Feeding Aquarium Fish Guidance
Feeding your aquarium fish is one of the great pleasures of owning an aquarium. Interacting with the fish and watching them come to the surface in full view of you.
There are many different types of aquarium fish food on the market and I will quickly explain the pro’s and con’s of each type. But one item stays constant no matter what type of food you are feeding, if the all the food as not been eaten in 5 minutes you are overfeeding!
Flake Fish Food
Most popular and widely used food type, manufactured by forcing the ingredients through two rollers to create a thin flake. Great for surface feeders like guppies, mollies and any fish with the mouth on the upper part of the head, an easy way to identify a surface feeder. Reputable food manufacturers add all the nutrients and vitamins aquarium fish require, often called a ‘staple diet’.
- Pro’s
Easy to source and a complete diet. Allows you to see your fish on the surface. - Con’s
Food can be pulled into a aquarium filter easily
Not suitable for goldfish or bottom feeders
Pellet Food
Pellet foods are a great way to feed a mixture of species as other fish can take the pellet ‘on the drop’ and bottom feeders can hoover any that hit the aquarium floor.
- Pro’s
Often better value for money and come in different size pellets. Avoids food getting sucked into filters. - Con’s
Not suitable for surface feeders and can easily overfeed.
Tablets Food
Feeding aquarium fish
Compressed flake or pellets into small tablets. Adhesive tablets are great for affixing to the front of the aquarium glass to get close and personal with your fish.
- Pro’s
Slow release so helps stop overfeeding. Ideal for bottom feeders like corydoras. - Con’s
Not suitable for surface feeders
Live Food
Feeding your aquarium fish
Probably the best type of food to feed, as if the fish were in the wild. Bloodworms and daphnia are the most common to be purchased.
- Pro’s
Full of natural food and fun to feed and a great food supplement. Frozen live food is a good alternative and easy to store - Con’s
Always wash the live food and do not add the water to avoid adding disease. As short shelf life and can be hard to source. Experienced fish keepers will use all of the above food types to give an all round balanced and interesting diet to the aquarium inhabitants.
