Not how often to feed, but how much?

[discusdave]

Hi everyone,

I have a good handle on what to feed and how often, but I have always wondered how much?

I feed my grow out discus frozen bloodworms 2 times a day, flake or pellet once a day, and my own beefheart mix once a day. I have good growth.

But I always struggle with the amount. I tend to over feed, I think. My water stays good because I turn off my filtration when I feed and remove uneaten food before it goes back on, but I am looking for a rule of thumb with all foods. My tanks are also all on an automatic water changing system, so they get a 200-300% a week change.

For example, should I feed enough each time that the discus get to eat for five minutes until the food is gone, or three minutes so the food is gone? Or what?

I want to feed enough to get good growth, but not waste food.

Thanks for any help.

Regards,
Dave

[kaceyo]

You can narrow it down by feeding smaller amounts one after the other as long as they finish it all. When they start turning their nose up at it you've gone a step beyond what you should feed. Keep adding it up as you go so you have a good idea how much they'll eat in one sitting. I tend to over feed too and I don't like the "all they can eat in 5 min" rule. I'll let them graze for 10 minutes just so long as nothing is left when they stop eating. The 5 min rule is a good way to avoid problems though, I just like to make sure they are full, lol.

Kacey

[Rod]

I pretty much do what kacey does, especially younger fish will just keep on eating until they look like they will burst.

[Jason]

same here, the little ones I feed all they can eat as often as I can, if I over-feed and the water is going south I do an extra w/c that day.

[american breeder]

Hi everyone,

I have a good handle on what to feed and how often, but I have always wondered how much?

I feed my grow out discus frozen bloodworms 2 times a day, flake or pellet once a day, and my own beefheart mix once a day. I have good growth.

But I always struggle with the amount. I tend to over feed, I think. My water stays good because I turn off my filtration when I feed and remove uneaten food before it goes back on, but I am looking for a rule of thumb with all foods. My tanks are also all on an automatic water changing system, so they get a 200-300% a week change.

For example, should I feed enough each time that the discus get to eat for five minutes until the food is gone, or three minutes so the food is gone? Or what?

I want to feed enough to get good growth, but not waste food.

Thanks for any help.

Regards,
Dave
feed untill all the fish in the tank have medium swollen bellies

thats the key note
that u can see a substantial bulge

good luck
AB