Feeding - How much?

[aklaum]

Hello all,

Here is my tank:

20 gal High
2 - Powder Blue Dwarf Gouramis
3 - Mickey Mouse Platys
5 - Neon Tetras
2 - Spotted Julii Cory Cats
2 - Ghost Shrimp
1 - Mystery Snail

I saw the original rule of "only feed what they can eat in 2-3 minutes" but I have since seen all kinds of conflicting comments like "some of my fish take an hour to get the food" or "my fish all eat at different rates so this rule is out the window.

Right now I am feeding the following daily:

TetraMin Tropical Crisps (flake) - 1/2 teaspoon
Hikari Sinking Wafer - 1

1/2 teaspoon is a bit more than just a pinch, but after about 10 minutes I can no longer visibly see any food lying about. My Nitrates are under control and seem be hitting about 40ppm per week before a water change. Not bad considering my tap water is 20ppm.

Does this seem ok? My only worry is that my Platys are visibly fat after feeding. They are by far the fastest eaters and also eat everything, the food, the wafer, the brown algae on the plants, the white slime on the heater, you name it. By the next day they are not fat anymore (and have left obvious evidence as to why all over the tank bed).

 

[TCTFish]

Most fish lack the ability to know when they are full, so they always act as though they are always hungry. For the fish you have, two minutes worth of food per day is enough. Best to divide that into two to four feeds per day. If you feed 4 times a day, then that's 30 seconds worth of food each feed.

Giving a time limit allows for better control of portions and avoids over feeding which in turn keeps nitrates at safe levels. For more active fish, you'd increase the time by a minute or two. For less active fish, you can decrease it by a minute. For tanks with a mix, an in between time is fine. Marine fish require about 5 minutes worth of food per day. Picking a day or two to not feed at all is good too.

Feeding all of it at once produces more waste. The fish's body will only absorb the nutrients it needs at that given time and poop out the rest. With small frequent feedings, more nutrients are used and less pooped out. Most fish in the wild don't eat all at once either. They typically graze and pick all day long.

and comments like "some of my fish take up to an hour to get the food"...I'd ask why are the fish taking so long to eat??? That can be a sign of an oncoming illness or problem with water quality.

BTW...nitrates rising 20 ppm in a week is a lot.

 

[aklaum]

Thanks for the reply TCTFish. I had no idea that was a bad amount of Nitrate per week. Sounds like I am definitely overfeeding then. Especially considering the copious amount of waste the Platys are producing. I think I will just skip today and then go back to the 2-3 minute rule. Then once I establish that amount try and break it up into a couple of portions a day.

I am a little worried that especially small feeding amounts will just get scarfed up by the Platys and the rest of the fish won't get a shot. Is this something to be worried about or will the others just hold their own?

 

[malkore]

Its not uncommon for us fishkeepers to only feed once a day, and to skip a day or two per week. Fish in the wild have to find food, so the fact that we provide them with food daily basically ensures they get enough.

Sometimes you'll have a fish that doesn't get enough to eat, due to bullying or something.

It may sound harsh, but its survival of the fittest, even in the home aquarium. As long as you aren't purposely stocking fish that will attack your other fish, you aren't being inhumane.

 

[TCTFish]

Instead of sprinkling the food on the top of the water, crush it up a bit and swish it around through the water. Those platies can't be everywhere at once...though they do try...LOL.

 

[Tiffi]

The 2-3minutes rule is fine. Half a teaspoon sounds like a bit much though. You don't really have shy fishes in there so they should all get enough food anyway.

 

[aklaum]

The nice thing about the TetraMin Tropical Crisps is that rather than being random sized flakes they are all uniform sized little round circle flakes about 1/8" in diameter. So I can very scientifically measure out a certain amount.

Today I fed them exactly 20 flakes and the sinking wafer. I grabbed a stop watch. At exactly 2:20 I could no longer see any trace of the flakes. The wafer of course hung around longer, but all of the fish like it and it goes pretty fast too.

So this seems to be the right amount as long as the wafer is ok. Now I am going to split this up and feed 10 flakes in the morning and 10 flakes in the evening plus the wafer.

My worry about the Platys eating everything was unfounded. They are fast but the Gouramis are big and the Platys steer clear of them. The tetras hang around in the middle of the tank and get all of the little pieces falling and the corys finish off anything that hits bottom. The shrimp get anything the fish miss as well as taking an active part in grabbing food that is falling. So everyone is getting a fair share.

Just as a point of reference a 1/2 teaspoon of these flakes is about 10 times as much as 20 flakes. So I was way over feeding by the 2-3 minute rule. No fat bloated Platys today.

 

[bosk1]

Sounds like it is under control now. Yeah, I was going to say that 1/2 teaspoon is way too much, too. I have read that, for most fish, their stomach is about the same size as their eye. So it doesn't take much to fill them up at all. I have found that to be a good guideline to help me measure--more so than a time limit rule.

 

[Hillbilly Jerry]

Next time you purchase food -
get a small container of floating pellets/flake
get a small container of slowly sinking pellets (very small size)
get a small container of sinking wafers/pellets

feed a pinch of each type at each feeding. The platy's and gouramis will stay busy with the floating food, the neons will eat the slow sinking food on it's way down, and the shrimp and cories will eat the sinking pellets. This way everyone gets enough, while little to none gets wasted.

 

[DeFeKt]

Instead of sprinkling the food on the top of the water, *beep* up a bit and *beep* around through the water. Those platies can't be everywhere at once...though they do try...LOL.

whats a beep and a beep?

don't know about platys and such, but my mbuna and haps will ravage down a heaped teaspoon of shrimp pellets in 10 seconds max.
Once a day that is, and I probly should mention it doesn't help considering there are 60 fish in the tank.