This is my first nem and I have seen countless posts on how OFTEN to feed (with many differing opinions, of course), but rarely do these posts go into detail about how MUCH to feed PER FEEDING and that's what I'm wondering.
I've read 'feed until they won't take food anymore'. Okay, except my little nem has, of yet, never refused food. He can't possibly need as much as I believe he would take in if I really followed that guideline so I'm wondering how much (not how often) others feed during a single feeding for the various sizes of their BTAs.
Mine is 2.5" (6.35cm) in diameter right now. I have fed him too many times for as new as he is, only because I am trying to get a gauge on how much to feed at a time, so I will be slowing down drastically as soon as I can get a handle on the amount to feed.
He's only been in my tank 6 days. I fed him a single mysis on day one only to see if he'd eat (he came straight from the supplier bag floating in the LFS to my tank - after about an hour of careful observation of attaching/forced detaching/etc from the side of the bag and body condition). He gobbled that right down so I was happy that he would eat when fed. Two days later I fed him about half a cube of mysis. He ate it all and didn't let a single shrimp go but I didn't know how MUCH I should feed so I cut him off at that point. Yesterday I fed him again about half a cube and again he ate every bit without letting a single shrimp go and even stuck to a dumb nassarius snail that got too close trying to snag some of the food. I batted the snail off with a baster and decided maybe mysis were too little for him so I went to the grocer for real shrimp. I cut a tiny piece off one shrimp (just big enough for the turkey baster to hold but not suck up inside so maybe 1/8" (0.32cm) diameter) and again he took it, ate it very quickly, and I cut him off.
How much can this thing eat at a time?? He seems way too small to want/need so much food so I'm thinking that idea of 'feed until they stop eating' is bogus. I won't be feeding him again until some time next week because I feel like I've just fed him and fed him for being so new, but I still need to get a handle on how much to feed per feeding. Any insight is appreciated (and yes, I know I didn't need to feed him so soon after he got in the tank; I really am just trying to get a gauge on how much he will/needs to eat per feeding so I can get into a good amount and schedule going for him, but so far, since he won't stop eating, that has proven difficult). Thank you!!
I've read 'feed until they won't take food anymore'. Okay, except my little nem has, of yet, never refused food. He can't possibly need as much as I believe he would take in if I really followed that guideline so I'm wondering how much (not how often) others feed during a single feeding for the various sizes of their BTAs.
Mine is 2.5" (6.35cm) in diameter right now. I have fed him too many times for as new as he is, only because I am trying to get a gauge on how much to feed at a time, so I will be slowing down drastically as soon as I can get a handle on the amount to feed.
He's only been in my tank 6 days. I fed him a single mysis on day one only to see if he'd eat (he came straight from the supplier bag floating in the LFS to my tank - after about an hour of careful observation of attaching/forced detaching/etc from the side of the bag and body condition). He gobbled that right down so I was happy that he would eat when fed. Two days later I fed him about half a cube of mysis. He ate it all and didn't let a single shrimp go but I didn't know how MUCH I should feed so I cut him off at that point. Yesterday I fed him again about half a cube and again he ate every bit without letting a single shrimp go and even stuck to a dumb nassarius snail that got too close trying to snag some of the food. I batted the snail off with a baster and decided maybe mysis were too little for him so I went to the grocer for real shrimp. I cut a tiny piece off one shrimp (just big enough for the turkey baster to hold but not suck up inside so maybe 1/8" (0.32cm) diameter) and again he took it, ate it very quickly, and I cut him off.
How much can this thing eat at a time?? He seems way too small to want/need so much food so I'm thinking that idea of 'feed until they stop eating' is bogus. I won't be feeding him again until some time next week because I feel like I've just fed him and fed him for being so new, but I still need to get a handle on how much to feed per feeding. Any insight is appreciated (and yes, I know I didn't need to feed him so soon after he got in the tank; I really am just trying to get a gauge on how much he will/needs to eat per feeding so I can get into a good amount and schedule going for him, but so far, since he won't stop eating, that has proven difficult). Thank you!!
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