Feeding Bottomfeeders?

[Jonno]

Hi there,

When i feed my fish all of the more active fish gobble all of the food up before it can even touch the bottom of the tank.

I got a snowball pleco at the weekend who seems very shy (he is nocturnal though i suppose), but how will he get his food? I am going to be getting 3 clown loaches and some corys soon also..

Perhaps i am underfeeding my fish? I feed them king british flakes every evening (large pinch), blood worm once/twice a week and some cucumber pieces weighed down using lead twice a week.

Jonno.

 

[funkyhoney]

Best option for the plecs, loaches and cory's would be either sinking shrimp pellets and/or sinking algae wafers; both work well and the other fish will generally leave them alone.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You can get some catfish pellets which will sink straight down. I would recommend the tetra complete ones which are very good for most bottom feeding fish. For Pelco's you will want to get some algae waffers as well (try dropping these in just after the lights go out in the evening). Avoid any pellets that are very hard and solid (like little pills) as these can take a long time for most fish to eat and could end up fouling the water.

I have a lot of very fast eating tetras in my tank and 6 cory's/1whiptail who will only feed off the bottom so when I feed my fish I put the flake in at one end for the tetras then drop the pellets in at the other end for the cory's and whiptail.

When it comes to frozen food I do pretty much the same. I defrost it and drop some bits on the surface (a little at a time) for the tetras then use long tweezers to drop some onto the floor at the other end of the tank for the cory's.

As long as your fish look healthy and not too thin they are probably getting enough food. You will probably not see your Pleco eat much for the first few months but they tend to get less shy as time goes on.

The Clown loaches will most likely come to the surface to eat flake food, then go back to the bottom to get anything else they missed

Edit: With regards to over/underfeeding I would say it sounds about right as you have it now. Just add some good pellet food in there and your good to go.

 

[paul_219]

Try to make the flakes drop. Put them first in a cup of water and few sec then drop in the tank.

 

[darkwolf29a]

Those flakes aren't good for bottom feeders anyway. Sinking pellets and algae wafers. Unless your fish are omnivorous (spelling), you should be fine with flakes on the top and wafers/pellets on the bottom.

 

[Jonno]

right so shopping list for tomorrow:

tetra complete and algae wafers

how much do i feed of each type? a pinch of each?!

 

[darkwolf29a]

I feed a small pinch of flakes. If they eat all that...then I'll throw in a little more.

As for wafers, I put in 4 at a time, but then...my pleco isn't getting any smaller. LOL I would say put in 1 wafer per fish, and see how they do, unless they are small (I'm thinking under 2in), then I'd break 1 in half, so it would 1 wafer per 2 fish.

Remember, if you don't feed them enough, you can always feed them again.


With my guppies, I feed them a couple of times a day, instead of one big feeding. Take a bit more time, but the guppies are big...which is what I'm after.

I guess with feeding...I like to take my time, since that's my... "me and my fish time"

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Quick amendment. The wafers I have are "tetra Variety wafers". They contain a mixture of different types of wafer (algae and omnivore). My whiptail and cory's like them all.

I feed 3 of these (they are about 5mm big) for 6 corys and 1 whiptail. takes them about 5 minutes to eat them.

With flake food I normally put 1 pinch in, (which gets eaten in about 30 seconds) then a second pinch in (for about 30 tetras). In general with flake food you feed just enough for it to all be eaten within 1.5-2 minutes.

 

[divisible by zero]

if your tank is wide enough try the distraction method. What i do is drop my flakes for tertra, gourami, and barbs in one side, then drop the sinking pellets in for the cory's on the other when they aren't looking.