3,895 answers about fish & aquatics
A healthy aquarium is a balanced one — water chemistry, filtration, stocking and feeding all work together, and most fish problems start with the water. This page gathers the fish and aquatics library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic for freshwater and saltwater keepers alike. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
351 answers in Feeding & Nutrition — page 1 of 15
Safe occasional treats for a celestial pearl danio are tiny live or frozen foods it can actually fit in its mouth: baby brine shrimp, microworms, finely chopped frozen daphnia or baby brine shrimp, and small grindal worms, all offered in amounts the group clears in minutes. Thaw frozen portions in tank water and rinse…
No, food made for other kinds of pets is not a safe regular feed for a celestial pearl danio, because foods for dogs, cats, birds or reptiles are built for land animals, come in pieces far too large, and foul a small tank as they swell and break apart. Even foods for other fish need care: large pellets and coarse…
You are likely overfeeding a celestial pearl danio if food remains uneaten after a few minutes, flakes or crumbs settle on the substrate, the glass and filter need cleaning far more often, or the fish develop persistently swollen bellies while the water tests show rising waste. A single generous meal is a small event,…
An adult celestial pearl danio usually does well on one or two small meals a day, with two light feeds often suiting an active planted tank better than one larger feed because the fish has a small stomach and picks at food slowly. Each meal should be gone within a couple of minutes and sized to the group, not the…
You are likely feeding a pearl gourami too much if food is still drifting around after a few minutes, the belly looks rounded even between meals, and waste or cloudy water builds up faster than usual. Uneaten flakes and pellets feed algae and foul the water long before the fish looks obviously fat. Feed only what this…
An adult pearl gourami usually does well on one or two small meals a day, with two modest offerings suiting most home tanks better than one large one. Each meal should be only what the fish can finish in about two minutes at the surface and mid-water, because this slow, graceful feeder loses out when food sinks past…
You are feeding a kuhli loach too much if sinking food still sits on the sand an hour after the evening feed, because a hungry loach group clears a right-sized meal quickly. Other giveaways are water that clouds or tests high for ammonia between changes, a sudden bloom of tiny pest snails grazing the excess, and…
An adult kuhli loach usually needs just one proper meal a day, offered in the evening when this naturally nocturnal fish becomes active and starts foraging. Make that meal small sinking foods it can finish within a short while, spread across the substrate so every loach in the group finds some. A tiny second offering…
You are feeding a harlequin rasbora too much if food still floats or sinks uneaten after about two minutes, bellies stay round between meals, and the water clouds or tests high for ammonia and nitrate. Check the gravel and plant bases for trapped crumbs and watch for stringy waste and a film on the surface. Cut…
Never share bread, crackers, chips, cheese, processed meat, sweets, or seasoned cooked food with a white cloud mountain minnow, because this small cool-water schooler needs tiny insect-sized foods and rich scraps decay in the planted, flowing tank it prefers. Even plain starchy foods swell and lodge where the school…
Never share chips, crackers, bread, cheese, processed meat, sweets, or spicy and oily leftovers with a tiger barb, even though this bold schooler will snatch almost anything dropped in. Its enthusiasm is the danger: the school overeats rich scraps, and what is missed decays fast in a busy community tank. KinsLe can…
Never share bread, crackers, chips, cheese, lunch meat, sweets, or seasoned leftovers with a sparkling gourami, because this tiny labyrinth fish needs small insect-like foods and its small planted tank cannot absorb fatty, salty scraps. Even plain cooked staples sink and rot among the plants it uses for shelter and…
Never share bread, crackers, chips, cheese, processed meat, sweets, or any seasoned cooked food with a scarlet badis, because this tiny, shy hunter eats small live prey and will usually ignore human food while it decays around its hiding places. Fatty and salty scraps are especially unsuitable in the small planted…
Never share bread, crackers, chips, processed meat, cheese, sweets, or seasoned cooked food with a clown killifish, because its tiny mouth and surface-feeding habits leave most human food uneaten to rot, and salt, fat, and spice do it no good. Human portions are also far too large for this miniature fish. KinsLe can…
Never share seasoned, salted, or processed human foods with a cherry shrimp, including chips, bread, lunch meat, cheese, sweets, or vegetables cooked with oil, garlic, onion, or sauces. Also keep out anything treated with pesticide spray and rich leftovers that rot quickly in a small tank. KinsLe can help a household…
A white cloud mountain minnow suits baby brine shrimp, daphnia, microworms, and finely crushed quality flake or small floating pellets, all sized for its small mouth. Offer treats two or three times a week alongside the staple diet, feeding the school only what it clears in a couple of minutes in its cooler water.…
A tiger barb suits frozen or live bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp, plus a small amount of blanched peas or spirulina-based food for variety, offered to the whole school at once. Give treats two or three times a week in place of part of the normal feeding, not on top of it, and feed only what the school finishes…
A clown killifish suits tiny live or frozen foods that fit its small upturned mouth, such as baby brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, daphnia, and finely crushed quality flake as an occasional extra. Offer a treat portion once a day at most, or a richer live-food treat a few times a week, feeding only what this surface…
Cherry shrimp do well with tiny pieces of blanched zucchini, spinach, or cucumber, a fragment of an algae wafer, or a small shrimp-specific pellet offered as an occasional extra beyond biofilm and detritus. Offer a treat only two or three times a week, in an amount the colony clears within a few hours, and remove…
Frozen baby brine shrimp and daphnia are the best-sized treats for a guppy, small enough for his tiny mouth and rich enough to bring out strong colour and breeding condition. Frozen bloodworms are safe only chopped fine, since whole strands are too large for most guppies to handle. Live baby brine shrimp and…
Frozen daphnia is the standout treat for a goldfish, because it is gentle on his digestion, and frozen brine shrimp makes a good second choice. Bloodworms are safe but rich, so keep them rare and few. Live daphnia from a clean culture is suitable too, though a goldfish will also happily take blanched peas and leafy…
Frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp are the classic safe treats for a corydoras group, thawed and delivered straight to the substrate where the fish feed. Live blackworms or grindal worms from a clean culture suit them too, since corys naturally sift small worms from riverbeds. Serve treats in the evening when the…
Frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia are the safest occasional treats for a betta, thawed in a little tank water and fed a few pieces at a time. Live daphnia or brine shrimp from a trusted source add hunting enrichment, but avoid wild-caught insects and feeder creatures that can carry parasites into a…
A white cloud mountain minnow school suits a simple before-and-after work pattern: one small feed of fine food in the morning and another in the evening. These are cool-water, mid-water fish with small mouths, so crumble food finely and give only what the school finishes in a couple of minutes. They are hardier about…
Can't find your question? Ask it here. We answer reader questions in KinsLe Answers — and we'll email you when yours is published.
KinsLe is launching soon — and the waitlist hears the date first. Join for launch updates and first access when the app opens.
We email you about the launch. Unsubscribe anytime.