Feeding Routines

[BethK]

Hi All

I was told that my fish should be fed every other day but it seems, unless I feed them every day, the get narky.

I don't feed them big amounts every day but I have to mix the foods up as I have a betta and black tetras. The LFS told me to do it like this (?), I've not noticed any weight changes in the fish but after reading this forum, I am a little worried if I am doing more harm than good?

If I don't feed them every day, the betta winds the tetras up and vice versa, so I feed them daily to basically keep the peace.

Am I doing this wrong? Is there a specific food tetras should have, as they are on flake (which the LFS said was fine for them), the betta has betta food.

I also want to drive feeding them something like blood worm but I am a little worried about keeping them in my own fridge. How would you go about feeding fish something like this? I see in the LFS that they sell blood worms in plastic tubing.

Sorry if these questions are noob like

Thanks

 

[didz04]

No problem with the noob question
You should be feeding them everyday however there are people who miss a day then feed to keep the water healthy, however if you feed them 3-5 times a day in small amounts then this will help keep the water healthy longer to. All fish should have different variety of food and not just stuck to the one food. Flake is fine for them in their diet but also add frozen foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and dafnia which some of the main foods that people use. The brine shrimp is full of protein for them and is used best for new born fry to grow on. They will fill up a lot quicker and last longer because it would be slower to digest for them so less aggression in your case. Don't worry about them being in your freezer if you just rap it inside a carry bag and there should be no problems. I used to worry about dead worms being in my freezer but just rap it in a carry bag, with bloodworm smelling quite strong I used to think it will stink up the freezer but it doesn't because its frozen, packaged in a foiled cube and rapped in a bag lol.

 

[BethK]

Thanks x

How much blood worm do you put in the tank?

 

[pauld]

i feed twice a day , only feed what they can eat in 2 minutes i use flake and frozen cube to help with my fishy budget i also feed tescos blue stripe frozen prawns chopped finely a bag last forever corrrrr that makes me sound a stingey git lol .

 

[BethK]

i feed twice a day , only feed what they can eat in 2 minutes i use flake and frozen cube to help with my fishy budget i also feed tescos blue stripe frozen prawns chopped finely a bag last forever corrrrr that makes me sound a stingey git lol .

lol nah, it's a recession

I give them a pinch of mixed (normal flake and betta), majority of it is gone within 20 mins. Should I leave it at that or feed them twice daily, do you think?

 

[pauld]

try half a pinch twice a day as long as theres none left over you are not over feeding but try to vary the diet as much as you can healthier fish . mad really i moan at cost of frozen cubes so use cheap prawns but dont moan about cost of a pint lol .

 

[BethK]

Thanks fir that, useful tips, loving this forum!



p.s. I'm the same with choc fudge cake but shhhhhhh

 

[yabadaba]

The bloodworm that you are referring to in your original post....in the plastic tubing....sounds like live food and that should be kept in a fridge if you aren't going to be feeding it within the next few hours. As didz04 has mentioned though, bloodworm also comes frozen and if you want to try it I'd recommend starting with that first. Frozen fish food comes as a pack of foil backed cubes (usually about 2cm square) and if you're not sure how much to feed at first it's pretty easy to get a sharp knife and actually chop one of the cubes into smaller pieces. Put the bit you want to feed into a small container (I use a plastic cup) full of tank water to melt and the rest can be pressed back into the pack and put back in your freezer.

Start with a small amount of the bloodworm (or whatever else it is you might want to try) and you'll soon work out how much more you should add based on how readily that gets eaten. Some say that you should add about as much food as will get eaten within two minutes, which is probably a good yardstick with the kind of fish you have. Some of the bottom feeders that I have, though, are less voracious eaters and will need more time to hunt around and locate the bits that fall to the substrate and into the plants so if I followed that rule strictly I'd end up starving them!

I personally wouldn't add too much flake and like didz04 said would try and offer a reasonable variety of different foods. I've recently discovered Hikari Micro Pellets and Micro Wafers, which would probably go down a treat with your tetras and, based on Hikari's reputation and sales pitch for these two products, they would appear to be providing much of the nutrition that your fish need to do well.

 

[BethK]

Thanks for that, I think I will try the cubes. I'm not keen on keeping live foods, it kinda makes my skin crawl

 

[pauld]

if you do buy live blood worm in plastic tubes always check to see if the water they are in is clear the longer they have had them the more coloured the water is i always tip the contents into my net and qiuck rinse under tap i never put the water the worms come in in me tank .


ps choclate fudge cake is not good for you try swapping to a healthier diet of beer and fags lol

 

[yabadaba]

Thanks for that, I think I will try the cubes. I'm not keen on keeping live foods, it kinda makes my skin crawl

Yeah, but your fish will love them.....all mine, bar none, go crazy when a pour in some live daphnia. Talk about a feeding frenzy!

 

[BethK]

I think when I get my bigger tank out of cycle, then will most prob try with live food x

 

[OldMan47]

Be careful working with blood worms. Some people have severe allergic reactions to blood worms. You are probably overfeeding if your fish are still eating 20 minutes later Beth. They need to still look hungry and be done with the feeding in about 2 minutes.