I have a 4 - 5" flowerhorn I'm growing out. He's currently in a 75g bare bottom tank. On an average day, he is fed three times with NLS .2mm pellets. During those feedings, we just feed until he stops. Does this sound like too much?
Amount of NLS pellets to feed a Flowerhorn
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Yea its just not necessary to feed that much, although there are many who power feed to grow fish fast! So if growing is your goal then feeding should be one of your main concerns. I would cut back on the amount your feeding and like mentioned by Water feed only what he will eat in a few seconds. Do continue however to feed several times a day and also try to vary up the diet. NLS is a very good food but you will get better growth and color out of your FH if you round out his diet a bit. Some fresh foods like tilapia or market shrimp from your local store will make nice treats and help provide a better overal nutrient base. If you are power feeding you also should make sure to work in some good fiber sources to make sure your fish does not get plugged up. veggie or spirilina pellets will work well... Nice thinking on the bare bottom it makes it easy to clean up after feeding your FH all day =)
Well, it's not really a FH only question, but general fish question. Only mentioned it was a FH to be more descriptive.
5 seconds?
Remember, a fish's stomach is roughly the size of ONE of its eyes. Feed accordingly. I would not suggest powerfeeding a FH. Their genetics are not as great as it is and powerfeeding will only contribute to health issues later on. Pretty sure no one that hasn't read things in the FH section can tell you this. Btw, Stick with NLS. Don't buy into the "specialty" FH foods.
Isn't the "Stomach the size of its eye" thing a myth? I mean, I had an old redtail catfish that could down some food more than half his size, and still want more. My cigar sharks and jade goby will eat multiple massivore pellets at a time if i let them. And 5 seconds? Some slower fish can take several minutes to realize there are food in the tank. IM LOOKING AT YOU SLOWPOKE! Though, I agree powerfeeding is a bad idea for flowerhorns... Of course, if I fed my fish until they were full, I'd lose a 5lbs bucket of NLS in a week.
Maybe I should have added "As a general rule". Fish eat like pigs because.. well its their instinct. Fish in the wild are never guaranteed a meal everyday, so they have to load up on all they can. This could be argued too, but I've yet to see something thats debunked it.
ugh, i wish my fire eels would get this memo... They refuse to eat anything but live or recently dead ghost shrimp... I hand feed these guys live ghost shrimp, and they happily swim up to my hand to take it... they will even stare at me and beg for food... But, if I try and give them anything other than ghost shrimp, they swim up to my hand, sniff it, then just look at me like, "WTF is this?" Sometimes they'll even go as far as bite me if I don't give them ghost shrimp! The buggers will gang up on me! They wont accept other types of shrimp either... they are so weird!