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 7 of 15
A school of rummy-nose tetras needs one or two small feedings a day, each only as much fine food as the whole group clears within about two minutes, because their mouths are tiny and their stomachs smaller than their eager behaviour suggests. Offer a small pinch of crushed flake or micro-sized food spread across the…
A pea puffer needs a small carnivore meal once a day as an adult and twice a day while young, made of tiny snails, frozen worm-like foods, or small water fleas, offered a few pieces at a time until the round belly looks gently full rather than stretched. Stop while the puffer is still hunting eagerly, because this…
A nerite snail needs almost no added food on a typical day because it grazes algae and biofilm from glass, rock, and leaves almost constantly, so in a tank with visible algae growth it may need nothing extra at all. When the glass stays scraped clean and grazing marks thin out, offer a small piece of algae wafer or…
A hillstream loach needs very little prepared food on most days because it spends the day grazing algae and biofilm from rocks and glass, so a small piece of algae wafer or a slice of softened zucchini offered daily in a clean tank, or every other day in a mature algae-covered one, is usually enough. Judge the amount…
Feed a fork-tail rainbowfish two small meals a day, offering fine food the active school can finish in about two minutes, because these fast, slender rainbowfish burn energy quickly yet still suffer when excess food fouls their clean water. Use small flake or micro pellets as the base, add baby brine shrimp, daphnia,…
Feed a clown killifish one or two small meals a day of food that floats or drifts slowly at the surface, offering only what it takes within a couple of minutes, because this tiny top-dweller has an upturned mouth built for picking insects off the water's skin. Fine floating micro pellets, crushed flake that stays up,…
Feed a celestial pearl danio two very small meals a day, giving micro-sized food it can finish in a minute or two and making sure some of it sinks slowly into the lower water where this shy fish actually feeds. Crush flake to a powder-fine crumb or use micro pellets, and rotate in baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and other…
Feed a cardinal tetra a very small amount once or twice a day — a tiny pinch of fine flake or micro pellet that the school finishes within about a minute or two — because its mouth and stomach are both very small. Crush larger flakes between your fingers, vary the staple with fine frozen foods such as baby brine…
Feed a boesemani rainbowfish small amounts twice a day, offering only what the whole school can clear in about two minutes, because these active midwater fish are enthusiastic eaters that will overfeed long before they act full. Use a quality small flake or pellet as the base, vary it with frozen or live foods on some…
A white cloud mountain minnow eats small foods at the surface and in midwater: finely crushed flake, micro pellets, and tiny frozen or live items such as daphnia, baby brine shrimp, and microworms. This cool-water species has a modest appetite compared with tropical fish kept warm, so feed lightly in amounts the…
A tiger barb eats nearly everything: flake and small pellets as the staple, frozen daphnia, brine shrimp, and bloodworm for protein, and vegetable matter such as spirulina food or soft blanched greens to balance its digestion. This boisterous school feeds fast and competitively, so spread food along the tank and keep…
A serpae tetra eats flake and micro pellets plus a generous share of small meaty foods, frozen bloodworm, daphnia, and brine shrimp, taken boldly in midwater. It also accepts finely crumbled plant-based food, and a varied, protein-forward rotation keeps the deep red body colour strong. Feed the school properly and it…
A scissortail rasbora eats floating flake, small pellets, and insect foods such as frozen daphnia, brine shrimp, and finely chopped bloodworm, taken eagerly at the surface and in upper midwater. Named for the black-and-white tail that flicks open and shut as it swims, this is a larger, faster rasbora that needs food…
A rummy nose tetra eats tiny foods: finely crushed flake, micro pellets, and small frozen or live items such as baby brine shrimp, daphnia, and microworms, taken in midwater by the school. Its mouth is very small and the species is shy when new, so offer small meals more than large ones and feed in the calm area where…
A rosy barb eats a broad omnivore's diet: quality flake or small pellets as the base, frozen daphnia and brine shrimp for protein, and regular vegetable matter such as blanched soft greens or a spirulina-rich food. Males colour up to a deep rosy red when well fed and kept in a proper school, and this active species…
A peppered corydoras eats sinking pellets and wafers, frozen or live bloodworm and daphnia, and other soft foods it finds by sifting the bottom with its barbels. Hardier and larger than many corys, it still needs its own deliberate meals rather than leftovers, fed to the whole group at once so every fish eats. Its…
A panda corydoras eats sinking foods it can find on the bottom with its sensitive barbels: small sinking pellets and wafers, plus frozen daphnia and finely chopped bloodworm that reach the substrate. It cannot thrive on scraps missed by midwater fish, so give this small catfish its own measured meal, ideally when the…
A leopard danio eats almost any small food it can chase down: floating flake, micro pellets, and frozen or live daphnia, brine shrimp, and finely chopped bloodworm, taken at the surface and in midwater. This is one of the fastest, boldest feeders in a community tank, so the real skill is restraint, feeding amounts the…
A lemon tetra eats fine flake, micro pellets, and small frozen or live prey such as daphnia and baby brine shrimp, taken eagerly in midwater. Its mouth is small, so crush larger flake and keep portions modest, feeding the whole school at once so the shy fish at the back still gets a share. A varied rotation with…
A honey gourami eats small insect-based foods and fine staple foods taken mostly near the surface. Offer tiny floating pellets or finely crushed flake sized for its small mouth, and rotate in frozen or live daphnia, baby brine shrimp, and mosquito larvae for the hunting variety this species expects. Because honey…
A hillstream loach is a specialised grazer that eats aufwuchs — the biofilm of algae and microscopic life coating rocks and glass — so its real staple is a mature tank with plenty of smooth stone, wood and glass surfaces to work over. That grazing alone rarely suffices in a clean aquarium, so supplement with algae…
A gold barb is a hardy, enthusiastic omnivore that eats almost everything offered: quality flakes or small pellets as the staple, frozen bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp for protein, and blanched peas, zucchini or spinach for the plant matter it actively seeks. It feeds through the middle and lower water, grazing…
A glowlight tetra is a small, peaceful omnivore that eats fine insect and crustacean fare, so in the aquarium it thrives on micro pellets, flake crushed small, and tiny frozen or live foods like daphnia, cyclops-style plankton and baby brine shrimp. It feeds in the middle water in unhurried fashion and is easily…
A dwarf rainbowfish is a small, surface-oriented omnivore that eats tiny floating pellets, crushed flake and small frozen or live foods such as daphnia, baby brine shrimp and mosquito larvae, with some plant matter in the mix. Its mouth angles upward for surface picking, so food that sinks fast is largely wasted on…
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