Hi guys

Im new to keeping fish, i have the following at the moment:

Cichlids
4 x yellow lab
2 x jewel
2 x convicts

Now i was told to feed them twice a day ( monring and night ) though now am told to feed them once a day, how many times should i be feeding them? why is it, that i get told different info from different people? isnt there a general rule to stick to?

I was and am feeding them fish flake food, though have just started on the frozen bloodworm and was told for the 9 fish i have, to only use half of a cube? once a day, is that right? also when i have melted the cube in a bit of hot water, do i just pour it in the tank? what consistance does it need to be? abit thick or watery?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks
steve

I feed mine once a day. Labs shouldn't get bloodworms as it can cause malawi bloat. They should have a stricly vegetarian diet. The other fish I would just give blood worms once a week as a treat, but since you have them mixed in the tank I would just go once a month.

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I agree with Susan. Once a day is fine. All my fish have been fine with a once a day feeding.

As for the blood worms, you can take a plastic disposable cup (that hasn't been used for anything else and hasn't been washed with soap,) and take a small scoop of tank water, then drop in the frozen blood worms. Swish them around a little and they should thaw in no time. Then, you can just dump the water in the cup (with the worms) into the tank.

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It is also a good idea to skip a day once a week. The problem isn't how many times you feed a day as much as it is the amount fed when you do feed. Overfeeding can cause long-term issues (slowly increasing nitrates over time), as well as short-term problems like persistent ammonia presence.

Wow I feed every other day is that ok

That depends on the fish. Larger predators can do fine with large, infrequent feedings, whereas foraging/omnivorous fish (most of what we keep in aquariums) tend to do better with a little bit every day.

Though I wholeheartedly agree with skipping a day once a week.

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I've heard that as with humans, feeding multiple times a day in smaller amounts helps keep even metabolisms, but that's just speculation on my part.

The reason there's no hard and fast rule is because there are many different fish, many different aquarium arrangements, and therefore MANY differed dietary needs, wants and desires. Some people will even grow their own worm and shrimp cultures to feed their fish live food.

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The rule of thumb is VARIETY

However, the frequency of feeding your fish is really up to you. You cannot overfeed your fish... they will eat until they are stuffed and then stop. You can feed them 5 times a day if you want, the only harm you are causing is harm to your tanks ecosystem.

You could starve your fish if you went a week or something without feeding (but depends on the fish, as some fish will eat decaying food left behind... or plants if you have any).

The fish food container tells you to feed 2-3 times a day, because they want you to buy more fish food! If you fed them once a day (like most everybody here does) then you are buying food less often than if you fed them 3 times a day (like what the food manufacturer wants you to)

I myself feed my fish every morning when the lights come on. Sometimes I feed them again later in the day when I am bored and want to watch them eat. I love watching them eat. I feed my fish a wide variety of flake food, dehydrated shrimp, shrimp pelets, algae wafers and for a treat every once and a while I will get them some Black Worms.

I too usually skip a day once a week to help them digest and break down whatever it is they ate before. This is usually the same day I do my substrate vacuuming and that usually brings alot of decaying food and hiding worms out into the open and the fish probably consume something on that day anyways.

A well fed tank also helps keep aggression to a minimum.

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