Feeding New Fish

[CezzaXV]

Hello all!

I have fish! Yay! They've been in my tank a few hours, I have 6 cardinal tetra, 6 julii cories, 1 bamboo shrimp and 4 apple snails at present.

I've got Nutrafin flake, King British catfish pellets, generic brand algae wafers (to crush up for the shrimp) and frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp.

2 questions:

- Should I feed them tonight or should I leave it until tomorrow? I plan to feed my fish at 6PM each day as this is when I get home from work and is easy to remember.

- I want to give my fish a varied diet. I was planning on coming up with some kind of feeding schedule so I feed something different every day, but is there a ratio of dried to frozen food I should be looking to give?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

They should get a day to settle in before feeding.

There's no need to vary food too much. Most aquarists have a staple food, but mix in a "treat" food every now and then. For me, I give my fish flakes and my cories pellets daily. Then once a week they get frozen bloodworms. Once a week they are fasted and once a month I mix in some frozen peas - out of their tough outer skin and crushed up.

 

[CezzaXV]

Is it a bad thing to feed frozen food often then, or is it just unnecessary?

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Congratulations on your new fishy family!

Are your cories very young? Reason I ask is because when I first got my two albinos the King British catfish pellets were too large, and I found they didn't soften in water much for them to break bits off, so I had to crush them between two spoons before feeding. I switched to New Era Catfish pellets after that (can order them online from various places, including ebay). I feel they are more suitable for Corys as they are long and narrow, they are also semi moist which makes it easier for tiny mouths to bite bits off.

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Is it a bad thing to feed frozen food often then, or is it just unnecessary?

I feed mine frozen foods 2 to 3 times a week as they seem to really enjoy the frozen food. I find they really enjoy bloodworms.
But if you find that a bit disgusting you can buy Tetra Fresh Delica foods instead (which I've just started using). it comes in a box made of 16 foil sachets and doesn't need to be kept in the fridge. When you rip open the sachet you just give it a few squishes and pink drops (it's jelly the food is enclosed in) of food will come out. The cories got totally nuts for it.

http/www.swelluk.com/aquarium/fish-food-and-feeders-50/tropical-fish-food-150/tetra-fresh-delica-bloodworm-brineshrimp-daphnia-241.html

 

[onidrase]

They should get a day to settle in before feeding.

There's no need to vary food too much. Most aquarists have a staple food, but mix in a "treat" food every now and then. For me, I give my fish flakes and my cories pellets daily. Then once a week they get frozen bloodworms. Once a week they are fasted and once a month I mix in some frozen peas - out of their tough outer skin and crushed up.

Out of curiosity, what is the point of the fasting? I've never done this, and I'd like to know if I should

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Seeing my fish were mostly brought online (all but 3) I feed mine soon as they got to me, as they'd been without food for over 24 hours. I found it relaxed them.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

They should get a day to settle in before feeding.

There's no need to vary food too much. Most aquarists have a staple food, but mix in a "treat" food every now and then. For me, I give my fish flakes and my cories pellets daily. Then once a week they get frozen bloodworms. Once a week they are fasted and once a month I mix in some frozen peas - out of their tough outer skin and crushed up.

Out of curiosity, what is the point of the fasting? I've never done this, and I'd like to know if I should

Naturally fish don't eat every day. They eat when food is available. Secondly, they don't need the amount of food that is usually fed to them in an aquarium. So, the fasting is just a way for me to regulate the amount of food they receive. Ultimately, I just think it is healthier for them. Heck, I've read things that say that it would be healthier for people to fast themselves every day as well. I don't have that kind of will power, but I do have the will power not to feed my fish every day.

 

[friendlyfishy777]

Is there any proof that not feeding fish daily is good for them? I feed my fish twice a day and I consider that right as having three greedy hoplos in my tank I want to make sure the Corys get their fare share. Though I have to say I am a little concerned about the growth rate of my Hoplos tummies recently.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I don't have any specifically. But, I will add that cories are more active at night usually, so if you feed the cories before you go to bed, they will get their share.

 

[nurglespuss]

There's often two sides to a story, and in this case, its indeed true:

1: I always followed the 'rule' that you didn't feed new arrivals until they had had a night to settle in (increased bioload doesn't deed food adding to it! ;p).

2: Giving your 'other' fish a feed, distracts them from the new arrivals giving them chance to grab a hiding place and not be interfered with immediatly, reducing stress.

Result - Its pro's and con's! I've changed my opinion from 1 to 2 nowadays, but not always! I think the best advice is - a quarantine tank.

Get those fish, healthy, well fed and in good shape to handle a little stress, and then transfer them.

 

[CezzaXV]

Well, these fish were the first to be added to the tank, so quarantining them seemed a little redundant.

I'm going to try a different strategy tonight - going to try some bloodworm at about 9.30 tonight, which will be shortly after my moonlights come on. The cories do seem a lot more active then.