Frequency of feeding?

Pamela · Post by **Pamela** » 01 Jun 2003, 01:30

I have a 55G community tank, which includes 2 yo-yo loaches as bottom feeders. In terms of catfish, I have a pair of otos (about 1.5" each), an albino bristlenose (about 2"), a clown plec (1"), and a farowella (4"). I generally give the loaches some bottom feeder pellets daily (about 4 small shrimp pellets, or 1/2 algae wafer, etc.). I have live plants and the algae does seem to stay cleaned up by my cleaning crew other than the odd bit of green spot algae.

I of course want to be sure everyone is well fed but not overfed. I have been feeding them as well: blanched zuchinni 1x/week, blanched yam 1x/week, and blanched spinach leaves every other day. I feed at night and remove any leftovers the next morning. Is this too often? I know the bristlenose is getting the lion's share as I have to kick her/him off the food source in the a.m., but do see the farowella eating the spinach. I assume the otos and clown plec are eating something at night. The otos are reclusive and I am hoping the clown plec becomes less shy eventually.

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 01 Jun 2003, 01:53

i feed my plecs every night, and they seem to be fine.. I just vary my diet.. and feed less fattening food and meaty foods

polkadot · Post by **polkadot** » 01 Jun 2003, 02:29

I feed mine every alternate day.

Post by **Silurus** » 01 Jun 2003, 03:07

It's also a good idea to starve your fish for one or two days (something I do all the time), as they don't necessarily eat every day in their natural habitat.

Graeme · Post by **Graeme** » 01 Jun 2003, 03:17

Let their Digestive system work by not eating everyday. Or not too much! I'm sure they'll be fine.

Graeme.

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 01 Jun 2003, 09:18

but if u strave them for 2 days, are they going to fight because of lack of food? is this possible? I know that fishes dont always eat in the wild, but wat if u feed them seldomly but every day, would this be better??

Post by **Silurus** » 01 Jun 2003, 11:49

I don't see how fish will fight because there is no food.. Over territory, sure, but they'll do that regardless of whether there is food.

Plec0maniac · Post by **Plec0maniac** » 01 Jun 2003, 13:18

I see. thnx ;)

polkadot · Post by **polkadot** » 01 Jun 2003, 19:03

Mine do fight when there's food! Thats during feeding time when the bigger/more aggressive ones will bully the small ones for food. A good idea is to disperse the food all around so that everyone can find a share.