Feeding fish?

[liulady]

I'm kind of struggling with knowing how to make sure my fish are getting enough to eat. I currently have 5 harlequin rasboras in my 30 gallon hex. (lfs only had 5...will be going back to get at least one more plus some other fish next week). They are adorable and zip all over the place. However, they don't eat very aggressively and it is hard to tell if they are getting anything.

We have just been giving them a pinch and they don't seem terribly interested. I do see a couple of them grab a flake as it floats by them, but they don't swim to the top to eat. I guess I'm just used to how our goldfish eats.

We are just using a flake food suggested by the lfs. I'm wondering how it will be when there are even more fish in the tank. Do we need to worry that not everyone will get enough? How do you experts handle this?

 

[Mebbid]

Personally, I tend to overfeed my fish. But I have a heavily planted tank and a lot of bottom dwellers that will eat the left over food so it's never really an issue when I do.

When I feed I just drop a pinch of flake into the stream of the filter and let the fish go for it. I use a variety of different foods on different says so there is always a little variety in the tank.

But the fish will consume when they are hungry. There aren't many fish that can compare to a goldfishes appetite so I think it's just getting used to a different kind of fish. The rasboras will become noticeably emaciated with sunken bellys if they aren't getting enough to eat which I don't think would be a common occurrence.

Have you thought about a different food to see if it's the particular flake that has them uninterested?

 

[liulady]

Thanks! I think you are right that a big part of it is just getting used to the difference between how a goldfish eats and how these guys eat.

We will be heading back to the lfs this week, so we will pick up a little variety to mix it up a bit. Right now, they still look happy.