# What is the best food for a Community tank?



## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Hey Guys ~

I am use to feeding Discus and Frontosa, Blue Dolphins and Leleupi. What is the best quality food for a community tank?

Can one use shrimp? I have oodles! I am going today to the lfs!


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## cbirk (Feb 5, 2010)

Generally speaking you want a broad diet for any fish. I find that using a high quality tropical fish flake or grainuals works great, and then off set it a few days with some frozen bloodworms, and some shrimp pellets. Maybe some brine shrimp depending on what exactly you have in there. Some people also feed fresh veggies, again depending on what exact fish you have in there.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Thank you! You have completely answered my question!

What about cooked shrimp?


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## cbirk (Feb 5, 2010)

Thats something I have never done before, so not sure. I will just broadly say again, that it depends on what exactly you have in there. I'll let someone else with more experience with cooked shrimp answer that question for you


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

cbirk said:


> Thats something I have never done before, so not sure. I will just broadly say again, that it depends on what exactly you have in there. I'll let someone else with more experience with cooked shrimp answer that question for you



Oh. I thought I posted my list.

Rummy Nose

Drawf Neon Rainbow

Zebra Dano

Neon Rainbow 

Congo Tetras

Odessa Barbs

Sterbai Cories

Cherry Cories

Sword Tails

CLown Loaches

Black Berry Barbs


And some Mollies, black. But I have not researched if they can fit with the others, yet.

And some scavengers:

Bristlenose catfish
Corydoras 

So ~

There ya have it!


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## iamgray (Jul 16, 2010)

sorry, can't answer the question about the shrimp... all i can say is what I feed. I alternate between tropical flakes one day, then some small sized sinking pellets the next, and then frozen bloodworms or frozen tubifex worms (whichever my hand hits first when i go into the freezer, basically) on the third day.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I feed the pre-cooked shrimp (from the grocery store) as a treat once or twice a week. I defrost it in a cup of water in the microwave then chop it up into bite sized pieces. Both my cichlids (American) and community fish love it.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks! I have frozen pre cooked shrimp! Tons, actually!


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Okay ~ I have no clue if I am feeding these teensy weensy wet pets enough or too much! I gave them some flake food and sprinkled it in and it floated!

....and they were not going up top to get it either! Then I thought I feed them too much ~ because it looked like a hella lot! 

Eventually, the current took all the food down ~ no one has bloated or pop yet, so I guess they are okay.

I feel totally clueless feeding for these guys.:-( Do we feed every day? I didn't feed them yesterday when I brought them home so they were pretty hungry.

My goodness. Don't they EVER stop? They are all like they drank too much coffee! lol! Back and forth!!

I was afraid to turn on the light this morning they would be all gone


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

I normally buy small containers (don't expire as quickly before it's gone) and mix three or four kinds together and place it in tuppeware container and place it in the fridge.
For the fish you have ,I would be looking at foods such as Omega One Veggie flakes,Ocean nutrition Omnivore formula,Tetra's three in one,along with spirulina flake (for barbs and livebearer's).
Maybe some shrimp pellet's for cory's and alage wafers for Bristlenose along with veggies such as Romain lettuce,zuchinni,spinach leaves,sweet bell pepper,cucumber,and some driftwood for the Bristlenose to rasp on.
Thawed frozen shrimp cut into bit's would be good for cory's as well as the bristlenose but not every day.
Large containers of food usually expire before one can empty them ,and smaller containers are likely to be used up before this happens. Hope some of this helps.


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## eileen (Feb 24, 2009)

I bought a flake mix from www.angelsplus.com called the works for my community tank. They even carry medicated flake food when your fish get sick. I bought immune booster flakes for new fish and dewormer flakes from them. To make a custom food mix I use a bowl and mix the flakes with some dried bloodworms, dried brineshrimp, tetramin algae waffers and make up my own mix problems solved for all fish in the tank and drop a Hikari sinking pellet for the cories,plecos. www.kensfish.com has a nice selection on fish food also. I feed only once a day and skip 1 day a week like a Wednesday. This keeps the water good from overfeeding. I do feed my baby fish tank twice a day with decapped brineshrimp eggs.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Seems as though you two have it down. I will be back later to ask more questions! I have a 125 gallon and you need a magnifying glass to see my new fish!!

Almost $100 and they don't even fill a 1/8 of a cup!

Here is what I got yesterday and the only residents at this time:

12 Rummy Nose ( except I counted them just now and there are 13! ) hey that was almost $50! But they are my favorite!


6 Neon Tetras

5 Rasporas ( I think that is that name! I can't find my paper! )

They ate all the flake, but how do I know they had enough?

and 2 red Sword Tails!


Quite a difference from Frontosas and Dolipins! These guys are so teensy, they are gonna swim themselves to death ~ don't they ever rest? lol! I wonder how to know if they are still hungry? Seems they can be over fed quite easily?


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## eileen (Feb 24, 2009)

I just have a feeder ring and put a nice size pinch or two in that ring. It keeps the food in one place and the fish seem to know where they get fed in the corner. I don't have food floating everywhere in the tank.
Nice group of fish. If you got a male/female swordtail expect babies from them. I had a 55 gal. tank and I had tetras, livebearers, bushy nosed pleco you should get one of these for the bottom good algae cleaner and they only get to be 4-5" max. they grow very slowly so get a baby if you can. Cories work nice for the bottom also. I had 1 angelfish to control excess babies being born from the livebearers. It's always nice to have a couple of big fish in the tank as the show piece fish. Big tank with alot of little fish does not do it for me. Rainbow fish are nice also for that bigger fish you might want. I had dwarf rainbow fish or you can get a trio of Bosemani Rainbow fish really pretty, Gouarmis work also in stead of angelfish. Oh and angelfish really have a personality as mine used to follow me around when I passed the tank. I could use a lazer pointer and it would follow it everywhere in the tank which was really cute. Just make sure you look at the compatibility chart to make sure that everyone will co-exist together in your tank. Also check the full grown size as Angelfish will max out at 6" full grown. Some people get 3 or 4 small ones so they will pair off Male/female mated pair then they will rehome the other ones that do not pair off so they have a peaceful community tank and no fighting among fish.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

Eileen you have been so helpful!! I have tons of questions! I have to go to work though ~ I will be back!

I do need a big show fish ~ Think black. I want something cool and black!


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## iamgray (Jul 16, 2010)

SweetPoison said:


> Okay ~ I have no clue if I am feeding these teensy weensy wet pets enough or too much! I gave them some flake food and sprinkled it in and it floated!
> 
> ....and they were not going up top to get it either! Then I thought I feed them too much ~ because it looked like a hella lot!
> 
> ...


I think fish don't need to eat nearly as much as the instructions on the food say... I take a pinch of flake food and crush it up between my fingers as I'm sprinkling... and do that once a day. I sit and watch for a bit though, and if not all of the fish get to the surface on time, I'll drop a teeny bit more on the surface above the fish that missed out. I pretty much never see any flakes hit the bottom. I figure... if it's not enough, they can scavenge and pick algae bits off plants. I'm a bit more liberal with the sinking pellets because I want to have enough extra so some hits the ground for my loaches... and on frozen bloodworm day, they are in small cubes and I use one for my whole tank. The cubes are probably about 1/2"x1/2".


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## eileen (Feb 24, 2009)

I know of a big show piece fish. Get a black angelfish They have some really pretty ones with red rimmed eyes. http://www.koicorner.net/blackangelfish.jpeg I can't think of a big black fish other then an angelfish or black swordtail but the angelfish will grow bigger. They make good community fish most of the time. Keep looking in different fish shops for the Black angels. Some will be totally black maybe get them at different places if they only have 1. Try www.aquabid.com also if you can't find them as they sell angelfish babies and they are in a small group as most people do not want to pay for shipping just 1 fish. Most are the size of a pea or quarter.Cute and small so you can watch them grow up among your tetras and enjoy them.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

iamgray said:


> I think fish don't need to eat nearly as much as the instructions on the food say... I take a pinch of flake food and crush it up between my fingers as I'm sprinkling... and do that once a day. I sit and watch for a bit though, and if not all of the fish get to the surface on time, I'll drop a teeny bit more on the surface above the fish that missed out. I pretty much never see any flakes hit the bottom. I figure... if it's not enough, they can scavenge and pick algae bits off plants. I'm a bit more liberal with the sinking pellets because I want to have enough extra so some hits the ground for my loaches... and on frozen bloodworm day, they are in small cubes and I use one for my whole tank. The cubes are probably about 1/2"x1/2".


I don't know if mine can eat fbw, just yet! They are really small. Thanks for sharing your feeding regimen ~ totally appreciate it!




eileen said:


> I know of a big show piece fish. Get a black angelfish They have some really pretty ones with red rimmed eyes. http://www.koicorner.net/blackangelfish.jpeg I can't think of a big black fish other then an angelfish or black swordtail but the angelfish will grow bigger. They make good community fish most of the time. Keep looking in different fish shops for the Black angels. Some will be totally black maybe get them at different places if they only have 1. Try AquaBid.com - Sell or buy aquarium related equipment and fish in an auction format! also if you can't find them as they sell angelfish babies and they are in a small group as most people do not want to pay for shipping just 1 fish. Most are the size of a pea or quarter.Cute and small so you can watch them grow up among your tetras and enjoy them.


I think a tiny black Angel fish would be so awesome in my tank! Perhaps if I got him small like them, and they all grew up together, he would be less likely to snack on them!

I will check out your link!


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

Hey SweetPoison, just wanted to add a note on the feeding...a nice sized pinch once a day is all they'll need. Drop a pinch in then watch and make sure everyone gets at least a bite or two of food. It's better to underfeed them slightly than to overfeed. My rummies and rasboras always preferred to eat the food mid level instead of at the surface. But my swordtails do eat from the surface. I don't know about the neons as I've never kept them before.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Another thing that is helpful, and what I do for my community tank, is to drop food on each end of the tank at the same time. That's the only way I can ensure everybody gets their fair share. One end gets food shot out of the turkey baster for the mid to lower schooling levels, the other end gets the food dropped to the surface. Works for me, and for them.


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

jeaninel said:


> Hey SweetPoison, just wanted to add a note on the feeding...a nice sized pinch once a day is all they'll need. Drop a pinch in then watch and make sure everyone gets at least a bite or two of food. It's better to underfeed them slightly than to overfeed. *My rummies and rasboras always preferred to eat the food mid level instead of at the surface. But my swordtails do eat from the surface. I don't know about the neons as I've never kept them *before.


Perfect. I have noticed this too. I typically do leave my fish a tad bit hungry, and always wanting more. That is good to know it is okay with these little ones.

Thank You!


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## SweetPoison (Jan 16, 2011)

aunt kymmie said:


> Another thing that is helpful, and what I do for my community tank, is to drop food on each end of the tank at the same time. That's the only way I can ensure everybody gets their fair share.



Ya know ~ I always always to do this, especially with Fronts and Discus! I just totally forgot about it this time around!

Thanks for reminding me!


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