Fish Food...?

[stepho725]

Flakes, freeze-dried, frozen, pellets, sinking, or floating???
There are soooo many to choose from! So how do I know what to feed them?
I got frozen bloodworms but I feel like they make a mess. They're a better choice for my frog it seems.
I have the trusty flakes but they seem messy too...(should I shut off/down my filter when I feed?)
I also have sinking catfish pellets and while they aren't messy I worry about how much they could be leaving behind.
Freeze-dried bloodworms just float around and sometimes get stuck to my tank's side or are too big for the tetras and my dwarf gourami looks like he spits them out.
How can I be sure my cories are eating without the others stealing their food first?
Oh and another point on the spitting out food gourami....is he doing this for any particular reason or does he just not like the food?
Thanks again and again!!!

 

[MartyMA]

Flakes, freeze-dried, frozen, pellets, sinking, or floating???
There are soooo many to choose from! So how do I know what to feed them?
I got frozen bloodworms but I feel like they make a mess. They're a better choice for my frog it seems.
I have the trusty flakes but they seem messy too...(should I shut off/down my filter when I feed?)
I also have sinking catfish pellets and while they aren't messy I worry about how much they could be leaving behind.
Freeze-dried bloodworms just float around and sometimes get stuck to my tank's side or are too big for the tetras and my dwarf gourami looks like he spits them out.
How can I be sure my cories are eating without the others stealing their food first?
Oh and another point on the spitting out food gourami....is he doing this for any particular reason or does he just not like the food?
Thanks again and again!!!

Feeding is a dilemma. Here is what works for me. Primary feed is crushed flake. Best quality that you can find. Very little at a time. Once a day at most. I alternate with a blanched veg. Everyone loves de-shelled peas. Again, not much at a time. I know it is a bit of work but having some sort of live food is a good idea. Microworms are easy and as long as the fish can see them, they are gobbled up. Grindals are loved also. I also use de-shelled brine shrimp eggs. Less work than hatching. Both small adults and fry LOVE them. My experience has been that your fish will be more interested in eating if you withhold food for a day or two or three. They won't starve to death in the interim.

 

[stepho725]

Wow! Okay! So I've never heard of any of these besides brine shrimp but unsure where I would find eggs. And what does blanched mean?

 

[librarygirl]

What fish do you have? It might be easier to see how and what to feed with a full list.

I find a good pellet food to be a great staple: new life spectrum or Hikari community pellets work well. Some fish like to feed as the food falls rather than go to the top; without knowing your fish it's hard to say what they prefer but you can try adding a few pellets to the top and then soak some in a spoon of tank water and then pour it in so they'll sink right away. Flakes can be messy; I give a few crushed flakes once a week just for something different but I don't use them often due to the mess they make.

I have corys, so I drop in a few shrimp pellets or a veggie or algae wafer at night before lights go out a few times a week for them, although the other fish like them too.

Once a week as a treat I give frozen food (bloodworm, daphnia, etc). It can be messy, so I dissolve it first in a small cup of tank water and then pour some in. I never give the whole cube as it seems like too much to me.

I have some fish that aren't very fast and are a bit shy so I turn off my filter when I feed so the food doesn't blow around and the fish can get to it better, but I have canister with a spray bar. If you have a filter that doesn't blow the food around too much then it's probably fine to leave it on.

 

[stepho725]

2 Gouramis
5 Cories
1 Pleco
10 Tetras
1 normal size snail
5 little baby stowaway snails