I’m currently cycling an Eclipse 5 gallon corner fish tank (freshwater) housing a single juvenile Zebra Danio and an African Dwarf Frog. My equipment includes a bio-wheel filter, hood lamp, air stone, large gravel substrate and a 25-watt Top Fin heater that is currently set at low and produces a consistent water temp. of 77.5 degrees. (sorry if this was all useless info!)
Basically, I’m looking to diversify/enhance said Danio’s & ADF’s current diet of flake food and frozen blood worms. Preferably, I’d like to find a local pet store (Seattle area) that sells ready-to-feed live brine shrimp. Setting up a mini-hatchery in my tiny ass apartment seems like a hassle (let me know of any possible mis-conceptions I may have about this!), although if no better options present themselves, I’ll make it work.
Can anyone share their experience feeding live Brine Shrimp? How often/how much should I feed? How do I make sure the ADF gets his fair share of live Brine Shrimp?
Regards!
I’m sticking with a single Zebra Danio just until the tank has finished cycling.
Really, very few if any stores will sell live brine shrimp simply because of the cost of maintaining a large scale hatchery, and the fact that they couldn’t keep them alive with the poor quality care the employees would inevitably provide. In all honesty, you’d be better off just getting some frozen brine shrimp cubes, maybe even the Spirulina brine shrimp by Hikari. They’ll get most of the nutrients you’d find in live brine shrimp (a slight loss due to freezing), and would also get some vegetable material (Spirulina algae).
By the way, the tank stats you posted in the first paragraph may not have applied directly, but they do point out something– you might consider getting a few more Danios, as they are shooling species (and really, should have a 10+ gallon tank). It’s always better to give more information than necessary than not enough…
EDIT: Again, Ray flawlessly fails to copy and paste (which has been termed plagiarism) an entire answer from another website. http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/feedingfish/f/howmuchfood.htm
My Discus and other fish are on the frozen bloodworm and Spirulina brine shrimp diet. ;^]
Report Spam/Abuse
Overfeeding is the most common mistake fish owners make. Overfeeding clogs the filter, and breaks down into toxins that are harmful to fish. Hence the warnings on the packages.
In nature fish eat whenever they are hungry and food is available. If food sources are plentiful, they will eat several times a day. On the other hand, if food sources are scarce, they might go for days between meals. For this reason, fish are very opportunistic and will eat whenever they have a chance. That means that if you offer them food, they will usually gobble it up even if they aren’t starving. Keep that in mind the next time your fish ‘beg’ for food.
Fish quickly learn who brings the food to the tank and will jump at the chance to be fed, even if they are not in dire need of food.
How Often
So how often, and how much should fish be fed? Frequency will vary based on the type of fish. In general most fish do quite well on one feeding per day. However, some owners prefer to feed their fish twice a day. Regardless of one or two feedings, the key is to keep the feedings very small. The timing is not critical, with the exception of nocturnal feeders, such as certain catfish. If you have nocturnal fish in your tank, be sure to feed them just before turning the lights out at night.
There are some exceptions to the once per day feeding rule. Herbivores (vegetarians) need to eat frequently because they do not have large stomachs to hold a lot of food. In nature they would graze all day long on plants. They should be given several small feedings a day, or provided with live plants they can nibble. Newly hatched fry and young fish not fully grown, require more frequent feedings of special foods designed for fry.
How Much
As for how much food to feed, a good rule of thumb is to feed no more than the fish will consume completely in less than five minutes. When in doubt, underfeed! You can always give them another small feeding if necessary. However, if you overfeed the uneaten food will produce by-products which can be harmful to the fish. In the event you do overfeed, promptly remove the uneaten food using a siphon or net.
As a final note, keep in mind that not only the amount but the type of food is important.
Hope the information from the website help to solve your curiosity.
From relevance source.
Report Spam/Abuse