How do I feed my neons tetras?

Hey all! I've had my neons for a couple of days now and after a day or two of letting them settle I feed them some bloodworms and they went crazy for it! I gave it to them the next day and same results, but then the days after that I tried to feed them flakes. The problem is with my betta I used to wait till he was at the top and feed him the flakes, but my neons like going all around the tank and not really near the top. I really don't want them to live off of bloodworms alone, I would love to give them the varied diet they need but so far they haven't been as excited about the bloodworms, I even saw one pick it up and spit it out, picky baby! But they're very active and such, but for fellow neon owners how did you get them to eat flakes (I have veggie flakes, meat flakes, pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, and I don't think that they would like this but bottom feeder shrimp and algae wafers, and of course frozen bloodworms. All of them have good ingredients I dwelled over for weeks). Meanwhile, the kuhlis in the tanks are complete pigs that eat anything and everything on the surface of the Earth. Any advice is wanted and appreciated

 

Hey all! I've had my neons for a couple of days now and after a day or two of letting them settle I feed them some bloodworms and they went crazy for it! I gave it to them the next day and same results, but then the days after that I tried to feed them flakes. The problem is with my betta I used to wait till he was at the top and feed him the flakes, but my neons like going all around the tank and not really near the top. I really don't want them to live off of bloodworms alone, I would love to give them the varied diet they need but so far they haven't been as excited about the bloodworms, I even saw one pick it up and spit it out, picky baby! But they're very active and such, but for fellow neon owners how did you get them to eat flakes (I have veggie flakes, meat flakes, pellets, freeze-dried bloodworms, and I don't think that they would like this but bottom feeder shrimp and algae wafers, and of course frozen bloodworms. All of them have good ingredients I dwelled over for weeks). Meanwhile, the kuhlis in the tanks are complete pigs that eat anything and everything on the surface of the Earth. Any advice is wanted and appreciated

I have Neons myself. They are not really surface eaters. If you want to feed them other foods simply take the food that you want to feed them and put it in a small cup of tank water until it sinks. You can then pour it in the tank quickly so the stuff begins sinking right away. You can also distract the Betta when you do this by feeding him surface flakes so that your Tetras can pick the sinking food off without disturbance. I feed mine freeze dried foods and standard tropical flakes and they go nuts over it.

 

I have Neons myself. They are not really surface eaters. If you want to feed them other foods simply take the food that you want to feed them and put it in a small cup of water until it sinks. You can then pour it in the tank quickly so the stuff begins sinking right away. You can also distract the Betta when you do this by feeding him surface flakes so that your Tetras can pick the sinking food off without disturbance. I feed mine freeze dried foods and standard tropical flakes and they go nuts over it.

Thank you, I'm so happy with my neons, they're gorgeous!! I feed them at like 7 before I dim my lights, should I just turkey-baster up the leftover flakes the next morning or change my schedule?

 

Thank you, I'm so happy with my neons, they're gorgeous!! I feed them at like 7 before I dim my lights, should I just turkey-baster up the leftover flakes the next morning or change my schedule?

You said you had some kuhli Loaches in the tank, right? If so, they will definitely pick up all the scraps if there is any left. However, when I feed waterlogged flakes to my Tetras and Rasboras, which they go nuts for and nothing is left before it can reach the bottom. My poor shrimp can't even get a bite! I feed twice a day (You can feed once still if you want) for what the Tetras can consume in a little less than a minute each time. They are very small fish and hence do not need a ton of food. I have had mine for 5 months now and are a very healthy weight.

 

I feed my betta and neon tetras hikari micro pellets. The neons come out to the surface and eat it. If you want the food to sink, I suggest what JLAquatic said. If the flakes are too big, I would suggest tearing them up.

 

Thank you, I will try the flakes tomorrow, and thank you for y'all's advice!!

 

I feed my betta and neon tetras hikari micro pellets. The neons come out to the surface and eat it. If you want the food to sink, I suggest what JLAquatic said. If the flakes are too big, I would suggest tearing them up.

That is also what I do with my flakes and freeze dried food, I tear them up into small pieces and waterlog them that way. The Tetras will appreciate the bite sized food more than larger flakes.

 

I crush the flakes and soak them in VitaChem or thawed frozen food juices.
I am horribly afraid of bloat, so I try to avoid surface feeding. Seems to work for my little guys.