Live Food

[alan3513]

I have twenty two small tetras (Blue emperors, glowlights and red phantoms) plus six corys. I bought frozen cubes (bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp). I gave them one cube of bloodworm yesterday and it was gone in a five minute feeding frenzy. How much should i give them and how often, thanks in advance for any advice, alan

 

[nmonks]

A good rule of thumb with small fish that they need one or two meals per day, with each meal completely eaten within a minute or so. But the only sure way to know if your fish are eating is enough is looking at them: their bellies should be gently rounded but not swollen or bloated. They should be alert and anxious for more food, but not starving.

Live and frozen foods make a good treat, but you can't go far wrong feeding small tetra-type fish with good quality flake food. With bigger fish (like cichlids and catfish) things are complicated because many are partially herbivorous, so they need bulk in their diet, as well as fresh greens for vitamins. But with small insect-eating predators like tetras and danios, flake is just fine. A small pinch or two per day should be ample.

Overfeeding doesn't kill fish; excess nitrogenous waste (i.e., ammonia) that isn't handled by the filter is what kills fish. Provided you have a decent filter and do regular water changes, don't worry too much about how much food you're giving your fish.

Cheers, Neale

I have twenty two small tetras (Blue emperors, glowlights and red phantoms) plus six corys. I bought frozen cubes (bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp). I gave them one cube of bloodworm yesterday and it was gone in a five minute feeding frenzy. How much should i give them and how often, thanks in advance for any advice, alan