Clever ways to feed fish?

[greenink]

Does anyone have any? I pop a 'square' of frozen tropical food straight from the freezer into a floating dispenser with a bigger hole drilled out the bottom. As it defrosts, it sinks and dispenses slowly from the bottom. Fish seem to like it, and none ends up on the bottom.

Here's a really terrible phone video with a silly cartoon effect applied to make it more fun.



I do this about every couple of days. Anyone have any more cunning ways? And do people's frequency of feeding vary a lot? The man in the LFS originally told me to feed twice a day, which seems serious overkill...

 

[Westyggx]

I think i need to stop feeding flakes as 80% of it gets left uneaten and i dont feed alot either it just gets stuck in branches and the redmoor. I like this idea though might give something like this ago!

 

[ghostsword]

I feed my fish twice a day. Morning the get flakes, evening some frozen food. Once a month there is a fasting of 5 days.


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[George Farmer]

I pop a 'square' of frozen tropical food straight from the freezer into a floating dispenser with a bigger hole drilled out the bottom. As it defrosts, it sinks and dispenses slowly from the bottom. Fish seem to like it, and none ends up on the bottom.

Top tip! Thanks for sharing.

And do people's frequency of feeding vary a lot? The man in the LFS originally told me to feed twice a day, which seems serious overkill...

It should depend on the fish species.

Generally speaking smaller and more active fish require more frequent and smaller meals than larger and more sedentary fish.

In the wild most fish are opportunistic feeders and will spend around 90% actively seeking out food.

Most of us planted tank folk tend to keep smaller shoaling fish that will benefit from lots of small meals; I feed mine up to five times per day, but small portions that are eaten with 30 seconds or so. The potential issue with this is that some species tend to get to the food before others, leaving them hungry. In this situation I like to a couple of small portions one after the other to ensure all fish get their share.

Another technique I use with dry food is to crush up the flaked into a near powder, then add this directly into the filter flow. The food is circulated around the whole tank allowing the fish to chase and pick their food. Any leftovers that may get caught up in plants etc. are dealt with by shrimp, or picked off later by fish.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

...... with dry food is to crush up the flaked into a near powder, then add this directly into the filter flow. The food is circulated around the whole tank allowing the fish to chase and pick their food. Any leftovers that may get caught up in plants etc. are dealt with by shrimp, or picked off later by fish.....

I do this with Grindal worms (but not the crushing bit), I mix the worms with a small volume of water, and then I slowly pour the mix into the outflow from the filter. The advantage of this is that surface feeding fish like Pencils and Hatchets get a go at them, and any that sink stay alive and wriggling for several hours until the catfish/cichlids have picked them all off.

cheers Darrel