biOrb Aquarium | How much to feed fish | How often?

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Video Description...
This video is the first in a series of three videos about food and feeding.
Overfeeding fish is probably the most common mistake that fish owners make!
It is a frequent problem as fish are opportunistic in nature. They will always take food when it is available to them and will always act as though they are hungry. It is important not to rationalise the behaviour of fish to that of other pets, such as cats and dogs!

Overfeeding has a broad range of consequences for your fish and for your aquarium. It can lead to:
Excessive fish waste
Uneaten food falling to the bottom of the aquarium
Water pollutants (especially nitrates) rising too high and too quickly
Reduced water quality and un-clear aquarium water
Excessive green/brown algae growth within the tank and on decor.
The biOrb sponge filter becoming too clogged-up due to food waste
Fish having health problems including digestive and swim bladder problems.

How much?
The on-line advice is highly variable and often conflicting. Most guidance is time-based and relates to how much food can be consumed by fish over a set period of time. However, the guidance is often difficult to apply to most aquarium scenarios.

How often?
Fish have fairly slow digestive systems. It normally takes between 16 to 20 hours for a fish to fully digest its food in warm water conditions. It can be even slower in non-heated tanks! My advice is to feed once per day (unless feeding very young fish/fry)

Channel advice on "How much... how often?"
The video offers advice on a slightly different approach to judging how much food should be fed to ensure a suitable quantity and to avoid overfeeding. Imagine the overall size of each fish's eye balls as an indicator of a good starting point for establishing a feeding quantity.

Then, feed your fish lightly and observe their bellies over a 24 hour period, by checking the belly shape shortly after feeding feeding (very slightly rounded) and just before you feed again (a flatter belly shape). Note that "Belly watching" doesn't work with all aquarium fish species but for a large number of fish it will (such as guppies, Endler's, rasboras, tetras, danios).

NOTE: Female fish will tend to have rounder bodies compared to males.

Food quality:
It is important to feed good quality food and to vary the products given. I rotate between the different food products I use and only buy small quantities. Using different food, produced by different manufacturers, ensures the varied benefits of the different food manufacturer's food.

Take home messages:
A hungry fish is a healthy fish (less is more!)
Feed only one small pinch of food per day.
Keep an eye on the amount of waste that accumulates in your tank. This is normally a good indicator of feeding too much.
Avoid continually feeding the same food products day in, day out! Vary the feed types given.

The following commercial foods are what I feed my fish to help vary the diet given each day:
TetraMin (flakes): https://amzn.to/3vDW4tz
Hikari Micro Pellets (semi-floating): https://amzn.to/3EM1Ygh
Fluval Bug Bites: https://amzn.to/3LhUB2W
Vitalis Tropical Flakes or XS pellets: https://amzn.to/3vJr9MD


Thanks for watching!
Mark
Step-by-Step
#stepbystepbiorb
biOrb Aquariums | How much food? | How often?

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