I have big eaters! Help!

[megi-lin]

Hi guys. I just acquired new sunrise guppies. I now have total: 2 females and 2 males. They look a bit young to me right now. But so adorable! I have an older guppie, he's the most colorful one.

So, I ended up with 5 pinches of small floating pellets and they gobbled it ALL down in about a minute. I know that you feed them what they can eat in 5 mins. When they ate like they haven't eaten in a week, even though they were fed a pinch this morning, how do I keep from over feeding? I don't know how much to feed since they went bananas.

When the tank adjusts I would like to add mollies. So I want to make sure I have adequate food. What flakes and brine do you recommend for all of them? I have 5 pretty inactive Corydrayas and a snail. They mostly eat the algae wafers and I have a 20G tank. My cories range from about 3/4" to maybe 1.5".

Thanks!

 

[Mcfly]

You prevent overfeeding by discipline. In nature fish eat when the opportunity arises, or more to the point, when they find food. They can go days without food, so when they find it they gorge. You have to take the place of 'nature'.

Feed with a timer, and 5 minutes is too much, imho. Feed twice daily, and only what they can eat in a minute, 90 seconds tops. Drop food slowly in small amounts and let them eat it all before feeding them more. For me, if fish stop diving for smaller bits getting past them feeding is over, regardless of time. Let them fast a day, once a week, or just feed once that day, for a minute.

Don't be suckered by them all swimming to the top when you approach the tank. They
associate your presence with feeding, they're not starving, they just expect food.

 

[nirbhao]

Healthy fish act hungry.

Do you have a cat or dog? You know how they look at you with those longing eyes, as if they've never ever been fed? You know they've been fed. Think of the fish like that.

 

[megi-lin]

Healthy fish act hungry.

Do you have a cat or dog? You know how they look at you with those longing eyes, as if they've never ever been fed? You know they've been fed. Think of the fish like that.

Ah, gotcha! Yeah I have a cat AND dog. I put food in this morning and they ignored it. They ALL wanted the algae wafer that's supposed to be for Gary (my snail.) About picked it clean from the tank! It went so fast.