Feeding

[garrym1983]

hi, whats everyones take on how often to feed our little swimming friends. packaging says several times a day, websites say once a day and my mate says he feeds his every other!! Whats the feeling out there??!!

 

[This Old Spouse]

What do you have, how many, what size is your tank, what kind of filtration, what kind of food?

 

[garrym1983]

98l tank, 3 albino cory, 6 zebra danio, 4 neon tetra. 2 in tank filters 750 litres per hour. The tank came with fish flakes.

 

[This Old Spouse]

My suggestion with the flakes is a small pinch 2X daily. Here's the thing ... you want to feed them enough to keep them healthy, not so much as to foul the tank. Start with a small pinch and then you can up the amount a tiny bit if they finish it off too fast. Also, I'd suggest getting at least 3 more albino cory and several more tetras.

It's also a good idea to feed live or frozen food occasionally, and I toss in a veggie tab or sinking tabs for the cory once in a while.

 

[mike455555]

i feed mine every 2-4 days (depends on when i remember)

 

[creeker]

I feed tiny amounts 2-3x per day. The fish consume it all within 20 seconds, usually way quicker. I do have to make it a point to feed the cories, since food does not reach the bottom during my regular feedings. I drop a couple of Hikari sinking wafers in for them, after tank lights out, but while room light is still on.

 

[garrym1983]

thanks. Thing is the tank is only a week into the cycle process, im a bit apprehensive about addding to the tank, especially having learnt that what im doing is already frowned upon in certain quarters.

 

[creeker]

thanks. Thing is the tank is only a week into the cycle process, im a bit apprehensive about addding to the tank, especially having learnt that what im doing is already frowned upon in certain quarters.

In that case feed every other day or less until you're cycled. I would give them like one flake per fish. Better they go a little hungry than die from ammonia/nitrite poisoning. Be sure to do your daily water changes. If you don't, the fish may survive the cycle, but will die much earlier than normal due to damage occurred during the process. Neons are definitely not the best fish for this scenario. Not frowning, just trying to help you make the best of this situation. Also, maybe your mate can give you some of his used filter media. This would dramatically improve your situation. Might make the difference between life and death. Of course I'm assuming HIS tank is cycled.

 

[garrym1983]

how much of the sponge would i need to pinch from him??

 

[creeker]

how much of the sponge would i need to pinch from him??

Depends how many fish he has and what size tank? Obviously, the more the better for you, but we have to consider his fish's welfare too. He should be able to give you a third of his media, no problem.

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

 

[eaglesaquarium]

He should be able to give you 1/3rd of the media without concern for his own tank. That may or may not be enough to fully cycle your tank, but no matter how much it is, it will definitely help you greatly in the process. It doesn't have to be too much to do something. Ultimately, any bit of mature media you can add will greatly reduce the time for the cycle.


Let's do some quick math. If he has 20 inches of fish, and you take 1/3 of the media, you would be ready to go with 6 inches of fish. If he had 60 inches (or more) of fish, you would be ready to go for your stocking load. Give it a week or so of testing to prove that it is all settled (zeros for both ammonia and nitrite for 7 full days), and then you can think about correcting your stocking levels to the proper numbers for each shoal.

 

[This Old Spouse]

This is why I always have extra media in my filters. I doubt if anyone will ever need it in this God-forgotten town, but you never know!