How Often Should You Feed Fish

When setting up a fish tank for the first time, one question looms large in every fish-keepers mind. How often should you feed your fish? Whether you are a keeping fish for the first time, or a seasoned fish owner wanting to learn more about fish care, our guide to how often to feed fish and how much will answer these questions and more.

How to Feed Fish

When looking at how often to feed your fish, one of the most important things to bear in mind is how you actually feed your fish. How much and what type of food you feed your fish is as important as the frequency as feeding your fish too much could lead to a buildup of decaying food in your tank which can lead to all sorts of problems in your fish tank.

A good rule of thumb is, if the food you have fed your fish hasn’t disappeared within two minutes, the chances are you are feeding your fish too much in one go. If your fish tank water turns cloudy, this could also be a sign that you are feeding your fish too much. Start with feeding your fish a small amount each time and check to see how quickly it is consumed. If it is eaten immediately you may need to feed your fish more. If there is still food in the tank after a few minutes, you may need to reduce the amount you are feeding your fish.

What to Feed Fish Tank Fish

Many fish owners have a variety of fish in their fish tanks. This may include a mixture of surface feeders, middle feeders and bottom feeders, all of which will need to have their food catered to their feeding style. Flakes, for example, are a brilliant food for surface feeders whilst sinking tablets and pellets sink to the bottom of your fish tank to feed bottom feeders. If your fish are carnivorous, you may need to purchase meat proteins to keep your fish happy.

How Often Should I Feed My Fish?

The frequency you should feed your fish depends on the type of fish they are. For example, larger, slower moving fish can often go for much longer without food than smaller, fast-moving fish. Carnivorous fish also have much larger gaps between food in the while as they have to depend on catching their food themselves. As a general rule though, feeding your fish once or twice a day following the instructions above should lead to happy and healthy fish.

Whilst fish kept in warmer temperatures do tend to have a higher metabolism, especially smaller fish, monitoring how much your fish eat at a time and how quickly they eat all of the food you have fed them should help guide your fish feeding frequency. Feeding your fish first thing in the morning and around dusk will also help to establish a routine for both you and your fish and allow set times for fish to be fed and monitored. When feeding fish in the morning, try to turn your fish tank light on around 30 minutes before feeding to prepare your fish and aim to leave your fish tank light on for around the same amount of time after you have fed your fish in the evening unless your fish are nocturnal.

What Should I Feed my Fish?

The type of food you feed your fish will depend entirely on the type of fish you are keeping. For example, this could include fish food such as tropical flake food or Plecostomus tablets or many more options all depending on the type of fish you will be feeding in your tank. If you live a busy lifestyle or are planning on going away from home, you may ever consider fish food holiday blocks or pyramid feeders.

The best option if you are unsure of what you should be feeding your fish is to ask a specialist such as one of our team members at CD Aquatics. They will be ale to advise you on what food is best to feed the fish in your tank as well as answer any other questions you may have about how often you should feed your fish or how to feed your fish.

If you have any questions about feeding your fish, why not get in touch with the team here at CD Aquatics online or by calling 01922 416284 and we will be happy to help.