heads up on the flake food

[eeoollhhcc]

Just thought i'd give the heads up to everyone who feeds there fish flake food. Something many people dont know is that you should not just be sprinkling it on the surface of the water. If the fish eat food from the surface they will take in air and that can result in death.
instead just hold the pinch of flakes under the water for a moment and it will sink. (Actually i just drop it in above the filter that way the water pushes it down on its own.wutever works for u.)
Hope i can help.

 

[colesea]

Ah, just to let you know, some fish are surface eaters and would prefer their food float over sinking. Danios and African Butterfly Fish are two that come to mind, as well as many of your livebearers, (mollies, guppies, platys, swordtails etc).

Look at the shape of the mouth on your fish to see at which level they would prefer their food. Surface feeders have an overshot bottom jaw (mollies show this best) as well as being "flat on top". Bottom feeders will have their mouth directed downward as well as being "flat on the bottom".

Midwater feeders (ex: Tetra, barbs etc). Have their mouths on the end of their bodies and are usually balanced top and bottom.

But that doesn't mean a fish can't learn to eat from whatever level of the tank where food is available. Frequently my tetras would chew on the bottom-feeder waffers just as the cories would sometimes come up and nibble on the floating flake. It all depends upon your feeding routien and regime.

Although it is always a good idea to soak certain foods before you give them to your fish, especially if you feed large pellet diets (goldfish, cichlids etc).
~~Colesea

 

[eeoollhhcc]

thanx for the input.=)

 

[Purple]

I've also found that different brands of flake float for ever - while some start to sink fairly quickly. If your tank filter system skims from the surface, or your fish only feed when they start to sink, then this can be an issue.

Floaters - TetraMin

Sinkers - Aquarian & Wardleys

 

[R0UNDEYEZ]

Purple, I use Tetramin and it sinks really fast. I also had a sample package of the same exact type and it floated for a pretty long time. Its really pretty weird.I did notice that my sample package had alot more of the red and orangish flakes while the fullsize tends to have more of the green . maybe that has something to do with it ?