Advice on Feeding

[mhertzfeld]

How much food should I be feeding my cichlids? After six months of raising cichlids I'm under the impression that they would eat an entire container of new life spectrum pellets and still be hungary.

Is there a rule of measurement for each inch of fish? Like a quarter teaspoon for each 25 inches of fish, or something similar? Suggestions I've read about feeding are to feed enough food to where none is left after about 3 minutes. Well I can tell you that no matter how much food I add (realistic amounts) the fish eat it immediatly, normally it's all consumbed before it even touches the grave\sand.

For a few weeks I added more food than usual but saw my nitrate go up to a level where I had to do 3 pwc a week to keep things in line. (normally I do 2 pwc a week which in total is about 25%)

Basically I want to find that fine line of feeding the fish enough food to where they will keep growing but not enough to start poisoning my tank.

Any advice?

[smitty]

The general rule is to feed what can be consumed in 5 minutes. If you think they are still hungry then you can add more. But for me I do not use that rule. I know my fish and generally what they are satisfied with. My Dovi's are not big eaters so I do not feed them as much. My Viejas seem to take a while to be satisfied so I feed them more. But it really does not have to be that technical.

[Kyle May]

Smitty said exactly what I would have said if I'd posted first.
Each species of fish is different.
You can feed a small amount and then feed more if you want.

I'll add this. I feed my fish every other day and they all do fine. This enables me to save food (and $$), and still provide adequate nutrition for my fish.
In nature many fish do not eat every day. Those that do are grazers and eat small quantities continuously.

There are three exceptions to my feeding habits.
One: Fish that have spawned (that might eat their fry), or fish about to spawn that I am conditioning.
Second: Overly aggressive fish that can be kept more passive by keeping them full.
Third: A fish I am getting ready to show.

I've had times where I've forgotten to feed my fish and they've actually gone 3-4 days without any harm whatsoever.

Kyle

[ken galaska]

Hey Kyle! What Brand Name of fish food do you feed your fish
Ken Galaska