feeding

[freshwater]

I just purchased a male dwarf gourami and put him in my 30 gal tank.
I have various fish in this tank (cories, upside down cat, tetras,
even a tiger barb) that all get along just fine (even the tiger barb
believe it or not!), however I am curious about feeding.

What's the most efficient way to feed these variety of fish? Certain
type (flakes vs pellets,etc) or method in how you introduce it to
them?

More specifically, I'm concerned about my gourami. He's new to the
tank (3 days now) and he hasn't seem to eat anything yet, that I can
tell. Any suggestions? Might he be getting food and I just don't
know it?

If you need more info to answer, just let me know. I'm somewhat new
to this hobby (4 years).

thx in adv

[carlrs]

On Sep 9, 8:29 pm, freshwater > wrote:
> I just purchased a male dwarf gourami and put him in my 30 gal tank.
> I have various fish in this tank (cories, upside down cat, tetras,
> even a tiger barb) that all get along just fine (even the tiger barb
> believe it or not!), however I am curious about feeding.
>
> What's the most efficient way to feed these variety of fish? Certain
> type (flakes vs pellets,etc) or method in how you introduce it to
> them?
>
> More specifically, I'm concerned about my gourami. He's new to the
> tank (3 days now) and he hasn't seem to eat anything yet, that I can
> tell. Any suggestions? Might he be getting food and I just don't
> know it?
>
> If you need more info to answer, just let me know. I'm somewhat new
> to this hobby (4 years).
>
> thx in adv

How long has your tank been set up?

Do you know if it is fully cycled (meaning are your ammonia/nitrites
now reading 0)?
If you're your water parameters are off, this can especially affect a
new fish.
Please read this article: http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-do-fish-drink.html

Here are some basic water parameter suggestions:
*Ammonia/nitrites- 0
*Nitrates- under 40-50 ppm
*pH- stable (around 6.6-7.8 for your fish)
*GH- 100 + (source of calcium which is important for osmoregulation)
*KH- 50+

Are any fish bothering your Gourami (including at night). I would
doubt this with the fish you have with the exception of the Tiger Barb
(which do better in sets of three in my experience).

As to feeding, I would recommend feeding what the fish will eat in
about 3 minutes twice per day (watch this amount carefully if your
tank is not fully cycled).
As for foods, a good flake to consider is Spirulina 20 due to its high
content of Spirulina algae which is highly digestible and aids in
disease resistance. Others to consider are Omega, HBH, Ocean Nutrition
and others.
Supplement your dry food with Frozen or FD Brine Shrimp, Blood Worms
and some of the other prepared frozen fish foods available.
For more about nutrition: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Quality_Fish_Food.html

For further information about Freshwater basic, please read this
article: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Aquarium_Principles.html

Carl