Another question on feeding

"Elaine T" wrote in message
...
Derek Benson wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:32:59 GMT, Elaine T
wrote:


Derek Benson wrote:


They are Convict cichlids and White convicts as was mentioned. Feed
them as much as they can eat in about 2 minutes, twice a day or three
times a day. If there comes a day when you are there only once, so you
can feed them only once, do not increase the food amount so they're
eating for six minutes; still give them about 2 minute's worth of
food. I've owned a lot of Convict cichlids as I've bred them a number
of times.

-Derek

Wow - that sounds like a lot of food! I've never kept convicts, though.


Peter Hunnam writes in his book The Living Aquarium that fish should
be fed once or twice daily, the feeding period to last between 2 and 5
minutes with no food left uneaten in the tank at the end.

-Derek

Interesting. Thanks! I've been wondering if I'm a bit stingy with the
food. I'm going to time my feedings and see where I fall. I know for
sure that none of my fish get to eat for 5 minutes! Can you imagine how
much koi would eat in that time? ;-)

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I also think I might be a little stingy with the food - I feed twice a day
but it is usually gone within 30 secs - 1 minute maximum. However all the
fish look healthy and happy - with some very sad exceptions where the fish
have been algae eaters and would not accept any additional food - 2 ottos
and very sadly one Pl*c last night from my son's 30 gall :-( - lights out
policy to reduce heat has massacared the algae....I actually find it hard to
understand how a fish will just not eat rather than accepting alternatives
knowing that it will result in death - I would have thought that nature
would have given them a more tuned survival mechanism - anything better than
nothing....

Another thought that comes to mind is some mammals and especially humans
will over eat - so why assume that fish won't do the same. Obesity is a
large problem in Western Society and I'm not convinced that it is all down
to the wrong food - quantity perhaps rather than quality. The more you feed
someone/something then the larger the stomach capacity....

Gill