Slow sinking food for mid level eating nano fish?

[theotheragentm]

I have a tank with ember tetras and cherry shrimp. I wanted to see if there are any suggestions to get the fish fed better. Foods tend to stay stuck to the surface or get down to the bottom fairly quickly. Suggestions are welcome.

Xtreme Nano and Fluval Bug Bites for small fish work decently for my ember tetras. I like to smash them in between my fingers a bit to try to get them smaller. Some of the pieces will inevitably still be too large, but the shrimp will get them off the floor. Is Aquarium Coop's fry food any better? My concern is whether too small would stay floating on top. I do have a sponge filter, and the bubbles typically knock down most of the pieces with the two foods I mentioned. If not, the shrimp hang upside down and skim the surface. Cleanup is never an issue, but I'd like to get more to the fish.

[Fish Folk]

Hmm . . . Not sure exactly how you feed . . . one thing to try is, like you do, crushing flake food up between fingers, and then gently immersing fingers beneath water and releasing. Now, if you can do this in two intervals -- very small amount -- it should sink slowly. So, you feed 1/2 amount of a "serving" per tank, wait a few minutes, and then feed a second time. That's what we do in our little fishroom. 

[FishyJames]

Hikari micro pellets linger a while, but they are not my fishes favorite.

They float at first but eventually work their way down.

Edited February 19, 2021 by FishyJames

[TheDukeAnumber1]

I used to have that issue with my small fish and feeding nano extreme. I bought one of those silicone ice cube trays with very large cubes. I fill it half way with water and let it freeze, then I put the food in and fill it to the top and let that freeze. Then I just feed the cube and the food slowly falls as it melts. I also noticed that smaller fish that would have trouble eating a dry pellet can easily take down the food since it has been fully hydrated and softened.

[DaveSamsell]

1 hour ago, theotheragentm said:

I have a tank with ember tetras and cherry shrimp. I wanted to see if there are any suggestions to get the fish fed better. Foods tend to stay stuck to the surface or get down to the bottom fairly quickly. Suggestions are welcome.

Xtreme Nano and Fluval Bug Bites for small fish work decently for my ember tetras. I like to smash them in between my fingers a bit to try to get them smaller. Some of the pieces will inevitably still be too large, but the shrimp will get them off the floor. Is Aquarium Coop's fry food any better? My concern is whether too small would stay floating on top. I do have a sponge filter, and the bubbles typically knock down most of the pieces with the two foods I mentioned. If not, the shrimp hang upside down and skim the surface. Cleanup is never an issue, but I'd like to get more to the fish.

My mid-level swimming scissortail Rasboras really like the Xtreme Nano 1/2 mm sinking pellets.  When carefully added, the pellets float down slowly & the fish seem to easily get their share.

[theotheragentm]

9 minutes ago, TheDukeAnumber1 said:

I used to have that issue with my small fish and feeding nano extreme. I bought one of those silicone ice cube trays with very large cubes. I fill it half way with water and let it freeze, then I put the food in and fill it to the top and let that freeze. Then I just feed the cube and the food slowly falls as it melts. I also noticed that smaller fish that would have trouble eating a dry pellet can easily take down the food since it has been fully hydrated and softened.

This is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately this tank is in my office. I don't think my coworkers want fish food in the community freezer. 

Thanks you, everyone else for all your responses. You've confirmed a lot of my current feeding choices.