How often do you feed your fish?

[nabokovfan87]

I guess I'm just curious how my own habits tend to match up or differ from others and their tanks.

I would ask:

1. How many tanks do you have?
2. How many times a day do you feed?
3. Do you, of have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out?
4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day?

Edited May 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Flumpweesel]

1) 2 a 230l (60 US Gal) and little betta tank that was supposed to shrimp tank but I got carried away in LFS.

2) once in big tank sometimes twice on the little tank 

3) rarely - no need with my community they all seem to do well each feed.

4) I normally (but not always) have a few different foods on the go and feed whatever I fancy from the selection and occasionally they get frozen or live foods. No pattern to it just whatever I feel like. Normally one sinking one floaty one each feed. 

[Baphijmm]

1. A non-zero number. Let's see... At the observatory, I have a 55-gallon mbuna tank, a 55-gallon Rio Negro biotope, a 20-gallon tank, two 10-gallon tanks, and three separate 5-gallon tanks for male bettas. Add the one 20-gallon community tank in Socorro, and I believe that comes out to nine?

2. Depends on the tank. The two 20-gallon tanks get fed usually once a day, when I'm present (since I commute weekly between the two locations). The betta tanks get fed twice a day, once upon waking up and once during my dinner break at work, all the same food. The mbuna and Rio Negro tanks each get fed three times a day, but for different reasons; mbuna genuinely benefit from that sort of feeding structure, whereas in the Rio Negro tank there are several different styles of feeding I'm trying to maintain with the schedule. On the mbuna tank, I feed one type of food upon waking up (I had been doing Repashy Soilent Green, but right now I'm trying NLS Cichlid), and a different food for the remaining two feedings (NLS AlgaeMAX), one during my dinner break and one after work. The Rio Negro tank gets frozen brine shrimp upon waking up, Hikari sinking wafers and Sera Staple Food on my dinner break, and frozen bloodworms when I get off work.

3. That's basically what I'm doing with the Rio Negro tank. The frozen brine shrimp are more for the guppies in that tank, whereas the frozen bloodworms are intended for the Adolfo Corys. (That doesn't stop the other fish in the tank from taking advantage of both feedings, of course!)

4. Usually it's pretty much the same foods every day, though as stated before I'm experimenting a bit with a different food now on the mbuna tank. I'll probably be experimenting similarly with another food in the Rio Negro tank soon, too.

[Jeff]

1 tank: 6/7 days. I'd love to start every other day - but with kids it's too hard to keep up with 

[Tanked]

Three aquariums are fed flake food once in the evening.  There is an extra feeding after maintenance.

Additional veggies are offered when the mood strikes. The Silver Dollars in the community tank get whatever I throw in, including excess Elodea and plant trimmings.  The Tinfoil Barbs get spinach, broccoli, green beans, or cucumber on a fish stick. (skewer)

[Anon]

Interesting thread so far!

 

I have 8 aquariums. 

I feed most tanks twice a day, before I go to work and when I get home from work. If I'm raising fry, I'll feed them 3-4 times a day. 

Sometimes I'll break up an algae wafer for my corys before I go to bed.

I feed the same things every day but sometimes substitute with frozen brine. 

[Atitagain]

1/ I have 18 tanks and 4 containers that have fish so a total of 22

2/ I only feed twice a day if I have fry or I’m pushing for breeding. Then once a week I fast  except the fry or breeders.

3/ I use target feeding now for some German blue rams in my 125G community tank when I feed blackworms 3-ish times a week. Using a turkey baster I push the worms as close as I can without frighten them. They don’t always get some because the other fish have learned what’s happening and they swam the baster now. Another target feed is dropping food at one end then hurrying to drop food at other end so it falls quickly enough to get to my catfish and bristlenose in my Oscar tank and my venustus tank.

4/ I have a variety of what I consider quality foods and it’s what I’m feeling for the day. 

[Fish Folk]

1. How many tanks do you have?

2x 55 gal . . . 1x 40 gal . . . 1x 33 gal long . . . 1x 29 gal . . . 1x 20 gal tall . . . 5x 20 gal long . . . 4x 10 gal . . . 2x 5.5 gal . . . 1x 2.5 gal . . . 10x 1-gal jugs . . . 1x 1-gal shoe box

I always say "17 tanks" mostly because anything less than 5 gal I regard as a temporary fry hatchery

2. How many times a day do you feed?

I feed twice per day, Monday - Saturday. Once morning (at least before noon) and once after dinner.

Generally speaking, Sundays I do not feed fish. I give them (and me) a "rest day." I leave the lights low / filters on. The exception to this is when I am raising fry, I feed them every day twice. One of my tanks is at work, and gets fed Sunday - Thursday, twice a day. I sometimes feed it once on either Friday or Saturday. Sometimes I just let it go without food. Almost all of my tanks are planted, providing ample food for fish to nibble at all day long.

3. Do you, or have you ever, target-fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out?

Yes. Catfish species, in general, feed after lights out. Occasionally, when breeding Corydoras, I feed just before or at lights-out. Same with Ancistrus. Annual Killifish spawn furiously right at lights-on in the morning. Sometimes I try to feed well to help them recover.

4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day?

I try to feed frozen foods once per day, and dry foods once. I like to vary foods as much as possible. Live foods are served up whenever available. But it doesn't always work out perfectly as I wish it would. Certain species have dietary demands. U.S. natives need frozen foods and live foods exclusively. Fry are fed live baby brine shrimp whenever available -- usually 4 days per week. Guppies tend to get fed a bit more dry foods than other species.

My preferred frozen foods:

Bloodworms, Spirulina-Brine Shrimp, Mysis, Daphnia

My preferred dry foods:

(Xtreme Krill Flakes, but no one sells them out here) Bug Bites Color-enhancing flakes, Bug Bites Spirulina Flakes, Omega One Algae Wafers, Omega One Kelp Flakes, Vibra Bites

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:39 AM, Fish Folk said:

I try to feed frozen foods once per day, and dry foods once. I like to vary foods as much as possible. Live foods are served up whenever available. But it doesn't always work out perfectly as I wish it would. Certain species have dietary demands. U.S. natives need frozen foods and live foods exclusively. Fry are fed live baby brine shrimp whenever available -- usually 4 days per week. Guppies tend to get fed a bit more dry foods than other species.

THIS!  That was what I was wondering how many people do this!  I always worry about bloat.  I stocked up on frozen when the whole shutting down thing started and I have way too much.  I've added worms for the corys and been feeding those moreso.  I think after a while the fish get bored of the same offerings and don't react as "enthusiastic" as I'd prefer.  They are generally curious, wonder what is in the tank at feeding time, but I get the feeling like some days they just don't want anything.

I am going to try to feed less at once, but try to offer some more frozen stuff, and keep on top of the nitrates if they spike a bit.

Here's mine:

1. 2 tanks
2. I feed in the morning about 2-3 hours after lights go on, after the sunrise basically.
3. I have in the past, but I find that whether it's dusk or dawn the fish don't really care. It's more about what is fed at those times as well. Meaning, whenever I am feeding on off hours or for nocturnal fish, I tend to feed repashy, wafer, more of those slow release type of foods.  If I go in the room and it's just starting for the lights to go out, I might occasionally drop in something to treat them.
4. I have 3-5 different foods I feed at any given time. One of them being slow release, one being flake, and one being a pellet. I also feed frozen foods as well (shrimp+spirulina, worms), and do have repashy.  I will wake up and randomly grab a different one, there is no order or logic, but just trying to mix up the foods. Some weeks I might just go flake every day if they are really attacking it.

[Torrey]

On 5/7/2022 at 1:55 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

1. How many tanks do you have?

I have two 4' tanks (only one currently is set up), 3x 10 gallons, 1x 9.9 gallon indoor pond, 6x 5 gallons (I broke down 5 just before surgery and I am deciding what I want to do with them now), and 3 nano tanks.

I also have one permanent fry grow out tank (10 gallons) and 6 "use as needed" fry/Q/T tubs, plus up to 3 outside (patio) water phytoremediation ponds each summer/fall

2. How many times a day do you feed?

Depends on the inhabitants. Fry get fed every 2 to 4 hours depending on species. Dedicated shrimp tank is fed every other day. All tanks are seeded with microflora and microfauna as I set them up, to ensure that there is a 24/7 buffet available for all inhabitants, in case I am hospitalized. 

Outside ponds get fed daily until I see mosquito larvae 🤪

 

3. Do you, of have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out?

Yes, and it is a pima. 11 out of 10, do not recommend if it's avoidable, especially if one species is a pig and hoards food.

On the other hand, if there are specific nocturnal and specific diurnal species, and neither tries to hoard food, it's just like feeding the chickens in the morning with chicken feed, and the owls at night with pinkies. Not a big deal, and not very stressful. 

4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day?

When I had more liquid income, my fish knew the days of the week based on the foods, and over the course of the week they had a very wide and varied diet. When I bred carnivores, they ate different proteins each day, so they didn't develop nutritional deficiencies. 

Now, I select a few quality prepared foods (instead of growing/making foods) and alternate between high quality staples and a half-dozen frozen foods. As my health improves, I will start hatching bbs and maintaining a separate blackworm culture again. 

Until then, fish are happy that summer brings a wide variety of food options from the patio ponds.

 

[Its Hutch]

1. How many tanks do you have?

7

2. How many times a day do you feed?

2

3. Do you, or have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out?

I target feed my Corys when I am ready for eggs. They will get extra food at night.

4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day?

I fast on water change day.

When I take the time to hatch them, I feed out live BBS multiple times a day until its gone.

I feed the same thing every day for the 1st feeding.

On Sundays and Wednesdays I do frozen food for the second feeding.

The second feeding is a primary food I give everyday and a secondary food that is chosen at random for variety.

[Tihshho]

On 5/7/2022 at 3:55 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would ask:

1. How many tanks do you have?
2. How many times a day do you feed?
3. Do you, of have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out?
4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day?

1 - 16

2 - Depends on the stocking.

a) Shrimp tanks I feed daily at most, sometimes this might actually turn out to be a couple times a week.

b) Ancistrus tanks get daily feedings at most, and I sometimes skip a day or two depending on how much food they leave. Sometimes these guys will be absolute gluttons and eat everything I put in, sometimes they will eat 90% and leave the rest. When they shy from food I give them some fasting time and when I go back to feeding they go back to being gluttons. Anscistrus rearing tanks get fed twice a day; one meal of either my Repashy concoction or french green beans and the last meal being Xtreme Bottom Wafers or NLS Pellets . 

c) Ricefish tank (adults) I feed flake twice a day, the rest of the fish in the tank as well as shrimp pick off the flake and get sinking food offered a few times a week. Ricefish rearing/hatching tanks gets fed 3 times a day; once with crushed flake for the larger babies, twice with small offerings of Sera Micron.

d) Clown Pleco/Whiptail tank gets fed once a day with either heavy offering of french greenbeans or my Repashy mix. I also offer Xtreme Krill flake or NLS pellets to the tank for other fish in there. 

e) Scud tank (rearing as a food source for future projects) I feed these guys when I remember. They get cuttings from plants offered when I trim out tanks or pull out dying/old leaves as well as the left overs of any green bean can I don't want to add to a plec tank. 

3 - I used to. This was more so when I was keeping reef tanks. Fresh water I don't do this for a majority of the fish, except my Ricefish. The reason for that is so I can fatten up the adults so they are full enough to ideally not be hungry and chasing a female who is trying to deposit eggs.

4 - I mix it up as often as I can. Varied diet means that your mixing up what the fish get. In the wild it's rare to find species solely eating the same thing. Being able to have a varied diet means that all vategories of nutrients are being provided. It also means that if I get new food, I very rarely find something that fish won't touch. 

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

1. I have 5 tanks, 2 twenty gallon talls, a 10 gallon (those three are typical Aqueon tanks), a 4.12 Aquatop cube and a Fluval Flex9, I also have a bladder snail vase.

2. Only once. The only exception to that is recent CPD fry got first bites a few times a day. Even my Oto fry when I have them get fed 1x. Every once in a while I'll feed 2x or even have a fasting day but neither of those happen with any regularity. 

3. I would target feed if I needed to-- some species are far more active at night and would benefit from it- my Otos definitely do but don't have any competition for food so they get new food when everyone else does. Which is in the morning shortly after the tank lights come on. 

4. I rotate foods for my middle dwellers in 3 tanks- My fish (Black Neons, Harlequin Rasboras, Endlers, Guppies, Ember Tetras and CPDs) REALLY seem to like the Fluval Bug Bites flake lines- so Color Flakes, Spirulina Flakes and Tropical Formulas are in regular rotation with Xtreme Krill flakes, frozen bloodworms and frozen baby brine. 

My Otos (all 72 of them) get Hikari Algae Wafers and mostly Repashy Super Green (sometimes Soilent but they prefer Super) and a couple of slices of English Cucumber in the tank. My Hillstream in the Flex- though I've only ever witnessed the Guppies eating it, gets a small piece of Repashy and a bottom feeder wafer of some kind (I have a few of those in rotation as well). 

Snails in my tanks including Nerites and Bladders currently occassionally get snail or crab pellets/foods, repashy etc. 

Food is randomly rotated, there is no reason to it- if I didn't feed it the day before and I happened to grab the food it goes in. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[Cinnebuns]

1.  4 running with inhabitants.

Tank 1:  29 gal - 3 guppies, 3 thicklipped gourami, 1 honey gourami, 8 panda cories, a whole slew of snails.

Tank 2:  10 gal with newborns mystery snail babies.

Tanks 3 and 4:  2 fry tanks with guppy and panda cory fry. 

2.  Tank 1:  I don't feed this tank every day. Usually 6 times a week. When I do feed, it's once a day. 

Tank 2:  constant supply of food for growing babies 

Tanks 3 and 4:  feed 3-5 times a day for growing babies. 

3.  This question only applies to Tank 1 for me. The answer is "yes but..." I do try to target feed the cories by feeding floating food first then throwing in sinking pellets but the guppies and gouramis inevitably go for the pellets too. I do try to feed the snails at night but even if the fish are asleep when I do this, they immediately wake up and start to feed. Often food that lasts awhile like veggies can help the snails compete better. There are also other ways around this problem like putting the food slightly above the water. 

4.  Tank 1:  I don't have a set schedule but I do mix it up. Blanched veggie or canned green beans are fed once a week and usually on the weekends. I have foods that are fed most often but occasionally I decide to throw something different in. What I feed includes: tropical flakes, shrimp pellets, crab cuisine, blanched veggies, canned green beans, blood worms, and vibra bites. 

Tank 2:  feed most of what Tank 1 gets but just a constant supply.

Tanks 3 and 4: same thing every time. Fry food for younger ones and flake food for older ones. Occasionally the older ones do get other things. 

[Torrey]

On 5/7/2022 at 2:42 PM, Tihshho said:

Scud tank (rearing as a food source for future projects) I feed these guys when I remember. They get cuttings from plants offered when I trim out tanks or pull out dying/old leaves as well as the left overs of any green bean can I don't want to add to a plec tank.

I forgot to even cover my scud tank, lol

"when I remember" is very apt. I drop in a carrot at least once a week. Drop in leaves from trimming the pothos (when I trim). When I notice the prior offering to the scuds is gone/down to the veins, I drop in something else to keep them occupied.

[Ken Burke]

4 tanks 1 -10, 2 -20’s, 1 -38 and a outdoor tub

 

generally feed once daily, but will toss in a extra feeding now and again

 

when I was growing out plecos, I fed 3 time a day, early am, early evening, just before bed

 

i feed mostly flake, with frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp bbs, cyclops or daphnia every once in a while.  I also feed tetra shrimp wafers fairly regularly 

[Tihshho]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:39 AM, Torrey said:

I forgot to even cover my scud tank, lol

"when I remember" is very apt. I drop in a carrot at least once a week. Drop in leaves from trimming the pothos (when I trim). When I notice the prior offering to the scuds is gone/down to the veins, I drop in something else to keep them occupied.

As scuds do eat protein, I do put excess snails in there and some of those get the squish if they are on the front glass...

[Torrey]

On 5/8/2022 at 12:47 AM, Tihshho said:

As scuds do eat protein, I do put excess snails in there and some of those get the squish if they are on the front glass...

I keep snails and scuds together. So far they have been ideal companions. I even replicated one of Tanner's sealed paludariums, and they ate the plants that didn't make it, and functioned as population control for one another... however, my goal for my actual scud tanks is to *increase* the population, so I throw in more food as soon as I see food is depleted. Carrots and biofilm seem to be their favorite foods, and they also eat snail shells.

[modified lung]

1) ~20 tanks.

2) Adults fed 1x/day, 6 days/week. Fry fed 2-3x per day. Rarely feed the outdoor tanks.

3) No targeted feeding times. Usually late afternoon though.

4) Anything not breeding gets mostly flake. Anything breeding gets mix of live and flake. The pygmy sunfish and darios only accept live.

[lefty o]

morning, and night. if there is fry ill add a couple light feedings during the day, but generally twice a day.

[Golden Rams]

On 5/7/2022 at 1:55 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I guess I'm just curious how my own habits tend to match up or differ from others and their tanks.

I would ask:

1. How many tanks do you have?  83
2. How many times a day do you feed? 2 to 6 depending on species 
3. Do you, of have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out? Yes, cory's and plecos
4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day? yes and no depends as I have to have every new fish-food on the market(lol). Live brine shrimp twice a day every day.

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Golden Rams

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/8/2022 at 9:07 PM, Golden Rams said:

1. How many tanks do you have?  83

WOW!

That's so many!  I would love to see you show off your stuff if you feel like it. Sounds like a pretty amazing setup.

[Fonske]

On 5/9/2022 at 12:07 PM, Golden Rams said:

How many tanks do you have?  83

Holy fishes, that's impressive. 

I currently have 11 tanks, and all except guppies in 5g are fed once a day, in the morning. No cories or plecos so no night-targeted feeding. The guppies are fed every time I come close to the tank, 5-6-7 times a day. I feed variety of foods (live BBS, frozen worms, daphnia, cyclops, egg yolk, pellets, flakes, occasional chicken breast and fish fillet pieces, some plant trimmings, microwaved carrots and zucchinis, etc.)  with no set schedule, just trying to rotate it a bit. 

[Minanora]

 1. How many tanks do you have? 5 actively being used, 8 tanks total.

2. How many times a day do you feed? If I'm home, it depends on the tank. Most tanks I feed at least twice a day.

3. Do you, of have you ever, target fed some species in the AM, some in the PM hours after the lights go out? Yes. But the pigs eat all things, regardless if it's for them, or if its after feeding them or not... Pigs... Aka live-bearers.

4. Do you feed certain foods on certain days? The same thing every day? I do things based on fish age. But I mix things up regardless.

[Andy's Fish Den]

I have 25 tanks, I fed at least once a day, on weekends and other days that I am home, I feed two or three times a day. I will vary the foods I give, a couple times a week I feed frozen foods to all the fish. I do target feed my corydoras and plecos by giving sinking pellets or wafers either just before or after the lights go off. I have a basic staple flake food that I feed, but will also mix in other flakes or pellets that I may win in raffles at my local fish club meetings. I prefer flakes because I can crush them up in my fingers easily to feed smaller fish and even fry with, or leave bigger for larger fish.