Feeding issues

[Jobin13]

Hello all,

I have a 40 gal breeder that I'm having trouble from some finicky eaters. Currently the tank is stocked with 4 long tailed zebra danios, 3 rummy nose tetras, 5 Emerald Dwarf rasboras, and 3 cardinal tetras. I'm looking to bring all of those to schools of 6 and then add 6 skunk corys, an albino bristlenose pleco, at least 6 amano shrimp, and then 1-6 more of something smallish maybe bloodfin tetras or ottos . According to AQAdvisor my tank with a marineland penguin 350b would be about 78% stocked and have 108% filtration remaining... I understand I'm kinda pushing the limits of this ecosystem.

My question however is feeding that wide variety of fish without overfeeding. Currently the zebra danios are aggressive at feeding time often nipping at the smaller rummy nose and emerald dwarfs. I've tried mixing foods like sinking pellets, flake, and defrosted brine shrimps in order to feed all the fish but it seems as though the smaller fish are getting bullied out of feedings. since the zebras eat the smaller foods first (pellets and brine shrimps). I'm currently feeding every other day since I added plants, they wilted and dropped some leaves causing some excess nutrients which lead to a nitrite spike. I'm currently letting some of the nitrite remain in the tank to boost my bacterial load but keeping it below .5 ppm for fish safety.

With a tank as stocked as this how can I successfully ensure all the fish are fed properly?

 

[Floop123]

If your fish have different places they like to swim by, feed them over there. Do the fish eat the plants?

 

[Jobin13]

Nope no problem with eating plants just yet and the zebras swim take up basically the whole length of the tank.

 

[Floop123]

If it won't stop remove the danios at feeding. But it may stress them out. You could sell them if it becomes a huge problem for the other fish. If you have an empty tank, try putting them in there.

 

[Jobin13]

Thats a good point I might find them new tank mates.

 

[Fresh2o]

I would remove the danios. Their tempo is a bit higher than the rest of the tank mates. Fill the void by increasing the schools of the fish you already have (just a suggestion).

 

[Jobin13]

So I tried for about 45 minutes on and off getting them out without doing a PWC. Luckily I'm no commercial fisherman because I only got 1... I'm going to try to get the others out by friday. My nets are white as that is the only kind of Net available at petco or petsmart in my area it seems. the black or green nets are massive and wouldn't make catching the fish easier as they would probably lead to destroying my whole planted tank... WE'll see how it goes

 

[Floop123]

I hope all goes well!

 

[Fresh2o]

Use two nets; the smaller one can be used to "herd" the fish into the larger, stationary net.

 

[V227]

Jobin13, your projected stocking levels will probably work well, and look really good in a 40 gallon tank.
Your choice of fish foods are outstanding and probably actually rise above the needs of your current collection of fish. Lucky fish.
As for your zebras, unless you just don't like them, you might consider keeping them. They contribute very little to the bio load. Although they are food hogs, not much excess food makes it to the bottom, keeping the tank cleaner.
Most of your listed fish are small and don't require a lot of food per feeding. A flake or two each will keep them going.
Zebras are also constantly zipping around the tank chasing each other adding movement making viewing more interesting.
Your other listed fish are good looking schooling fish but don't move like zebras.
Good luck with your tank.

 

[Jobin13]

So I removed the danios. I have yet to add any more fish so it's currently 5 emerald dwarf rasboras, 3 cardinal tetras, and 3 rummy nose. Should I work on building up the schools of the tetras before adding in the corys? also how many corys would be good to add a t a time? I've never kept these fish before so I'm not sure of their bioload

 

[earhtmother]

Tetras & corys are a great mix - had a 55 with same. I find both

 

[earhtmother]

Oops
Prefer a minimum of 4 with 6 being better. Since you have 6 tetras total they are probably fine for now so 4-6 cory would be *my* next addition-since they are great bottom vleaners I find the bio load sort of evens itself out

 

[Fishobsessed7]

I would finish out the tetra schools first. If you add more of the same type they will be less shy.

 

[toolman]

I would finish out the tetra schools first. If you add more of the same type they will be less shy.

Agreed, bigger schools of a single species are better than multiple schools imho.