I would say once every 2 month to keep his stomach bacteria in his organs stable because if you don't feed it live fish once in awhile, it will weaken the bacteria and won't very much fight off germs when it's sick
people dont suggest feeding with the feeders due to high risk of feeding it with sick feeders. but if you sure the feeders r healthy and desease free i would say feed it as often as u wish for.
my aro feed on foodstick now for while but when he was the size of urs i feed them comets/neon/minnow and whatever on sale LOL
i dont think the DE got because u feed them with feeders, my aro recently got DE on his right eye long after i feed them the the hikari floating pellets. i stopped feeding lives..getting expensive and more work.
i do have buttom dweller species tho..could it be?
I would never give my fish feeders, not only do they carry tons of diseases, but they have little nutritional value. Its like eating french fries all the time, theyre delicious but have poor nutritional value.