How much food is too much?

[QHowes]

I have recently baught (1 week?) 6 plattys and i love them! I had a neon tetra in the tank that got stuck in the bottom of the filter in the tank so the plattys have been hapily eating him and the man at the pet store said that was fine. I also feed my fish once a day but by the 2nd or 3rd day I had the new fish I found that they were not satisfied with the amont of food i was giving them. They are always on the top of the tank looking for more and always eating the dead fish. I dont want to feed them too much but how much is too much?

 

[Lithril]

If you're leaving the dead fish in the tank then keep a close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels as these could quite easily rocket, personally id take it out. Wouldn't worry bout the fish being on the surface the fish in my 10 gal always shoot up there as soon as I get anywhere near the tank (ignore everyone else though ). If you overfeed you'll end up with ammonia/nitrite spikes, I keep live plants in my tanks so if they do get hungry then they'll nibble on them, sometimes I don't feed them for a day so and they're fine by it.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi QHowes and welcome to the forum.

Please take that dead fish out of your tank and just feed your fish twice a day if they are hungry. Do take care that you don't feed them so much that the excess falls to the bottom of the tank and spoils.

(I can't believe some of the things these pet shops tell people! )

I feed my fish twice a day, but lightly. I also have corydoras catfish in my tanks and, since they are bottom feeders, they eat the food that some of the messier top feeders drop.

 

[Kossy]

Having cories is a very good idea...they will eat all the excess food that falls. However if none remains then make sure you feed them (they also gotta eat)

 

[QHowes]

Well that was all great information to a novice fish entusiast. Thanks for all your help. Assuming I baught female platty's and had a 2:1 ratio of males to females what are the chances the females would breed and how long considering they need to get used to their new environment?

 

[carppy]

prro females..the chances that your fish will breed if very high. You'll notice the males harrassing the females when its time. I've had adult swords going at it within a month of bringing them home. Thin your stock of males down though,(poor girls never gonna get rest)

 

[Eelzor]

welcome Qhowes. My angels seem to always be hungry too. I just feed them 3 times a day about.

 

[guppymonkey]

the plattys have been hapily eating him and the man at the pet store said that was fine.

*Sigh* I hate stores that say things like this. Dead fish are never good for a tank. They start decomposing and add nasty stuff to the water. AND they can contaminate the other fish in the tank. If the fish died of a disease it can be spread to the other fish when they start nipping at the body. Plus its just really gross looking to have this carcass being picked at until its a skeleton. Yuck!

Platies are a good starter fish, they are very hardy and generally nice fish. They will breed prolifically if allowed to so I suggest getting a couple more tanks if you want to keep any of the fry. You may decide that you want to try to breed platies for certain color traits which is a lot of work but also a lot of fun. Don't forget to read up on water changes and cycling the tank or your nice little platies may end up like the neon!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi QHowes,

Guppymonkey makes a good point. How big is your tank? Is it cycled?

Also, your females may already be pregnant, so be sure you have lots of leafy plants in there so the fry can escape and hide until you can get to them to put them in a breeder net.

Good luck!

 

[QHowes]

My tank is quite small right now. I think its 10 gallons? I dont have any pl;ants in the tank that are real, jut fake ones. When i filled the tank and added the water conditioners i let the tank sit for a week.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi QHowes.

I hate to have to tell you this, but you have gotten a bit ahead of things with your fish and will have to take some measures--right away-- to insure their survival.

First read this article:

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=10099

It will explain the basics of cycling your tank. Please pay special attention to the part about cycling WITH fishes since this will tell you what you need to do.

Do you know anyone with an established tank? If you do, they can help you greatly by giving you some bacteria for a head start on the process.

 

[QHowes]

How do i know if my amonia and nitrite levels are zero? Do i need to buy a test kit?

 

[dixaisy930]

I would say it's a must...the only other way to test the water is to take it to a lfs, and seeing as how they already gave you bad information, I would say spending the money on the test kit would be your best bet.

 

[QHowes]

Thank you so much everyone i am going to get a test kit now!

 

[Inchworm]

Hello again, QHowes

I'm so glad that we realized that this was going to be a problem early on. Yes, get the kits, you will be using them on a regular basis for awhile. Do not, under any circumstances, get more fish until the process of cycling is finished.

Again, let me ask if you know anyone with an established tank. It can help you so much if you do.