fish feeding advice

[89cpe]

ok so i have a tank full and would like to be sure I'm feeding all my fish properly and none are being left out. what i have are 3 angels 1 gourami 1 ghost knife 3 glass knife 1 flying fox 1 common pleco and 1 sail fin molly. i know i have their living situation pretty balanced as they all have their own little spots within the tank they like to call home. I'm not sure of how much to feed them and exactly what all i should be feeding them. i get worried and always overfeed them which leads to constant partial water changes and filter changes. what i currently feed them are fish flakes, algea wafers, carnivore pellets, freeze dried blood worms, and various frozen foods that i buy from time to time. thanks for your help!

ps i have had all of these fish for as little as 3 months up to over a year for some

 

[enrgizerbunny]

There's a couple of issues here that need to be addressed.

First off is the common pleco. What size tank do you have? Commons grow to 18+ inches, I wanted to ensure that you're aware of this. If you cannot provide adequate housing, you should replace the common with one of the smaller pleco varieties- such as a bristlenose.

Second is changing the filter pads. I assume you are changing the sponge, in which case you should be rinsing them out in TANK water until they get too ratty to provide adequate mechanical filtration (holes, rips, tears, etc)
Changing that poop covered filter pad removes large colonies of beneficial bacterial and can upset the cycle of your tank.

As far as feeding is concerned, I would research your fish and find out what their "typical" diet consists of. I have moved away from freeze dried blood worms because they're so dry when my tiger barbs eat them, and they also seem to like the frozen ones much better. It's my favorite feeding, because they go into a frenzy. I'm not familiar with your stocking so I can't make any specific recommendations, but peas(cooked, shelled) and zucchini(blanched) seem to be very universal veggies in fish diets.

 

[89cpe]

Thank you for the reply. I have 180 gallon and from what i am reading that seems as though it would be adequate for all of my fish. But if i am wrong please let me know. I am running two filters and i replace one and then the other in a rotation. How dirty can they get? I was told to rinse them and then replace once a month. Thank you for the feeding advice i will try to add some veggies into their diet.

My main concern is how to know how much food is too much. I know this is complicated to answer because of the amount and variety of fish i have. Some of them eat the same things as each other and i get worried that some will eat all the food and others will go hungry if i dont feed them enough. But in doing so i think i create too much waste which leads to more water changes and filter changes

 

[enrgizerbunny]

For ONCE some one with a common pleco that had adequate housing! Haha. Keep in mind that your fish can go a few days without food and be fine. Plecos love blanched zucchini. The peas act as a laxative and help prevent constipation. I'd do some research on each fish and what they need and then go from there. Driftwood is essential to your pleco's diet, btw just in case you don't have it.

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[enrgizerbunny]

As far as the filters are concerned, I wouldn't replace the sponges/pads unless they have a hole or a rip in them. You can rinse them once a month in a bucket of tank water, replacing as needed when they break down. Replacing the pads once a month is just another money maker for filter manufactures.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[89cpe]

Awesome! I will try the veggies for sure! I do have drift wood. I will admit when i first got my pleco last year i was oblivious to his full size and thought they only got to a few inches lol. But with research and the purchase of my ghost knife which get roughly the same size i upgraded my tank size.

Also thank you for the filter advice i will try that as well. I like saving money! Lol