gourami feeding

[Tostada]

I generally only feed my fish once a day, but it seems like my gourami needs to eat more than my other fish. I don't want to overfeed my fish, though (tetras, rasboras, and a betta), and I also have MTS in the tank which are very close to getting out of hand.

When I feed flakes, the gourami is always first to the top like it's starving. What I've been doing is trying to feed a bunch all at once, so that the other fish can get some before the gourami eats it all, then later in the day I'll just feed a little, and the gourami will eat most of that by itself.

When I feed frozen brine shrimp or blood worms, I'll usually put some flake in there first and the gourami will eat all of that by itself, then I'll dump the thawed out worms/shrimp in. Since I thaw it out in a cup of water first, it disperses pretty well so everybody gets some.

Just looking for general ideas here; wanted to make sure I'm not doing something stupid.

 

[hc8719]

gouramis need to eat, eat, eat!

a trick ive learned is to: feed, and then put some more food in a bit after they finish, the gouramis may be caught off guard. also, because i have big moonlights and kissers, mine tend to naturally send the small flakes down sinking, as they move around so much

so putting some normal, and tiny flakes in together, should allow non top feeders some.

or you could just stir some flakes with your finger, that'll sink them.

really you'd have to go out of your way to overfeed tropical fish, so dont worry about it

 

[Zagz]

I would give smaller feedings twice a day. I have gourami's and know how they like to eat! Angelfish are the same way. I disagree though, you can overfeed fish. As you know your snail population will explode and you can suffer high nitrates as well. Smaller feedings twice a day will help.

 

[hc8719]

snail population wont explode if the fish eat the food before it falls, you could put just enough food in, and then when they finish, put another serving in.
for whatever reasons i cant get snails, so i dont worry about it.

i also meant overfeeding in the sense of fish exploding do to excessive feeding, not dumping a can of food in, and 95% hits the bottom