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 5 of 15
A scarlet badis's main everyday diet should be live and frozen micro prey — daphnia, baby brine shrimp, grindal worms, cyclops, and finely chopped frozen foods — because it is a micropredator that hunts moving items among plants. Most badis ignore flakes and pellets, sometimes to the point of hunger, so dry food…
A rice fish's main everyday diet should be small floating staple food — fine flake or micro pellets sized for its little mouth — backed by regular tiny live or frozen foods and a little plant matter. Rice fish are surface-oriented omnivores that take insects from the waterline in rice paddies and ponds, and they…
A Norman's lampeye's main everyday diet should be small floating foods — fine crushed flake, micro pellets that stay at the surface, and tiny live or frozen items such as baby brine shrimp and daphnia. These little lampeyes feed upward with small mouths and spend their day in the top layer, so food that sinks quickly…
A licorice gourami's main everyday diet should be small live and frozen foods — baby brine shrimp, daphnia, grindal worms, and mosquito larvae — offered gently in its sheltered blackwater territory. These shy fish from peat swamps are micropredators that inspect food slowly and often refuse dry food, so movement and…
A least killifish's main everyday diet should mix finely crushed quality flake or micro pellets with small live or frozen foods and some plant matter to graze. This tiny livebearer feeds at the surface and among plants on insects, algae, and microscopic life, so powder-fine staple food plus baby brine shrimp, daphnia,…
A bumblebee goby's main everyday diet should be small frozen and live animal foods — thawed bloodworms cut if needed, daphnia, brine shrimp, mysis, and similar tiny invertebrates offered in small meals. These little brackish gobies are committed carnivores and bottom-oriented hunters, and many individuals refuse…
A white cloud mountain minnow needs a small pinch once or twice a day, with the school finishing it in about two minutes and nothing settling on the substrate. These are active, cool-water fish with quick metabolisms, but they are also small, so a school's total looks like a modest flake pinch plus occasional tiny…
A sparkling gourami needs a very small amount twice a day — roughly what it can clear in about two minutes, which for one fish is a tiny pinch of crushed micro food or a few small live items. Its mouth is small and upturned, so food must be fine enough to take at the surface and mid-water without effort. Feed the…
A scarlet badis needs only a few mouthfuls at each feeding, offered once or twice a day and eaten within a couple of minutes. Think in prey items rather than pinches: a handful of tiny daphnia, baby brine shrimp, or finely chopped frozen food placed near where the fish shelters, not scattered across the whole tank.…
A rice fish needs a small pinch of fine food once or twice a day, roughly what the group finishes in two to three minutes. Rice fish are hardy, active medaka that feed at the surface and midwater, and they do well on micro-pellets or crushed flake rotated with small frozen foods. They also graze algae and tiny…
A Norman's lampeye needs a small pinch of fine food once or twice a day — only what the school clears from the surface in about two minutes. These little lampeye killifish feed at the top with upturned mouths, taking micro-pellets, crushed flake, and small frozen foods like daphnia and baby brine shrimp. Because they…
A licorice gourami needs a small amount of tiny food each day, best split into two or three offerings placed right where the fish shelters. Most licorice gouramis eat live or frozen baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and similar fine prey, taking only a few items per sitting, and many ignore dry food completely. Because they…
A least killifish needs a very small daily ration: one or two tiny pinches of fine food it can clear in about two minutes. Least killifish are among the smallest livebearers, with females barely larger than males are small, and they graze constantly on microscopic life in a planted tank, so heavy feeding only fouls…
A bumblebee goby needs only a few mouthfuls of meaty food a day — roughly what its small belly can hold in one or two short sittings. Offer tiny frozen or live foods such as daphnia, baby brine shrimp, or chopped bloodworm, delivered down to the bottom where the goby perches, because most bumblebee gobies ignore flake…
A threadfin rainbowfish needs food ground almost to powder: its mouth and throat are remarkably narrow, so the everyday base should be a finely crushed flake or powdered fry-style food, backed by baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and other tiny live foods it can sip from the surface. Offer little and often in a calm corner,…
Feed a rummy-nose tetra a fine staple sized for a small mouth: a quality micro-pellet or finely crushed flake as the daily base, softened by variety from daphnia, baby brine shrimp, and small frozen foods offered a few times a week. Sprinkle food in a gentle scatter across the surface so shy fish lower in the school…
A pea puffer's everyday diet should be built on small meaty live and frozen foods, not flake: tiny snails, daphnia, baby brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, and finely offered bloodworms suit its hunting instincts and small jaws. Rotate two or three of those across the week rather than serving the same item daily, and…
A nerite snail's main everyday diet is the algae and biofilm it grazes from the tank's own surfaces, so the honest answer is that in a mature aquarium you feed it by not over-cleaning. Leave algae on the back glass and hardscape as its standing food supply, and judge daily whether that supply looks plentiful or thin.…
Feed a hillstream loach a diet built on grazing: the algae and biofilm growing on rocks and glass in its tank, backed by a daily sinking algae-based food or gel food spread on stones where it can rasp at it. This loach is a specialised grazer with a sucker mouth made for scraping surfaces in fast, cool, oxygen-rich…
Feed a fork-tail rainbowfish a fine micro-pellet or crushed small flake as its main everyday diet, in pieces tiny enough for its small mouth, offered where the school feeds in the upper water. Fork-tails are omnivores that snap up minute insects and zooplankton, so the staple should be protein-leaning with some plant…
Feed a discus a quality discus-specific pellet or granule as its main everyday diet, chosen for high digestibility and offered in several small meals the group eats eagerly. Discus graze and pick at plant matter, detritus, and small invertebrates in the wild, so the staple should be balanced rather than a single rich…
Feed a clown killifish a fine floating micro-pellet or small surface food as its main everyday diet, because this little killifish feeds almost entirely at the surface with an upturned mouth. Its wild diet is tiny insects that land on the water, so the staple should be protein-rich, small, and slow to sink away from…
Feed a celestial pearl danio a fine micro-pellet or powdered small-fish food as its main everyday diet, because this tiny fish has a mouth too small for standard pellets or intact flake. Celestial pearl danios pick at minute invertebrates among plants in the wild, so the staple should be protein-leaning, varied, and…
Feed a cardinal tetra a fine micro-pellet or finely crushed quality flake as its main everyday diet, in particles small enough for its tiny mouth to take whole. Cardinals are omnivorous blackwater fish that pick at minute insects and plant debris, so a varied staple with both animal and plant content suits them better…
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