Best food varieties for mid-top level swimmers and bottom-feeders?

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IndiaHawker

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Hi again! I'm looking into better/more interesting foods for my fish - since I got them a few months back I've been feeding them the flake food that came with them, and some algae tablets that I bought, but I feel like it's not interesting enough for them and would like to try some better things. I will likely buy some frozen bloodworm as I remember bottom-feeders that myself/my mum have owned in the past loving them - are there any other frozen foods you would recommend, and also some more interesting things for the mid/top level swimmers? Want to vary things a bit and give them a good healthy diet!

Also how many algae tablets should I be feeding? I have a bristlenose pleco and four bronze cories (plus three zebra danios and a red wagtail platy who sometimes like to nibble them) - I've been feeding one and a half tablets a day (broken up into smaller bits) alongside flake food - is this too much or too little? And with other types of food, how much should I feed?

Please and thanks for any help!
 
The most nutritional balanced foods are the good quality prepared dry foods (I'll mention some momentarily). Frozen foods are OK as "treats," but if you look at the nutritional data on the labels you will see they are not much. Their value lies in the fact that they are the closest food to live foods, so fish are somewhat excited or stimulated. But frozen foods should not be considered a staple or regular food.

Live foods are ideal, if you can either raise them or buy them from some fish stores. But they do get expensive, and again nutritionally you may be missing things. After all, omnivorous fish will have a fairly variable diet in their habitat, and you are unlikely to be able to match this. Those living in warm climates might come close, with outdoor culture of mosquito larvae and such, but that is not necessary.

Good quality dried foods are high in the necessary minerals, proteins, etc. Some of the prepared foods may contain unwanted additives, like cereal meals. I have tracked down two brands that do not include these. Omega One and New Life Spectrum. I use the NLS basic freshwater flake, NLS freshwater pellet, the Omega One kelp flake, OO shrimp flake, OO shrimp pellets, and OO Veggie Rounds (these are sinking veggie-based disks).

I also use the Bug Bits that I believe Nutrafin are now marketing. And Nutrafin's sinking tablets which contain earthworm (these do have a meal in them, but it is just one food).

Not all my fish will manage the NLS pellets, but for those that can I use these alternating with the flake just for variety.

The two Omega One veggie foods mentioned are ideal for all algae and fruit-eating species, but they are good for all fish as they do contain some fish and the "veggie" part is good for a healthy intestinal tract (just like for us!).

I alternate these foods, using three upper-level fish foods (the flake ones) and three sinking foods, one of each at each daily feeding. There is no point or benefit to feeding more than once a day (except for fry), and skipping a day or two days each week won't hurt either, and may actually be beneficial.

Also how many algae tablets should I be feeding? I have a bristlenose pleco and four bronze cories (plus three zebra danios and a red wagtail platy who sometimes like to nibble them) - I've been feeding one and a half tablets a day (broken up into smaller bits) alongside flake food - is this too much or too little?

I would not break these up, primarily because if left whole the upper fish are less likely to grab them at least initially. This worked in my 90g. One disk the size of the Omega One Veggie Round is sufficient for what you mention. I have 50 cories in one tank, and I drop in two of these disks; it takes them a few hours before the disks are gone, but they seem to enjoy gathering around them,nudging away. The Whiptails in this tank also join in.
 
I use NLS pellets (for small fish) as my staple. I feed that early evening every feeding day (I only feed 5 days a week). These float for around 30 seconds and then slowly sink so everyone has a go at them (and the greedy little tetras feed at all levels). Any that are left over will be taken care of by the bottom feeders, although this is not for them so I try to feed just enough. Then late at night I alternate sinking pellets for the bottom feeders just before lights out. These are mostly nocturnal feeders and eat quite slowly - so I don't break up the food as it will take a while to soften (by which time the tetras have got bored and gone to sleep). If there is any trace of food left in the morning I know I have fed way too much. Mine is usually gone in a couple of hours but I am rarely awake to confirm this :)

Frozen food is once a week at most (i.e. not every week). I always feed this the day before water change and on those days I feed nothing else.
 
You mention you have 3 zebra danios, a red wagtail platy, a bristlenose pleco and 4 bronze cories. Are there any other fish in the tank and how big is the tank?
If the tank has room, the zebra danios would probably enjoy some more company as they naturally occur in large groups. And depending on what sex the platy is, you could get a few friends for it. If you are unsure as to what sex your platy is, post a small picture of it and we can tell you what sex it is.

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I fed my fish a commercially prepared food or freeze dried food in the morning and then frozen or live food in the evening. The frozen foods range from marine mix (contains prawn, fish, squid, mussel and spinach or seaweed), bloodworm, brineshrimp, daphnia, mysis shrimp, and raw prawn (no head or shell, just the meat in the tail) if I didn't have marine mix.
Defrost frozen food before feeding to the fish.

A word of caution, most frozen foods will produce a lot more ammonia than dry foods so remove any uneaten food within a few minutes of feeding and monitor pH, ammonia & nitrate levels if using a lot of frozen food. Make sure you do a 75% water change and gravel clean each week when using frozen foods and fruits/ veg because the extra food will cause the water quality to deteriorate faster than a small amount of dry food.

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Freeze dried food was usually bloodworms or a block of tubifex worms pushed against the glass a couple of inches below the surface if the water.

Live foods ranged from mosquito larvae, daphnia, newly hatched brineshrimp, microworms, grindal worms, aphids, wingless fruit flies, and weevil larvae that I farmed in a plastic rubbish bit that has flour in. Sometimes I would find an ant nest or termite mound and get eggs from that. And on occasions there would be midges swarming around the place and I use a fine mesh net to catch them and either use them straight away or put them in a plastic bag and freeze them for use later on.

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For algae eating fish, you can use algae wafers and slices of fresh fruit or vegetables like pumpkin, zucchini, cucumber, apple, spinach, silver beet, or other types of fruits & veges. You can feed them fresh and raw or put the fruits/ veg in boiling water for a few seconds to a few minutes to soften them up. Try raw one day and blanched (partly cooked) the next day and boiled the day after and see which the fish prefer.

You can feed most fruits & vegetables but do not feed onion or any onion relative (spring onions, shallots, leeks, garlic), and no potatoes.

Make sure any food you give the fish is free of chemicals like herbicide, pesticide or anything else that could poison them. And rinse it well before use.

Remove uneaten fruit/ veg 4-8 hours after feeding. Most people feed bottom dwellers at night because that is when they are most active. If you feed them at night after lights out, you can remove uneaten fruit/ veg in the morning when you get up.
 

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