Filter causing feeding problems

[Red_Shift]

Hi There!

I have been having some trouble with feeding my fish flake food while my filter is running. The 10g tank kit we bought came with an Aqua-Tech Power Filter (Model 5/15). It seems when ever i feed my fish the flake food alot of the flakes make their way into the current coming from the filter and get sent down and around the tank far too quickly for the fish to get to it before it becomes lodged down in the gravel where they can't seem to get at it.

Getting enough food is not the problem as plenty stays around close enough for them to eat it, but its starting to cause a problem with the amount of decaying food lying below the surface of the gravel. Also a lot of the flakes that get pushed under end up going into the filter.

Is this something everyone has to deal with or is there some way for me to remedy this?

The ideas i thought of were:

1. Some sort of sponge attachment to the filter as to create less of a washing current.

2. Make some sort of small divider that would only divide the surface as to stop the flakes from flowing into the current generated by the filter.

3. (My less liked method) Is it possible to shut down the filter temporarily while the fish eat and then start it up again once they are done eating?


Any help/advice or personal experiences with this would be greatly appretiated!

Thanks in advance!

Red_Shift

[Star_Rider]

I wouldn't recommend stopping the heater when feeding..

you could devise a flow diverter.

I have mine get pushed around..but that just gets food to the bottom feeders.

also my angels, keyhole,rams and discus will find the food on the bottom. as well as the BN's.

you coud use it as an excuse to get a bigger tank and add some coydora's

[blackwolfXKAV]

What fish do you have?

[Red_Shift]

Currently, i have two Male Guppies and 2 Zebra Danios

[blackwolfXKAV]

you might want to try a sinking granule type food, ime/o, flakes are too easily wasted on tanks when feeding.

[Red_Shift]

Ok, Could you recomend some brands for me, as i have never used sinking granule type foods?

Thanks!

[Star_Rider]

danios feed in the water column ..sinking pellets will just sink faster to the bottom.
they are designed to get food to fish on the bottom of the tank(rams, cory's,keyholes)
my tetras have problems with small sinking granules..

if you want totry them tetra maked colorgranules...the new ones are smaller..

those guppies and danios won't need much food.

try feeding in a calm section of the tank.

I had some issues with my wild angels ..they were not chasing the food to the bottom.

I found a calmer area on the tank and started feeding them there.
now they snatch up the flakes as they sink.

[TKOS]

At most fish stores they sell (Hagen brand I think) small feeding rings attached to suction cups. This makes a calm section for the flakes to float in and then they start to slowly sink. Takes the fish a while to figure out the food is there but they catch on quick enough and remember where the food falls from in the future.

I use it in my tank that has floating plants. This prevents my top from being completely over run and the food just getting stuck in the tangle of weeds.

[Red_Shift]

At most fish stores they sell (Hagen brand I think) small feeding rings attached to suction cups. This makes a calm section for the flakes to float in and then they start to slowly sink. Takes the fish a while to figure out the food is there but they catch on quick enough and remember where the food falls from in the future.

That sounds like a good idea! I will do some research about them. Thanks!

And Thanks to all others who have posted their advice :)


Edit: TKOS, Is this the feeding ring you were refering to? http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?R=6620&Nav=1&Ntt=hagen&N=30+24&cp=3&Nao=24&sku=887498&familyID=10900&