RTC feeding to much or not enough

[1bigredtail]

I have 3 RTC and have a question on feeding them. They are all 6-7 inches long. I am feeding Beef heart, sinking carnivore pellets and pieces of krill.

I am feeding them once aprox every 24 hours. This seems to give their bellies time to return to almost normal size. After they eat, it looks like the swallowed a super ball, really fat bellies. I read somewhere that you should allow stomachs to return to normal size before feeding again. Water parameters perfect, no issues there, just concerened about over feeding?

Are the rest of you feeding more often, while bellies are still obviously full or somewht full? I just don't want to over do it, but still want to pack on the pounds as quickly as possible. Thanks for any advice and help.

 

[brich999]

Feed less each time but feed more often. Hope ya got a nice pond for them

 

[duggan]

^ I agree feed less but more often. Another thing to keep in mind that is is not good for them to have extremely stuffed bellies. I am not sure if you have tried but my RTC will eat out of my hand, which is also a fun way to feed and interact with your fish while making sure that each cat gets an equal amount of food. Also can help with not overfeeding but dont worry they are gentle and dont bite.

 

[jooster78]

Ya I also agree. U should by now know how much food u feed them each time. Split the food up into 2 sessions. Add a little more each week. However I will not go with beef heart as its not their natural diet. Also tends to spoil the water faster. But some does it with no problem. Ur call.

 

[DaniiloC]

I'm with the same problem haha This thread help me 2 .. ;D

 

[1bigredtail]

Thanks again for the replys. I used to have a 24" RTC, about a decade ago, he would eat out of my hands and let me pet him. I used to tap on the lid to get his attention at feeding times or when ever I would just pet it. Anyway, late one night, we heard a banging noise coming from that room. I turned on the lights, the RTC was banging his head / mouth on the top of the aquarium lid. So we started going from me tapping on the lid when I wanted to feed him, to him banging the lids when he wanted to be fed, funny. we had to move 6 months later and i had to donate him to the lfs managers indoor pond. Sad, but funny story.