Why the surface scramble leaves him hungry
Surface feeding is a race, and it is a race your old fish is built to lose now. His eyesight has dulled, so he finds floating food a moment later than he used to; his swim up costs more, because stiff fins and an ageing swim bladder make rising slow work; and by the time he arrives, quicker tank mates have taken the food or pushed it down in their splashing. Owners often miss the result because the tank looks well fed while one fish quietly goes thin. The fix is not more food poured on top — it is changing where his food goes and how it gets there.
Deliver the food to his corner, not the tank
Pick the sheltered spot where he rests — behind a plant, beside a clay pot, along one quiet wall of the tank — and make it his feeding station. Lower a pipette or a clean turkey baster loaded with his food and release it slowly right in front of his nose, so the scent and movement arrive where his fading eyes can catch them. Feed at the same spot and the same time each day: fish learn places fast, and an old fish who is waiting in the right corner needs no chasing, no herding and no competition to eat well.
Soften it and slow it down
Dry food that floats is the hardest kind for him, so change its form. Soak pellets until they soften and sink slowly rather than bobbing out of reach; break larger pieces down to a size his mouth manages without repeated attempts; and favour foods that drift down in front of him over foods that scatter across the surface film. Smaller meals offered more often suit an ageing digestion better than one large feed, and food released a few pieces at a time lets you stop the moment he loses interest — uneaten food left around a resting fish fouls his corner quickly.
Distract the competition first
His tank mates are not villains, just faster. Feed them first, at the opposite end of the tank, with the floating food they enjoy — then, while they are occupied in their own scramble, deliver your old fish's sinking meal to his corner in peace. This two-end routine takes an extra minute and removes the entire contest from his day. If one tank mate has learned to follow him and steal from his corner, feed that fish last and most generously at its own end, so staying away pays better than raiding.
Watch him eat, not the tank
Until you have seen food reach his mouth several days running, treat every feed as an observation, not a task to finish. Note roughly how much he takes; a slow decline in interest across a week is worth acting on, while one skipped meal in a resting old fish usually is not. Noting his feeding method and daily intake in KinsLe's Care Teams keeps the routine — his corner, his baster, his amounts — consistent when someone else feeds him, and builds the intake record that makes a real change easy to spot.