Feeding question

[apercele79]

Being brand new to this, i have a feeling im not feeding my fish enough so i would like to ask for help. I have a sailfin, tomini and powder brown tang, with a foxface and 2 mated clownfish. They all get along so in that regard im content. Im just concerned with the feeding. When i go to work in the morning i give them 2 cubes of different frozen food (im not home right now so i cant specify exactly the food), plus 2 clips of seaweed. They devour all that and when i come home from work they are still picking on those clips even though there is no seaweed left. They are obviously still hungry but i have been warned many times not to overfeed the fish. Should i increase the frozen cubes/seaweed or leave as is? Or should i feed them the cubes and seaweed farther apart, like one in the morning and the other in the afternoon?

Helpppppppp!!!


Thanks everyone

 

[apercele79]

 

[o2manyfish]

Are your fish fat and healthy? Can you see their stomachs, are there stomachs full or fat?

If your fish look skinny they feed more. If they are nice and thick and the stomachs are noticeably shrunken, then you might be on track with keeping them happy.

Dave B

 

[apercele79]

They all seem more than healthy, at least to my very amateur eye. I was only comcerned because they will pick on that clip non stop for seaweed even though there is nothing left, making me nervous that they are still hungry.

 

[o2manyfish]

When I have a feed clip in, the fish can be fed a couple of times in short succession, and have gone through 2 sheets of Nori and someone will always be picking on them empty clip.

Fish hunting for more food doesn't mean they are starving, it's just natural instinct. A fish's daily schedule isnt to wake up, have some algae, cruise on the web for a few hours, eat a couple of pellets, then take a nap, then grab a bite at din din. Most of the fish swim all day long looking for food.

My experience with most fish that have adjusted to captivity is they are obese. If you go to public aquariums and look at the fish they are fat. My fish in my tank most look like they have been inflated like a balloon - This applies to fish that eat prepared foods. Some of my more unusual angels, who don't take prepared foods, are healthy looking but not fat.

On the other hand my Mandarins (4) and Red Scooter Blennies (2) which only hunt, look like you plugged them into a helium tank.

My experiences diving around the world is that fish in the wild look nice and healthy, but seldom as fat as those in captivity. And having seen 1000s upon 1000s of fish arrive to the US upon import, again the fish may be healthy looking but not fat.

Dave B

 

[apercele79]

Awesome advice Dave, thanks a lot!!!