New here, fish pellets questions. 😀

[Weimargirl01]

Hello all,

I'm new here on the forum, I've had fish about 20 years ago and just recently started up a small tank with a few neons and a betta. All is well and everyone gets along great. My question is fish pellets. I soak my pellets so they are easier to digest but when I add the water/pellets back to the tank, the pellets sink and the betta misses out on dinner. I'm very careful about the food on the substrate because we all know the consequences. How is the best way to feed these pellets so they stay floating for him? I feed the neons opposite side of tank so they get their food, and of course the pellets sink to the bottom too.

Help please, and thank you!

 

[otterblue]

Hi. Welcome. Maybe soak it a little less so that it's still buoyant and turn off your filter while feeding.

EDIT: Hours later, I realized I misspelled "buoyant". This may still be wrong, but it's closer.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I don't use pellets for small fish. I would rather crush up flake or use finely chopped frozen foods.

 

[FishHobby99]

I use Betta micro floating betta pellet food. The secondhand betta setup I purchased came with them. I called the pellet manufacturer & asked about an expiration date. Mine were out of the original packaging. He said 3 years. But the vial rolled onto the floor & Rocky, a Frenchie, chewed into the plastic & gobbled them down like bacon bits. So I ordered more online. Expiration date is 9/28/24.

 

[Byron]

Other members can correct me if I am wrong here, but I believe the mini pellets do not need soaking. They are intended to float, though in time they obviously will sink. Flake food is the same, no need to soak.

The food that is an issue for soaking is anything freeze dried. The reason is that the fish eats the "dry" food and it expands in the fish's stomach/intestines (whichever), and this is serious. I have been advised that this is not an issue with flake/pellets. Which is why I never feed freeze-dried foods, not even with soaking. There are very nutritious flake/pellet foods available today that are better.

 

[FishHobby99]

I have never soaked them. They are hard, but he eats some immediately. The instructions don‘t say anything about soaking. They say the pellets are very concentrated & to feed sparingly 2X a day, what he can eat in 5 minutes.

Someone here said not to put flakes on the water surface, to stick your hand below the waterline or else the fish will get all bloated from air. Sounds like balderdash! My goldfish, guppies, cichlids & catfish eat surface flakes. Some other stuff too, but flakes everyday.

 

[Sgooosh]

my guppies, gouramis, cories, and swordails all love hikari micro pellets which are similar to above and also hikari fancy guppy
also soaking flakes can also help because the flakes glide down to the bottom slowly

 

[FishHobby99]

my catfish etc will lap them up from the bottom.

 

[Weimargirl01]

Hi. Welcome. Maybe soak it a little less so that it's still buoyant and turn off your filter while feeding.

EDIT: Hours later, I realized I misspelled "buoyant". This may still be wrong, but it's closer.

Awesome thanks , I'll try that.

 

[Weimargirl01]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I don't use pellets for small fish. I would rather crush up flake or use finely chopped frozen foods.

Ok, I'll try the frozen, thanks.

 

[Weimargirl01]

Other members can correct me if I am wrong here, but I believe the mini pellets do not need soaking. They are intended to float, though in time they obviously will sink. Flake food is the same, no need to soak.

The food that is an issue for soaking is anything freeze dried. The reason is that the fish eats the "dry" food and it expands in the fish's stomach/intestines (whichever), and this is serious. I have been advised that this is not an issue with flake/pellets. Which is why I never feed freeze-dried foods, not even with soaking. There are very nutritious flake/pellet foods available today that are better.

Ok, thanks

 

[Weimargirl01]

I have never soaked them. They are hard, but he eats some immediately. The instructions don‘t say anything about soaking. They say the pellets are very concentrated & to feed sparingly 2X a day, what he can eat in 5 minutes.

Someone here said not to put flakes on the water surface, to stick your hand below the waterline or else the fish will get all bloated from air. Sounds like balderdash! My goldfish, guppies, cichlids & catfish eat surface flakes. Some other stuff too, but flakes everyday.

I read somewhere on the net about soaking them, but your right, it doesn't say they need to soaked before ingesting. Obviously I've been making this way harder on myself.

 

[Weimargirl01]

my guppies, gouramis, cories, and swordails all love hikari micro pellets which are similar to above and also hikari fancy guppy
also soaking flakes can also help because the flakes glide down to the bottom slowly

Great, thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

Soaking pellets helps get the air out of the pellet and softens the pellet up a bit. This makes it feel a little more natural to the fish.

When the pellets have been soaked for a bit, they swell up and this means a fish is eating the full size pellet and not something that will expand in its stomach. If a fish eats a lot of dry pellets, they can absorb water in the fish's stomach and the pellets swell up. If the fish ate a lot of pellets and they expand, it can cause some intestinal discomfort to the fish.

 

[FishHobby99]

Balderdash