Feeding schedule!

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fishn10s

AC Members
Aug 28, 2006
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Southern Calif
What is the advice for feeding a community aquarium being stocked with the smaller variety of fish? Is 2x/day or 1x/day recommended? At first I thought I would feed 1x/day to keep the bio load down however I was told that if not fed appropriately (underfed), the fish do not thrive and and not happy and not acting happy!

Thanks in advance for any input! ;)
 
once a day is definitely enough. I used to feed my community tank only 2-3 times a week! This is because it was overstocked and that helped reduced waste buildup. My fish were fine, no complaints :)

You know you're underfeeding if your fish get thin. If not, they're fine.

I've heard that it's better to feed less more often to simulate how they would feed in nature. Anyway, the directions on the flake cans ("feed as much as they can eat in 2-3 minutes two times a day") is way too much. I still only feed once every other day as much as they can eat in 1 minute! My fish are thriving and in no way unhappy or listless.

But that's just me. Let's see what other folks think. It's always best to get more than one opinion, anyway.

Good job asking questions, fishn10s! You obviously want the best for your fishies and are going to fit in just fine on Aquaria Central :)
 
I feed once a day, sometimes skip days, and try to give a variety of foods. My fish are healthy, growing, and the water quality stays clean. I'll alternate foods usually giving one floating food (regular flakes, freeze-dried daphnia, or freeze-dried bloodworms) and one sinking food (sinking tropical pellets, sinking shrimp pellets, sinking algae wafers, or frozen bloodworms) at each feeding.
 
I feed all my fish once a day, and I only feed them around 5 days in 7. Young fish I usually feed twice a day, and fry up to 4 times (to increase their growth rate). I think adult fish should always be a little bit hungry, this way they seem to be more active and alert.

I wouldn't worry about underfeeding your fish. If your putting a bit of food in each day they won't starve.
 
TropicalNorth said:
Young fish I usually feed twice a day, and fry up to 4 times (to increase their growth rate).
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you're right! I forgot that for my young'uns (like my juvenile dwarf puffers) I feed at least once a day, in contrast to my adults which I feed about 4-5 times a week. They have faster metabolisms than adults, so need to be fed more often.

also wanted to clarify from my above post where I said "feed less more often" I meant feed smaller amounts at greater frequencies. Like instead of letting them gorge once a week like lions, it's better for fish to graze a little at a time but more often. Or at least that's what I've heard. I don't think they care if they get fed their daily ration all at once, though. Besides, you don't want to have to be around all the time to dump a little bit of food in there every few hours, do you? I think that way, fish always end up over-eating.

And, yes, as webcricket said, it's best to feed a variety of foods. Although flakes and pellets are good as staples, they can never offer all the nutrients any living thing need. I rotate through 15 different kinds of food including various flakes, pellets, wafers, frozen foods, live foods, and vegetables. But I tend to be excessive in everything I do :)
 
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i feed my guys once a day, used to be twice but i couldn't keep up because of my schedule (and sometimes i forgot) so i decided to just do once a day. I try feeding them around the same time every day. Everyone probably eats 5 or 6 flakes, i just crush them into tiny pieces because my tetras like eating that a lot better than the flake as a whole.
 
I feed my fish small porions twice per day.
unless there are juveniles..I then bump the feeding to 3-4 times but keep the portions small

I also hange the water out 30-40% three times a week in those tanks.
 
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