Feeding: How often is right?

[Perry the platypus]

I feed Perry once in the morning, once at afternoon (3 PM), and once at night.

[Virto]

Originally Posted by AyalaCookiejar

I personally take out uneaten food after five minutes or possibly ten, because I don't want any of it to sink. If it floats for too long the filter sucks it in a pushes it under.

Some pellets are fairly hard and difficult for fish to eat, especially smaller fish. Sometimes a 5-10 min soak makes them much easier to nom on.

My filter intake is very deep in the tank and baffled with a sponge to greatly reduce intake flow. I've never seen a pellet sink, but it certainly could if left in for far too long.

Everyone has a different setup and a different fish - so whatever works for someone might not even remotely work for anyone else. Sometimes it just takes a while for an owner to get used to a fish's mannerisms.

Now, if you use flake food, get it out asap if they ignore it because that stuff turns to mush before you can count to 10. Blech!

[AyalaCookiejar]

Haha, actually the outflow of my filter is what pushes the pellets under. I used to pre-soak my pellets before I got new smaller ones, and I haven't had problems since.

I prefer to see them eat the pellets so I know if they were eaten or if they sunk. Call me whatever you want, but I just don't want that extra gunk dirtying the place up :p haha. Also why I never use flakes.

[Hershey]

I feed my fish 5 or 6 pellets every other day. My girls steal from my other girls. I feed my boys 3 or 4 every other day.

[callistra]

Take out uneaten food? Your fish actually have an off switch?! Mine don't LOL I had one that would eat 8 standard sized pellets in seconds and beg for more..I think he may have done 12 in under 30 seconds one time..Back when I was first learning and I followed the "as much as they can eat" instructions literally. They just keep eating until I cut them off, so I count and feed one by one and watch them chomp them up before adding more.

[AyalaCookiejar]

If they aren't feeling well sometimes they won't eat. At times when feeding my Betta, I'll drop a pellet in and he'll be so busy flaring at me he won't see it and if he happens to touch it with his fins and it will sink. He usually finds it on the bottom, though, lol.

[Jessa24]

Well I feed him BioGold Betta pellets. Splash will find his food lool at it for like ten seconds and then he always makes sure to eat each and every pellet. He doesn't let food go to waste so I am sure to be very strict with him. Otherwise he would be eating all the time probably. He is like a little puppy dog begging. Nemo was the same way. HA HA. I have been feeding him 2 pellets in the morning and then two pellets in the evening. He seems fine with that. I have also managed to train him at feeding time. I wake him up. Show him his food and he follows it all the way to the top and waits for me to drop those pellets.