Beginniner Question - Feeding.

Chazwick

Chazwick

Large Fish
#1
Aug 4, 2005
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I currently lodge in a house with my Jack Russell
#1
Heya! I'm totally new to all of this. I don't have my fish yet as i have to wait for two weeks because of the "cycle" as i think some people have been calling it! But i was wondering how often do you have to feed fish, and when exactly do YOU do it? The morning? Night? I need help! I have some fish flakes at the ready for the arrivals that will be here in a fornight, so i'd like to be 100% prepared! I don't want to screw up - by over feeding them... or under-feeding them! Please help.

Ps: And how much flakes do you put in?
 

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FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#4
May 16, 2003
8,589
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Colorado
#4
Just leaving your tank up for two weeks will not "cycle" the tank. Unless you're following a lot of the tips in the threads we showed you about cycling and how to set up a new tank you'll go through the cycle when you get your fish.

At any rate. I would feed your fish very lightly. You want to feed them once a day or once every other day, as much as they will eat in about 5 minutes. Unless you have a good presence of bottom feeders you want to make sure not much falls to the bottom of the tank...as overfeeding can cause major problems...especially in a tank that is cycling. Depending on the fish you need to change up their foods...feed veggies or frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp to mix their diet up. If you are getting goldfish they have a completely different diet you should follow. This is where research on your fish comes in handy.
 

Chazwick

Chazwick

Large Fish
#5
Aug 4, 2005
935
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I currently lodge in a house with my Jack Russell
#5
I know "leaving my tank for two weeks" will not cycle it. I talked to some of the people at the LFS and they recommended this great conditioner i've left in the water... Quite pricey, but worth it.

Ps: I'm not sure exactly what fishes i'm getting, i might start with some nice types of goldfish, all i know for sure is i'm getting a Black Moor because i adore them!

{Edit: oh - and the flakes i have are made for goldfish! They're the only freshwater fish they seem to have in my local store... when i "travel" about going shopping, i will check to see if theres different varieties elsewhere!}
 

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FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#7
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
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Colorado
#7
There's no type of conditioner that you can put in your water and leave the tank running for two weeks and it'll cycle. Any of those conditioners will require some form of ammonia in the system to work, so they're usually made to put fish in at the same time. If you do a fishless cycle (where you add ammonia to the tank and wait for the cycle to go through instead of using the ammonia created by the fish) thats when you dont get fish immediately and wait 3-4 weeks before you get them.
 

T

twoluvcats

Large Fish
#8
Apr 12, 2004
893
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Western Colorado
www.theinsidelineonline.com
#8
Chazwick said:
I talked to some of the people at the LFS and they recommended this great conditioner
Click to expand...
just be aware that most of the 'bad fish advice' comes from people at the LFS. I no longer trust anything anyone at a LFS tells me.

Without fish in the tank to poop, a conditioner is not going to cycle your tank. Read up on the cycling process...it either needs to be done fishless (with ammonia) or with fish in (the fish poo providing the ammonia).

edit: or ya, what froggy said ;) we posted at the same time HEHE
 

G

GoldLenny

Medium Fish
#10
Jul 21, 2005
84
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0
New Orleans, LA, USA
lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com
#10
twoluvcats said:
just be aware that most of the 'bad fish advice' comes from people at the LFS. I no longer trust anything anyone at a LFS tells me.

Without fish in the tank to poop, a conditioner is not going to cycle your tank. Read up on the cycling process...it either needs to be done fishless (with ammonia) or with fish in (the fish poo providing the ammonia).

edit: or ya, what froggy said ;) we posted at the same time HEHE
Click to expand...
I agree on the bad advice that so many LFS's give out.

Shouldn't it be "pee" instead of "poop"? The ammonia is part of the urea in urine. I know that poop/detritus will create ammonia as it decays but the initial surge in ammonia comes from "pee"... and breathing/gill function with Goldfish.
 

FisheyLisa

FisheyLisa

Large Fish
#11
May 9, 2005
128
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West Haven, CT
#11
Gold fish have different requirements than tropical, so keep that in mind when getting your fish.

I would suggest what was stated before, every other day or one every day feeding. I was doing 2 and constantly had balance problems with bacteria blooms, algae blooms, etc. Fish can go a long time without food, so they will be ok. Then try more in the future, once you've gotten the hang of things. It isn't that feeding is a "skill" it is just that feeding less will lead to a lot less stress with other problems- for you and the fish!

one comment on cycling: I don't think you can put an exact time on it. Like my new tank started with stuff from my old set-up, in MAY and I finally got low nitrate readings last week, indicating to me, that it is fully cycled. Before that, I had many battles with Blooms, just when I thought the water was going to be good a clear, it went nasty. I dont' think it was every fully cycled, or I just did bad things to make it really unbalanced. So you really need to play it by ear with the time it will take to cycle.

good luck! this is a great learning place, you've come to the right site.

Lisa
 

D

discus4everGrl

Superstar Fish
#13
May 24, 2005
1,055
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Chesapeake, Va
#13
The only conditioner you should be putting in your tank is the kind that gets rid of chlorine, chloramine and metals. Other than that I don't recommend putting anything else in a cycling tank. You will also need to get a test kit or you will have no way to know if your tank is cycling or not, unless you throw fish in and they die-

*edit* Like others have said , your tank will not cycle without an ammonia source in it.
 

seastaar88

seastaar88

Superstar Fish
#15
Feb 1, 2004
1,705
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middletown, CT
#15
if the LFS you are going to only carries goldfish, i would suggest going to another LFS to look at tropicals. goldfish are rediculously messy and require large tanks (the first goldfish needs 20g and each additional goldfish needs another 10g on top of that.) i thihnk that if you start with goldfish, you will get annoyed with having to siphon their poop up like every few days. i used to have some goldies and got fed up with them becaues i felt like i was always cleaning up after them. just not fun. ;)

tropicals are definitly not as messy and there are tons of really neat fish. plus a lot of them are great for beginners such as danios and tetras. look through the fish profiles on teh site to get an idea of what you may be interested in keeping. :)

as far as feeding, it's trial and error at first. you want to be sure to keep their bellys flat; not chubby, not skinny. i agree with the advice to keep their diet mixed up. they'll be happier that way. i personally feed my fish three times per week and they get different things each day. for example, on mondays i usually feed freezedried plankton and nori, wednesday i'll feed frozen mosquito larvae, then friday i try to give live food if i have any on hand or other goodies like frozen mysis. watch your fish while you feed. most food containers suggest feeding as much food as they'll eat in 5 minutes. this will help you from over feeding.

as far as cycling, has anyone mentioned biospira? i know a bunch of people on MFT has cycled their tank with it (i prefer the good ol' fishless cycle, myself..).
 

Chazwick

Chazwick

Large Fish
#16
Aug 4, 2005
935
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I currently lodge in a house with my Jack Russell
#16
Thanks for all the great advice!! Though i have some good news, My dad said just outside where i live, quite a drive away about 20mins, theres a really big fish shop, and he'd drive me down in a few weeks. So - i wont be getting a goldfish! (perhaps when i get a bigger tank.. which wont be for a few years i'd say, because i love mine!) instead i'm getting some neon tetras or something.. a few school fish! I've read about about them - plus my dad has experiance with them (he used to have a few) so he said he'd answer any questions, etc, this is much easier for me, i've heard their friendly and great for beginniners too. I know about heating and stuff and i'm getting all that equipment at my LFS tomorrow. I also need to get one of those kits people keep talking about... that tells you about the water.. what are they called?
Anyway! I know people are worried about this conditioner thing, but it is for getting rid of chlorine, detoxifying metals, etc, i can't be bothered to read it all!!! lol. So that's good... I've also been told by books and stuff to add a few fish flakes to the tank while the cycle is going on (i have to clean them out before putting fish in, obviously) I'm not sure why i have to do the flake thing, but it's been recommended in leading books, etc... anyway, so there it is!
 

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seastaar88

seastaar88

Superstar Fish
#17
Feb 1, 2004
1,705
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middletown, CT
#17
they're called testing kits. i think that that an Aquarium Pharmecuedicals master test kit (freshwater) will be the best choice for you. it's the easiest testing kit. there's no mixing of chemicals required.. just drop drops of tester in a vial of tank water and shake and it will show a color that you compare to a card of a range of colors. (my brain's not working with me this afternoon so i apologize for my inarticulateness!!! *crazysmil )

the flake thing is basically doing a "fishless cycle." as the flakes deteriorate, they'll release ammonia which will help feed the good bacteria. this way takes longer than cycling the tank wtih fish (having 1-2 hardy fish to supply the ammonia from their pee!) but i prefer this way just because some LFS won't accept fish back to their shop and you're basically "stuck" with fish you may not want to have in your final setup.
 

Chazwick

Chazwick

Large Fish
#18
Aug 4, 2005
935
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I currently lodge in a house with my Jack Russell
#18
So... I'm doing the right thing with the flakes then? Should i carry on crumbling up more daily and putting them in?

PS: I didn't want to use fish to do the cycle, because i found out doing this gives them a shorter life or something (i mean it can't be good for them) and i'd feel terrible.

PSS: Yes i got one of those kits... well, one for the PH and it was a little over it was 7.5 and for the tetras you need around a 6.5 so... what should i do? lol
 

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Balloon Fish

Balloon Fish

Elite Fish
#19
Jul 6, 2004
3,025
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San Antonio, Texas
balloonfishy.tripod.com
#19
Switch to using pure ammonia which is a lot faster cause you don't have to wait for the flakes to deteriorate but the flakes works the same. And for the pH don't worry about it, there really isn't a need for pH unless your adding driftwood, breeding, adding co2, or trying to find the reason why you fish died. pH isn't really bad for fish unless it is constantly moving, then your fish could possibly die of a pH shock but i wouldn't worry about that until you get fish.
 

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