Question on Feeding/Overfeeding

[David J. Braunegg]

We have a tank with 6 Platys and 5 Corys. We had been using flake food
exclusively, but have recently been adding in some sinking pellets to make
sure that the Corys are getting their share of food. With the flake food,
we had been following the guideline of using as much food as the fish would
eat in 3 minutes. The pellets, however, take a while to soften before the
fish can eat them. When the pellets finally do soften, the fish are not
swarming over them in a feeding frenzy as they do with the flakes when the
flakes are first put in the tank.

How do I tell how much of the pelletized food to use? And, what is a good
way to balance the quantity of flakes and pellets?

Thanks,
Dave

[RedForeman ©®]

> We have a tank with 6 Platys and 5 Corys. We had been using flake
> food exclusively, but have recently been adding in some sinking
> pellets to make sure that the Corys are getting their share of food.
> With the flake food, we had been following the guideline of using as
> much food as the fish would eat in 3 minutes. The pellets, however,
> take a while to soften before the fish can eat them. When the
> pellets finally do soften, the fish are not swarming over them in a
> feeding frenzy as they do with the flakes when the flakes are first
> put in the tank.
>
> How do I tell how much of the pelletized food to use? And, what is a
> good way to balance the quantity of flakes and pellets?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

I use this 'concept' as a rule... 1 cory can eat as much as 1 whole pellet,
measured 1/4" in length. Multiply that by how many corys you have, and
there ya go... it's easier to over feed, so walk away after you've dropped
in X pellets... just let them find them and the next day you can guage by
how much is left, if any....

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!!

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[Dave S]

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> We have a tank with 6 Platys and 5 Corys. We had been using flake food
> exclusively, but have recently been adding in some sinking pellets to make
> sure that the Corys are getting their share of food. With the flake food,
> we had been following the guideline of using as much food as the fish
would
> eat in 3 minutes. The pellets, however, take a while to soften before the
> fish can eat them. When the pellets finally do soften, the fish are not
> swarming over them in a feeding frenzy as they do with the flakes when the
> flakes are first put in the tank.
>
> How do I tell how much of the pelletized food to use? And, what is a good
> way to balance the quantity of flakes and pellets?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave
>
I use a simple method of gauging the amount of food - I look to see the size
of their bellies and before they get too blotted, I stop feeding. I would be
interested in hearing others views on this.

Dave

[NetMax]

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> We have a tank with 6 Platys and 5 Corys. We had been using flake food
> exclusively, but have recently been adding in some sinking pellets to
make
> sure that the Corys are getting their share of food. With the flake
food,
> we had been following the guideline of using as much food as the fish
would
> eat in 3 minutes. The pellets, however, take a while to soften before
the
> fish can eat them. When the pellets finally do soften, the fish are
not
> swarming over them in a feeding frenzy as they do with the flakes when
the
> flakes are first put in the tank.
>
> How do I tell how much of the pelletized food to use? And, what is a
good
> way to balance the quantity of flakes and pellets?
>
> Thanks,
> Dave

Feed as you would for the Platys and throw a couple of bottom feeder
pellets into the back of the tank daily. You can later gauge whether you
need to increase the amounts by their appearance. I generally feed a
pellet for every 2 or 3 Corys.

Keep everyone happy and with 5 Corys in there, you might get some little
Corys (then you will have to explain to the kids why the Platys eat those
babies too ;~)
NetMax

[David J. Braunegg]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> Feed as you would for the Platys and throw a couple of bottom feeder
> pellets into the back of the tank daily. You can later gauge whether you
> need to increase the amounts by their appearance. I generally feed a
> pellet for every 2 or 3 Corys.

You mean that they will start to look emaciated? Should they be a little
plump? The new Corys (3 of the 5) occasionally eat some algae off of the
plastic plants, but I've never seen the original two do that.

I assume that the Corys' usual lack of activity is due to the "personality"
of the species (Corydoras leucomelas, I believe) instead of being due to
hunger. They do get active during feeding time, but settle back down again.
They were relatively active in the LFS (even in mid-day), but maybe that has
to do with more available food for scavenging or due to a more stressful
environment (few decorations for hiding, lots of outside movement). What a
shame--I love to see them swim because of how they glide through the water.

> Keep everyone happy and with 5 Corys in there, you might get some little
> Corys (then you will have to explain to the kids why the Platys eat those
> babies too ;~)

Ahh, you saw my other post. I wish we had never gotten the dang
Platys--they breed like rabbits. Anyway, I'm not sure that I have two
genders of Cory. Everything I've read says that the females are wider, but
these all look about the same. One of the original two Corys will usually
hang out with the three new ones (maybe 75% of the time), but the other
original one spends more time alone (maybe 25% of the time with the new
ones). I don't necessarily know if that would be due to a gender
difference, though.

Thank you for the advice,
Dave

[NetMax]

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> . ..
> >
> > Feed as you would for the Platys and throw a couple of bottom feeder
> > pellets into the back of the tank daily. You can later gauge whether
you
> > need to increase the amounts by their appearance. I generally feed a
> > pellet for every 2 or 3 Corys.
>
> You mean that they will start to look emaciated? Should they be a
little
> plump? The new Corys (3 of the 5) occasionally eat some algae off of
the
> plastic plants, but I've never seen the original two do that.

At work, I feed my Corys to keep their belly protuding enough so that
their underside is lifted slightly off the substrate. When they are
hunting for food, they need to be angled tail up high. This is in an
environment where I need to keep them very healthy and growing, and they
are at eye level, so it's easy for me to feed a lot and stop just short
of over-feeding. For Corys at home, I follow the advice I gave you,
periodically checking their colours, activity level and the fullness of
their belly (not neccesarily so full that it lifts them off the substrate
;~).

> I assume that the Corys' usual lack of activity is due to the
"personality"
> of the species (Corydoras leucomelas, I believe) instead of being due
to
> hunger. They do get active during feeding time, but settle back down
again.
> They were relatively active in the LFS (even in mid-day), but maybe
that has
> to do with more available food for scavenging or due to a more
stressful
> environment (few decorations for hiding, lots of outside movement).
What a
> shame--I love to see them swim because of how they glide through the
water.

There are several parameters which affect Cory behavior. Oxygen levels
(more circulation directed to the bottom of the tank), water temperature
(research your species), weather (many catfish react to weather changes),
and water parameters (who hasn't seen their Corys doing the glass
tour-de-loop after a water change? ;~)

> > Keep everyone happy and with 5 Corys in there, you might get some
little
> > Corys (then you will have to explain to the kids why the Platys eat
those
> > babies too ;~)
>
> Ahh, you saw my other post. I wish we had never gotten the dang
> Platys--they breed like rabbits. Anyway, I'm not sure that I have two
> genders of Cory. Everything I've read says that the females are wider,
but
> these all look about the same. One of the original two Corys will
usually
> hang out with the three new ones (maybe 75% of the time), but the other
> original one spends more time alone (maybe 25% of the time with the new
> ones). I don't necessarily know if that would be due to a gender
> difference, though.

The logic of who they hang with is pretty much a mystery, until they
reach spawning maturity. Then they form triads or foursomes, and you
can't seperate them. Platys only drop about a dozen fry once a month.
Corys drop hundreds of eggs and when they hatch, it's like jiggling jello
has covering your substrate. They don't spawn too easily though.

To stop your Platy production, trade your females for males with the LFS,
a friend, the local aquarium society or someone on the newsgroup in your
area (arrange to meet at an LFS to do a fishbag exchange ;~). Having
just females will not work, as they will keep dropping fry for several
months (they truly are baby machines). Kids do become accustomed to the
fact that a certain amount of mortality exists in nature, and it's a good
thing, but it varies with their ages & maturity. I regularly replace
lost fish for parents.

NetMax

> Thank you for the advice,
> Dave
>
>