I wish food had "suggested amounts"

[Mercfh]

This is something as a new fish-keeper to the hobby I struggle with. I never know how much to feed (and like many probably over-feed). I really wish food brands had like a suggested amount "2 pellets per 5 fish" or similar.

I know it always says "How much they can eat in 5-10 minutes" but that's hard to gauge because some fish are nocturnal, and some fish just don't "get" to the food till later.

Has anyone figured out a good approximation to go by? I mostly use pellets or hikari stuff and generally don't use flakes as much. (Although a do use algae wafers plenty for my pleco's)

[mynameisnobody]

This would assume that the food would know the size and species you are feeding. As someone that has been doing this for quite a while, you’ll learn to feed appropriately. You will mess up and overfeed and this will all be part of the lesson. I’ve learned you’re better off feeding too little than too much. Also are you feeding the fish or are you feeding the aquarium? All of this will factor in to the quantity of food fed. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/15/2024 at 1:12 PM, Mercfh said:

This is something as a new fish-keeper to the hobby I struggle with. I never know how much to feed (and like many probably over-feed). I really wish food brands had like a suggested amount "2 pellets per 5 fish" or similar.

I believe it was a tazawa tanks video, but there is a very easy and straightforward method that I tend to use. I think it's like everything in the hobby and it's a skill you have to tune in.

In my case, I have bottom dwellers and shrimp, so they can take hours to eat their food. Let's say I feed my tank and it has catfish (corydoras, plecos, etc.) and I have food left over after 5+ hours. It's very likely to assume that I overfed the tank. Cut that amount in half and try it again.

The other question is about how often. Specifically, let's say you're feeding more often, then you might want to split that across the day to get the right feeding behavior and not have unhealthy/bloated fish.

Here's the real technique I use and what I had heard from in various videos on YouTube (either Irene or Zenzo had this tidbit)....  If you're feeding fish that are mid water or top of the water column, then when you feed you'd want to see all of the food gone after about 10-15 minutes.  After that point, if you see a food leftover then you likely have too much food going into the tank.

When I feed I turn off the equipment and give the fish 20-30 minutes to eat. This lets some food mix around, some stick on the surface, and some fall towards the bottom.

Some food will say "feed enough for the fish to eat in 2-3 minutes", but I have some shy fish and they take a little bit of time to eat that food. Anywhere around 5 minutes I would expect to see some of the stragglers getting their morsels. In that 10-15 minute range most everyone is done eating and there might be younger fish getting their food in after it's broken down into smaller or softer pieces.

I use time, and let's just say there's food leftover, then you cut back and try it again. I feed once a day or I'll feed smaller amounts, twice a day.

On 1/15/2024 at 1:12 PM, Mercfh said:

I know it always says "How much they can eat in 5-10 minutes" but that's hard to gauge because some fish are nocturnal, and some fish just don't "get" to the food till later.

Yep!!!!

If you want to talk specific species then maybe more people can chime in on how they feed those particular fish.

Feeding just as the lights come on or as they go out tends to be best for that situation and you can still see their feeding response.  Same thing applies, you want to see them eat and check for how much food is leftover after a little bit of time has passed. Might be checking after an hour. It might be checking after several hours given the nocturnal nature.

[A3M0N]

I probably feed mine too much, but this is my approach. Also, I only have a few rasboras so they have the same eating habits. I turn off the filter pump for 5 minutes and give them a little pinch of flakes for "lunch", they usually eat that up pretty quickly. Then in the evening for "dinner", I turn off the filter again for 5 minutes, then drop a few floating nano pellets at a time and only give them more when they're all gone. I do this until they stop coming to the surface to snatch more food. This works well for me, I get to interact with the fish and make sure I don't overfeed them at the same time. 

[lefty o]

besides the fact you will figure it out by watching your fish, after a while your tank becomes well seasoned, and has a healthy bacteria colony you can get away with slightly over feeding your fish, as it will just feed the tanks bacteria with the excess.

[Flipper]

On 1/15/2024 at 3:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

If you want to talk specific species then maybe more people can chime in on how they feed those particular fish.

Yes, you can't really talk feeding fish unless you consider YOUR tank and YOUR fish.

My Harlequin Rasboras and Rummy-Nose Tetras have been together so long, they often shoal together, as one group.  They make a mad dash to the top when I feed them and it's gone within seconds, not minutes.

For my dwarf Clown Pleco, he's slow.  If I don't hide his 1/2 algae wafer really well, the other fish will eat it, making them get TOO MUCH. 

So, I don't feel time means anything in my tank.  It's all about my personal fish and their habits and tendencies.

@nabokovfan87 made an excellent point about the species.

Also, someone told me once that a fish's stomach is about the size of his eye.  Not sure if that's accurate but it's bound to be tiny.