Yodi

I know this Is probably a simple question, but I've heard conflicting stories. Do you feed your fish once or twice a day? Also, I took your advice about adding water to the new fish In the floating bag(Mickey Mouse Platties) until It was full. When I let them go they were just fine! My other 4 died, only one made It. But It was so cute, my remaining Platty was so excited to see his own kind of fish, he circled the bag the whole time It was floating. Also, I have a red belly tetra left, the other 4 were actually eaten alive. I'm not sure who the culprit was though, I also have tiger barbs. But the remaining tetra Is just fine, could they have eaten each other? I would like to replace the 4 tetras, but I don't want them to get eaten either. I have a 30 gallon tank. Thanks so much!!

Yodi

sgould

Either will work, just so long as you are sparing...if you have food making it to the gravel before being eaten you are overfeeding. Unless you have bottom feeders, of course. I usually feed twice a day. In the morning I always feed normal flakes. In the evening I feed either spirulina flakes or bloodworms.

Sabi

How big were the red belly tetras? if they were slow swimming smaller then perhaps the platys could have eaten them. I had something similar going on in my tank. 1 harlequin rasbora survived when others got eaten. I would get more and try it out again if possible!

Isabella

There is no general rule on how many times a day to feed fish, as long as you do not overfeed. I, for example, feed my fish 2 times a day (morning and evening) and small amounts - that is, 2 times a day when I feed them with flakes. When I feed them with bloodworms and brine shrimp, it's only once a day. This is because bloodworms and brine shrimps have more proteins and are harder to digest. I don't want my fish constipated from overfeeding. So, sometimes I feed them twice a day and sometimes once a day, and never overfeeding.

Unless ... you have baby fish. Baby fish, especially newly hatched, need to be fed a few times a day until they grow up.

Richard

Yodi.. as far as feeding times go, Isabella has nailed it.. now as far as adding your aquarium water to the bag containing the fish you've bought and the water from the tanks they came from, as part of the acclimatisation process, I've never subscribed to the practise, and the fact that you lost several Platties doing that might be why.. to begin with, whenever you buy new fish to add to an aquarium you have already populated with fish, you should quarantine your newest acquisitions in a separate tank for no less than 10-14 days, to ensure they're healthy and not bringing some infection from the tank they were in at the LFS you bought them in.. if however they're going into their own tank, simply floating the bag in the tank should be adequate, I float for 30 mins. if the bag has had oxygen pumped in it, and 20 if not.

Butterfly

Richard I have to respectfully disagree I do think it's a good idea to add tank water until the bag is full even if their going into a quarantine tank(which is a great idea). I do that so in case my water is a little different than the lfs water then the fish are acclimated to the change gradually.
also I never dump teh water from teh lfs into my tanks, I'm afraid I'll introduce snails or possibly disease into my tanks.
Carol

COBettaCouple

We feed our fish twice a day and fast them 1 day a week. each feeding is half of what we'd consider a day's portion and we feed them a little at a time. to aid in digestion and reduce the chance of constipation. The tiger barbs would seem to be the most likely suspect in the fish eating case.