Feeding Question

[SwordtailLover]

Hello All!

I have a ten gallon tank with five fish total; three Zebra Danios and two Swordtails. When I feed them, I just put the flakes on top, crushed a little, and when I do this, the Zebra's will eat right from the top, but the two swordtails wait for the flakes to float to the bottom. They don't get as much food, because I'd rather not have the tank being messy due to over feeding, because they won't come to the top for feeding time, and they don't seem to like to pick the food off of the gravel.

I am feeding them Wardley Total Tropical fish food. Could it be that they don't like the type of food? Or could it just be that they're really not as hungry as I think they should be? The reason I ask the latter question, is because the Zebras will eat two to three times the amount of food that they do, which makes me a little cautious. I don't want to underfeed them, I want to keep them nourished and healthy.

Thanks all for the replies

 

[rdd1952]

After you put a few flakes on the top, try sticking some of the flakes under water and releasing. That will usually make them sink immediately. The danios will be busy with the foating stuff and the swortails can get the sinking stuff.

 

[SwordtailLover]

Ah, I see. I was wondering if anyone else had fish that wouldn't eat from the top of the water (beside fish that usually are fed with nuggets and what not).