I just got into the hobbt and have a 36 gallon tank which has been up about 6 weeks. I have 4 sunburst platties, 3 tetras and 3 cory cats. How much do I feed the fish? Petsmart says what they will eat in 5 minutes, I put in just enough for them to clear it out then a bit more. The thing is about 8 hours later (after work) whenI go to feed them, they act like piranha going after raw steak when I add food. Am I not feeding them enough? how much it too much? I want to avoid too much and then have water chem problems.
How Much Do I Feed The Fish?
- Thread starter bobc4d
- Start date
Noahs ark6
Fish Herder
I add as much as they will eat in about 60 seconds (maybe even less sometimes). Petsmart will say anything to get you to spend more money in their store 
As for the fish. FIsh will eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat... You dont realy have to worry about not feeding them enough.
As for the fish. FIsh will eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat, and eat... You dont realy have to worry about not feeding them enough.
Fish will always beg for food.
I feed as much as they can eat in a minute or two, & drop a wafer in at night for the corys.
Fish can quite easily go a few days without food, so don't feel guilty if you think you're not feeding enough
I feed as much as they can eat in a minute or two, & drop a wafer in at night for the corys.
Fish can quite easily go a few days without food, so don't feel guilty if you think you're not feeding enough
Noahs ark6
Fish Herder
Again it varies, some people do it once every two days, others do it once a day (i do it once a day). The tub will say twice a day but that is'nt realy needed. Once a day is fine
It depends on what fish you're feeding.
big fish, like oscars and big cats, tend to stuff themsleves once every couple of days, then skip a couple of days; that's more how they feed in the wild.
chunky but smaller fish, like tiger barbs, do the same but on a smaller scale, so they eat quite heavily once a day
really tiny fish, like the microrasboras, are better off being fed tiny amounts of food more often; twice or even three times a day.
but all fish can go without food for a long time too, especially in a tank with live plants.
big fish, like oscars and big cats, tend to stuff themsleves once every couple of days, then skip a couple of days; that's more how they feed in the wild.
chunky but smaller fish, like tiger barbs, do the same but on a smaller scale, so they eat quite heavily once a day
really tiny fish, like the microrasboras, are better off being fed tiny amounts of food more often; twice or even three times a day.
but all fish can go without food for a long time too, especially in a tank with live plants.
Welcome to the forum bobc4d.
Forget about the volume of your tank. Fish eat what6ever they really eat, not some theoretical amount. If you feed your fish and they quickly consume it all in about 5 minutes or less, they are getting enough food. If they leave any uneaten you are feeding too much. If it is all gone in the first minute, try feeding a bit more next time. Soon you will have a good feel for exactly how much to feed.
Forget about the volume of your tank. Fish eat what6ever they really eat, not some theoretical amount. If you feed your fish and they quickly consume it all in about 5 minutes or less, they are getting enough food. If they leave any uneaten you are feeding too much. If it is all gone in the first minute, try feeding a bit more next time. Soon you will have a good feel for exactly how much to feed.
This Old Spouse
TOTM Winner May 2013
The best guideline I've ever heard is that a fish's stomach is about as big as one of it's eyes, and that made it a whole lot easier to judge the amount of food I was giving. Especially helpful with my tiger barbs, as they'll eat until they practically die. They're like mini-pirhanas! So I feed them just a bit twice a day and a tiny treat right before bed. And trust me, there is NO food left over to sink to the bottom!
I'm quite confused about the eye size of fish.The best guideline I've ever heard is that a fish's stomach is about as big as one of it's eyes, and that made it a whole lot easier to judge the amount of food I was giving. Especially helpful with my tiger barbs, as they'll eat until they practically die. They're like mini-pirhanas! So I feed them just a bit twice a day and a tiny treat right before bed. And trust me, there is NO food left over to sink to the bottom!
If that is true, I should feed no more than 1 bloodworm per fish. Which would make my catfish unhappy.
Or in the case of flakes, 1 very tiny piece of flake (like 1/4th of it) per fish.
I only feed a pinch of bloodworms and the catfish gets the bigger share while the swordies peck what falls on the ground (I somehow have an odd phenomenon of inverted feeders, catfish eating at surface and swordtails at bottom) although sometimes I give them twice a day cause they seem hungry in the evening too. Or give 1 big flake to the catfish and crumble 2-3 flakes for the swordies a day, keeps them well fed and not acting hungry in the evening.
The Taffy Apple
Fish Herder
I'm quite confused about the eye size of fish.The best guideline I've ever heard is that a fish's stomach is about as big as one of it's eyes, and that made it a whole lot easier to judge the amount of food I was giving. Especially helpful with my tiger barbs, as they'll eat until they practically die. They're like mini-pirhanas! So I feed them just a bit twice a day and a tiny treat right before bed. And trust me, there is NO food left over to sink to the bottom!
If that is true, I should feed no more than 1 bloodworm per fish. Which would make my catfish unhappy.
Or in the case of flakes, 1 very tiny piece of flake (like 1/4th of it) per fish.
I only feed a pinch of bloodworms and the catfish gets the bigger share while the swordies peck what falls on the ground (I somehow have an odd phenomenon of inverted feeders, catfish eating at surface and swordtails at bottom) although sometimes I give them twice a day cause they seem hungry in the evening too. Or give 1 big flake to the catfish and crumble 2-3 flakes for the swordies a day, keeps them well fed and not acting hungry in the evening.
They can easily fit half a dozen or more bloodworms/larvae in their stomachs, which as you say is the size of their eye..their stomachs (like ours) can get bigger and stretch, hence why my female Cherry Barbs look pregnant after a particulary good feed
Terry.
Terry.
Thanks for clarifying that, I thought they just had static stomach cavities somewhere after the gills.They can easily fit half a dozen or more bloodworms/larvae in their stomachs, which as you say is the size of their eye..their stomachs (like ours) can get bigger and stretch, hence why my female Cherry Barbs look pregnant after a particulary good feed
Terry.
Terry.
My female swordtail also looks plumper (even when actually pregnant) after eating. Then later on she'd just shrink back to normal (4 hours time).
The male on the other hand doesn't stuff himself, he likes to just snatch a few worms till he's full, then he goes around exploring or courting. But he did eat a ton of fry once... X_X
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