How Much Food And How To Train Fish To Eat It?

This may be silly question but how do you train a brand new fish (guppy) to eat food? Also, how much flake(s) to give him given his size is about 1.25" (top of the nose to end of the tail). We got the fish this past weekend and we are trying to feed him 1 flake in the morning and smaller flake in the evening. First of all, the fish has no idea that we are feeding him. He swims around the tank and after 5 or so minutes finally finds the flake either still floating or down on the gravel and its it. Today was the first morning when the fish did not eat the flake at all even after finding it. I am assuming that we should just stick to morning feeding and skip the evening one but want to confirm.

 

You could try a different type of food such as bloodworms or brine shrimp. He might not like the flake food as some fish are picky..

Once a day is fine that's what I do for my guppy. He is also getting used to his new home I'm sure

 

I feed my guppies twice daily and they still scavenge for food the rest of the day! I would feed him twice daily, and as much as he can eat within 30 seconds!

If he doesn't like flake maybe try pellets? Until you can get your hands on pellets be sure to feed him some soft veg like potato, cucumber, pepper and tomato flesh.

 

Thanks for the replies. I do not think that the problem is that he doesn't like the flakes. It is more like, he doesn't know that the food is going to be served at the top. He just swims around the tank and only after he almost comes face to face with the food, he will eat it. There is no instinct to go to the top at the feeding time. I know it has only been few days but we try to keep the morning feeding time constant.

 

Some fish start out like that.. he will soon get used to it

Maybe whenever you are about to feed him gently tap on the glass to grab his attention. Do this every time before you feed him and he will soon associate the noise and furthermore your presence with food, and he will be a regular feeder in no time!

How big are the flakes?

 

How big are the flakes?

The flakes are about half an inch by a quarter (maybe a bit smaller). Very thin ones.

 

Flakes are too big. You need to break them down into tiny pieces before putting them in the tank.

 

I would get 2/3 flakes, break them into 1/4's and feed that to him per meal. Time how long it takes since noticing the flakes foe him to finish eating them, if it is 15-30 seconds then it's the right amount, less time then feed him more, more time then feed him less.

It's much easier to notice lots of small flakes than it is to notice one big flake for guppies anyway.