How often and how much to feed 5 1inch RBP?

[LBathory]

This is day #3 at home with the P's. I've been doing 1 frozen bloodworm cube in the morning and one in the night. They finish the morning cube so far but only about half the night time cube. Are the excess bloodworms going to raise the ammonia in my tank? I plan on doing a 30% water change a week. Magnum 350 filter should be fine, right?

The RBP's are actually very active when i turn the light on. They all come out of their hiding spot one by one and are already eagerly looking for the food. I've been watching them alot at night time and they are all swimming around and no one seems to be getting nipped at which i think is good.

It sounds like they are doing fine and will start eating more after they get more accustom to their new home. It's true that uneaten meaty foods will raise ammonia levels and all food that is uneaten after 3 hours should be removed. a 30% water change every week is good as long as your tank is cycled. it's cool that they come out when you turn on the lights. only recently have mine started associating me with getting fed, and come eagerly to the front.

 

[Pankakes]

Do you think my 5 1 inchers will eat a goldfish if I put one in there or is that spoiling them already?

 

[LBathory]

they might be a little small still to eat a goldfish. try baby guppies. But feeders are always a gamble. They can be sick or carry parasites that may harm your fish. Also, there are cases where fish have been raised on feeders and then do not eat other more nutricious foods, because that have been "spoiled". If you do decide to try feeders, put them in a quarentine tank first and keep them only as a sometimes food.

 

[Pankakes]

Do you think feeding my 5 1inch P's some flake food in the morning (which they actually eat) and a bloodworm cube at night is sufficient food for the day?

 

[LBathory]

no i don't i think they should get double that feeding, that is if they eat it all.

 

[Pankakes]

The P's are accepting the flakes quite nicely. However, when I feed them they get very aggressive toward each other and start to nip. Any reasons why?

 

[frasertheking]

they just get aggressive as the are still setting the pecking order in the tank. keep an eye on them as at this small size the growth rate can be varied and the smallest one will be picked on. stay away from feeders, they are more trouble than there worth.

 

[LBathory]

agreed. btw, what size tank are they in currently?

 

[Pankakes]

The 5 baby P's are currently in a 55 gallon. I'm going to the grocery store today and was wondering what kind of shrimp to buy and also if i have to peel the shell off first before putting it into the tank? Let me know!

 

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

just get RAW fresh or frozen shrimp, i would take the shells off when your fish are that size, they probably won't eat them and i'm sure you don't wanna be fishing them outta there after they eat all the time. when my fish are that small, i like to break up each shrimp into smaller pieces and spread them out across the tank so that everybody in the tank gets to eat.