate is coming from your tap water.


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## jentralala (Oct 5, 2012)

I feed my 14 little guys by sticking my fingers in the tank with a pinch of pellets and going back in forth 'sprinkling' them...so it's not in a straight line, I go several inches back and forth. This way they all have a fair chance at getting something, and the younger ones aren't pushed out of the way...they all have space to get a few bites.

Nothing ever makes it to the bottom, I have Omega One shrimp pellets that I throw in for the Kuhli Loaches. (3 pellets per 5 loaches.)

I think it's almost impossible to underfeed, if you're using a good quality pellet. There are so many micro organisms in the tank that the fish can eat. I constantly see mine nibbling and pecking at the plants, bits of algae, and specks in the water. 

Is it possible your angels are bullying them? Or maybe even the Widows? I've heard they can sometimes be aggressive little guys.


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