Feeding

[Cyborg100]

Hello,

I'm new to fish keeping and had a question about feeding. I asked a few people at the fish store(where I got my fish) how much to feed them, the fish, and each person gave different not specific answers. I use tropical flakes and I have 6 platies, 2 fish that I don't remember the name of, and 4 mollies. How much and how often should I feed them.

 

[Demeter32]

An exact amount is something you have to figure out for yourself. Start by lightly sprinkling some food in the tank and see how fast they eat it. If everything is gone in about 20 seconds, then add a bit more. Watch the fish and make sure all of them are eating and very little is being left behind. I'd feed them twice a day.

You do not what the fish to be going after food for more than a minute. They don't know when to stop and will happily gorge themselves until they can do nothing but sit on the bottom of the tank for the next 2 days.

 

[Gruntle]

A fairly simple rule is to feed fish an amount of food equal to the size of their eye per day. There are exceptions (like fry) but it works out pretty well.

If you have uneaten food after three minutes, you're feeding too much. As to what sort of food, whatever the fish will happily eat is good, provided it's balanced (fish will happily eat bloodworms all day, but they're not good as the only food source for instance).