How do you know if you feed enough/too much?

[vero]

Hi,

I feed my fish once a day (because of my schedule), usually end of the afternoon of in the evening.

I drop one aglae wafer (hikari) and one freeze dried tablet (nutrafin) or 4-5 sinking shrimp pellet (nutrafin) for the 4 bottom feeders. I give 2-3 pinches of complete flake food (nutrafin) and/or freeze dried bloodworms for the guppies and tetras (I wait between the pinches for most of it to be eaten before putting more). I don't stop the filter while feeding because I would probably forget to turn it back on. Besides, the filter sinks some food that the fast tetras like to catch. I don't put anything in particular for the snail as it seem to be feeding on the piece of wood (I've tried lettuce, snowpea and zucchini and none were touched).

I think I might be underfeeding because all my fish seem to be starving! They haven't grown much in the few months I've had them. The guppies and tetras rush to the top as soon as I approach the tank. The corys swim fast back and forth as soon as they know the pellets are there. But I think I might be overfeeding, because there is a lot of gunk in the gravel when I do my weekly [acronym:aa99de8f1d="Partial water change"]pwc[/acronym:aa99de8f1d].

Does it sound like I feed enough or too much?

Thanks for you comments.

Vé[acronym:aa99de8f1d="Reverse osmosis"]ro[/acronym:aa99de8f1d]

[Zagz]

It doesn't sound like you are underfeeding [acronym:458bf2287a="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:458bf2287a]. Fish look like they are starving! It's normal for them to rush to the front of the tank when you walk up. When you test your water are the nitrates high? You might be slightly overfeeding if you have a lot of gunk and high nitrates. If your nitrates aren't high, your gunk may just be fish waste.

[Jchillin]

Sounds like they are getting an adequate diet. How long is your feeding process? The easy way to know if your fish are healthy is that they are never lethargic. A starving fish may not be able to make it to the front of the tank to beg.

By the way, have you tried carrots (blanched, sliced) for your snail(s)? Once a week is fine. If not fully consumed within a day or so (which I doubt) remove it.

If you want to see a snail eating a carrot, take a look at my "fish and plant" clicky.

[Lonewolfblue]

Sounds like they are getting plenty to eat. Here's a site on feeding angelfish. I know you don't have them, but the same goes for most other fish. It says a healthy angelfish will beg for food even when full. So don't trust the begging. Just feed what they can consume in 5 minutes. Also, once a day is enough for most fish, but if you can, occasionally do a feeding in the morning too if possible.

http://websvirginia.com/angels/feeding/index.htm

[BillD]

If you see uneaten food on the bottom of the tank, you are overfeeding. How much and how oftento feed depends somewhat on the type of fish and how much work you are willing to do. I feed as many times a day as I can. this will vary from once to 6 or 7 times. Growing fish need to be well fed. With heavy feed comes the need for more water changes. It is a balancing act. [acronym:b0f5d5588c="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:b0f5d5588c] to arbitrarily say to "only feed once a day" is not necessarily good advice. Most fish will survive with this regimen, but it is not the best scenario in every case. Some fish will be stunted if not fed enough when they are small. However, clean water is probably as important as lots of quality food for good, rapid growth.
Edit: With regards to the above link re Angel feeding, I disagree with some of it. I feed live food whenever possible, and if you want good growth from young angels, you won't get it feeding once a day. I have never seen leftover food in an angel tank. With fry they need to be fed live BBS at least 3 times per day, and 4 or 5 if possible. I don't know of any fish that grows as fast as a well fed angel. This only applies if the water is kept clean, by large frequent water changes.