How much should I feed fish?

hey, I am new to this and having trouble feeding my fish, I hope you can help. I feed once a day every morning around 7am with a couple pinches of bug bites (like 3-4) on some days some flakes (1pinch of flakes), but not with the bug bites, and some brine shrimp every Saturday. When I feed them the food does sink to the floor, and as it’s sinking my tetras eat like 60% the larger eat about 30% and 10% of food sits on the floor. The tetra then are bloated, look pregnant and are swimming drunkly (They keep tilting over). When I come home though after several hours most of their stomachs have shrunk, but all of my tetra have grown loads since I got them. They're probably almost 2cm now, which I think is because of the overfeeding. I was wondering if I should feed them little twice a day and that will help? Or if there’s any ideas on how to not overfeed the tetra but feed all my fish enough. (My big fish do go around hoovering the sand so they do get some more throughout the day)
also any indications about how much you think each fish needs, I have gold tetra and platy. Thanks

 

What you're describing is perfectly normal. Fish should be ideally fed until they look like they have full stomachs.

I feed my fish twice a day now, although feeding them a somewhat larger meal once is perfectly acceptable as well.

Last time I checked, young fish growing fast was a good thing

 

What you're describing is perfectly normal. Fish should be ideally fed until they look like they have full stomachs.

I feed my fish twice a day now, although feeding them a somewhat larger meal once is perfectly acceptable as well.

Last time I checked, young fish growing fast was a good thing

But not to the point that they can’t swim with food left over at the bottom.

Does sound like quite a lot of food going in, but how many fish are there in the tank? I’d have said one small pinch a day would be fine though. Maybe mix it up a bit by offering frozen or live foods too.

 

But not to the point that they can’t swim with food left over at the bottom.

Does sound like quite a lot of food going in, but how many fish are there in the tank? I’d have said one small pinch a day would be fine though. Maybe mix it up a bit by offering frozen or live foods too.

Well, I have cories, so I want some of it to be left over at the bottom

Of course, if you're noticing a lot of uneaten food, you should decrease how much you're feeding them. But fish are deceptively big eaters. They are very active and burn lots of calories throughout the day. They can eat a lot more than you'd think.

 

. . . . When I feed them the food does sink to the floor, and as it’s sinking my tetras eat like 60% the larger eat about 30% and 10% of food sits on the floor. The tetra then are bloated, look pregnant and are swimming drunkly (They keep tilting over). When I come home though after several hours most of their stomachs have shrunk, but all of my tetra have grown loads since I got them. They're probably almost 2cm now, which I think is because of the overfeeding. I was wondering if I should feed them little twice a day and that will help? Or if there’s any ideas on how to not overfeed the tetra but feed all my fish enough. (My big fish do go around hoovering the sand so they do get some more throughout the day)
also any indications about how much you think each fish needs, I have gold tetra and platy. Thanks

I'd suggest feeding smaller amounts and watch them eat. As long as they eat it all before it reaches the substrate you can feed another very small amount. When they slow down, and some of it gets close to the bottom, stop feeding.

How many fish do you have?

 

i have 11 fish.
6 Tetras, 3 platys and a betta. (and a loach but it doesn’t eat that food)

I'd suggest feeding smaller amounts and watch them eat. As long as they eat it all before it reaches the substrate you can feed another very small amount. When they slow down, and some of it gets close to the bottom, stop feeding.

How many fish do you have?

But not to the point that they can’t swim with food left over at the bottom.

Does sound like quite a lot of food going in, but how many fish are there in the tank? I’d have said one small pinch a day would be fine though. Maybe mix it up a bit by offering frozen or live foods too.

 

I feed 1 to 2 bites thats it. Just whatever put in is immediately eaten.

 

I feed 1 to 2 bites thats it. Just whatever put in is immediately eaten.

Aren’t you worried if they didn’t eat enough

 

Aren’t you worried if they didn’t eat enough

It's much easier to over feed fish than under feed them. They can go several days without eating and be just fine. Most fish keepers, myself included, feed more than necessary.

 

Aren’t you worried if they didn’t eat enough

Not at all. I have tanks where I don't feed anything. Ideally, for a mature tank you want to have some detritus, strong lighting, some plant/algae growth so that there would be microfauna to feed your small community fish. The fish are constantly eating, regardless of whether you are feeding or not. You don't want a sterile tank where your fish food is their only source of food.