Feeding Time

[Welshweeks]

Hi All,

Does anyone turn their filter off when feeding your fishies? I have an external filter with a spray bar and 2 air stones. The only reason I'm asking is when I put the food in it goes all over the place and the rummy tetras and barbs seem fine getting food but the rasboras are a little too slow and don't seem to be getting as much as the others. I've browsed the net and noticed a few people have commented that they knock their filter off when feeding. I assume that it wouldn't do any harm to knock it off for 10 mins?

 

[fluttermoth]

No, it's fine to switch your filters off for feeding, if that's what's best for the fishies. Marine keepers do it all the time

 

[Welshweeks]

Thanks for the info

 

[deftuch]

yeah would be fine but youd have to clean your gravel more carfully as the filter will catch less food and the gravel will be covered more. plus try some small sinking foods that sink slowly such as protien granules

 

[Welshweeks]

yeah would be fine but youd have to clean your gravel more carfully as the filter will catch less food and the gravel will be covered more. plus try some small sinking foods that sink slowly such as protien granules

Yes, I just tried without the filter running but the food sunk pretty quickly so I ended up putting the filter back on to keep the food circulating rather that going straight to the floor!!

What a total newbie!!!

lol

 

[deftuch]

yeah would be fine but youd have to clean your gravel more carfully as the filter will catch less food and the gravel will be covered more. plus try some small sinking foods that sink slowly such as protien granules

Yes, I just tried without the filter running but the food sunk pretty quickly so I ended up putting the filter back on to keep the food circulating rather that going straight to the floor!!

What a total newbie!!!

lol

lol even thouh your fish dont seem like there getting even amounts each time im sure overall there all getting enough

 

[The Taffy Apple]

yeah would be fine but youd have to clean your gravel more carfully as the filter will catch less food and the gravel will be covered more. plus try some small sinking foods that sink slowly such as protien granules

Yes, I just tried without the filter running but the food sunk pretty quickly so I ended up putting the filter back on to keep the food circulating rather that going straight to the floor!!

What a total newbie!!!

lol

Evening butt... maybe you are putting in too much food to start with? What i mean is, there shouldn't really be any left over to reach the gravel, going on the theory of only putting enough in as they will eat. Some will, no doubt (and your new plants will love you for it!) but you shouln't have to be gravel vac'ing excess food out regulary.
With regards to the sinking pellets that were mentioned, did you look into those JBL tabs? Your Corys will love you for investing in some of those, plus i find that sticking them to side gets a keen interest from all my fish.
Does the spray bar really need to be on butt? Have you tried feeding time without it on?

Just gonna go do a bit of stalking and find if you've put anymore pics up

Terry.

 

[OldMan47]

If you wish, you can turn off your filter during feeding. Many people do just exactly that. What is important is that you turn it back on as soon as feeding is finished. A change in filtration for some small fraction of an hour will have almost no effect on your water conditions. A longer term change in filtration is quite another matter.

 

[Aqua Tom]

I leave my filter on when feeding, never even thought about turning it off.

Tom

 

[Welshweeks]

After doing some experimenting i have decided to leave mine on! lol

 

[Joshwainwright]

I just leave mine on, I can never be bothered fiddling about with the plugs

 

[CrustyOnEastCoast]

I turn my filter off during feeding, so that some small leftover pieces of the original flakes the fish have been munching reach the ground for the catfish.
If I put a sinking pellet in for the catfish, I find that the tetras grab it, and play a game of football, making a mess everywhere. In this case, if the filter is left on, all those little pieces of the "football" get sucked up in the filter and I don't think the catfish get much! With the filter off, the little bits fall to the sand, and the catfish scurry around.

I actually leave my filter off for about 20 minutes during feeding time (since it takes that long for the tetras to finish their game). I only drop a sinking pellet in like every other day, though.

I have a pretty stable tank now ... and good water parameters. What do people think of this? This is an interesting thread. Any other ideas?