jn Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Ok...the saga continues. Finally got my WCMM's. Yaaay! Asked for 6 but got home and there were 7 in the bag (although 2 were so tiny for $2.90 each that I guess they may have been half price ) Bought some flakes (I'm new to flakes having only fed goldfish before on pellets). Put a micro-pinch of crushed flakes into my AR-380 ... and then watched my poor wee hungry minnows racing around exhausting themselves trying to catch a bite as the flakes swirled around everywhere!!! The bulk of the flakes ended up either sitting on the gravel where the minnows wouldn't touch them or sucked straight up the filter intake! Should I be turning the filter off to feed them? (pain cause I have to unplug it from somewhere inconvenient!) How long can I keep the filter off if so? I don't want to pollute my water and don't have a bottom feeder in my cold tank so would like to find a way to have minimum wastage/pollution without my fishies going hungry I did find a long plastic stick (cat toy actually) and managed to swirl it around near the bottom to float up some of the sunken bits! I felt like a right eeediot but the fish seemed to appreciate it!!! Should I drop the flakes on the surface and let them float or hold them in the water for a sec so that they'll sink when I let go? Should I be aiming for bigger pieces of flake so they're easier to spot or blow around less? With the filter running the flakes sink regardless....but I tried with it off and the flakes were floating. I bought goldfish flakes from the supermarket cause I only realised when I got the minnows home they'd be too small for even crushed pellets. Is there any difference in the types of flakes? I have to say today was day one of feeding them (got them yesterday evening) so it could be they'll do better tomorrow but any tips would be appreciated. Thanks as usual... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Trick is to turn the pump off for a minute or so while they eat If there is any food left after 5 minutes, then thats too much food, so you should never need to have it off for more than a minute or two. After about half an hour of being off beneficial bacteria start to die off, but normally when it's off for longer than 30 minutes there isn't anything you can do anyway! Enjoy your WCMM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 You can also make your own fish food corral. Get a short piece of airline tubing (20cm or so) and the little plastic connector that joins the tubes together then just form the tube into a circle, connecting it with the connector to form a ring. This will float on the surface. Drop the fish food in the ring and it will stay in there, until it slowly sinks of course, but will give the fish time to feed. Alternative is to feed wherever the current is least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I totally forgot about those. If you're not much of a DIY person, you can also buy those Feeding Rings, I wouldn't pay more than about $5-10 for one, but they're a ring with a suction cup attached as described above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Sam Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I bought a "feeding ring" that works well - it has a sucker to attach it to the side of the tank, and is square shaped. There is nowhere for food to get trapped. Paid about five dollars for it, and it was Aqua One brand. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Ok. So it's best to let the food float. Turned the pump off this morning to feed them but sank the food cause they didn't seem to be coming up for it. I guess they'll just have to learn the ropes! There are 2 very little fish and I'm worried about them missing out so I might try the feeding ring and leave some flakes elsewhere so they don't have to crowd with the 'herd'. DIY is always a good thing So always keen to take those suggestions on board. So the golfish flakes are ok? Are the tropical flakes any better? And twice a day feeds for the minnows? I only feed my pond golfish once/day but they have lots of other stuff to munch on. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 But mountain minnows are actually coldwater fish, not tropicals, they can just be adjusted to suit tropical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Sold as tropicals? They are all kept in the coldwater tanks with goldfish around here IMO, just keep feeding them the goldfish flake. They'l be fine, but yer, make sure you give some variety like bloodworms, whiteworms etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 The shop mine came from had them in a tank with guppies ans swordtails! Animates had them with some small goldfish but when i looked at them they were getting eaten. They also looked pretty unhealthy and there were 2 dead goldies and one with dropsy in there too so I gave those a miss!! (they were also $5 each!!! The WCMM's that is!). ok seems ok keep up with the goldfish flakes. I just wondered since goldfish were such pigs if there was a difference with feeding this relatively small/clean fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karly Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hi jn. I've had minnows for approx 17 mths or so. I think your ones just need to get used to where the food comes from. Give them time...in a couple more days they'll have it sussed out. Mine took a few days when I got them too. In Chch they are sold as coldwater fish, but I feed mine the micro granules for small tropical fish as they are nice and small for the minnows' wee mouths. Mine love those. I also feed them goldfish flake, spirulina flake, frozen bloodworms and, at the moment, frozen brine shrimp, as I'm breeding from them. In my experience they love variety and eat just about anything. But my ones' favourites are the micro granules and the frozen bloodworms. You'll get to know which yours prefer. I feed mine a different food every day and usually feed morning and early evening. If your new minnows are very small you may need to crush the micro granules and flake so they are even finer and the minnows can fit the food into their wee mouths. Hope this has helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karly Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Oh I see you're in Chch too. So disregard the comment re being sold as coldwater fish - you obviously already know that! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 If you want to be fussy they are "Sub-Tropical" fish as are Swordtails etc... Sounds like you've put quite a lot of food in there might pay to do a 25% water change, leave them for a day and then feed them. I only feed my wcmm once a day and very little. They are in a well planted tank by themselves and seem quite happy. Cheers KA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 I think I'll be ok without a water change. I swirled up the stuff that settled on the bottom with a little stick and they eventually caught most of it (don't have a gravel vac yet!). The rest got sucked up by the filter and I rinsed out the filter wool so it didn't sit in there. I don't think I put too much there, I think they just didn't catch on and weren't finding it. They did better this evening, most of them caught on that it was feeding time and there was very little leftover. I swirled it around again to get it sucked up by the filter (also don't have a very fine net yet either!) Thats the nice thing about granules, they're easy to take out if they don't get eaten. Might try to micro granules as mentioned above once the littlest ones grow a bit. Didn't know they existed!! Since this is a new tank I'm testing the water too to make sure everything's stable. So far no ammonia, no nitrites, pH is still stable. I'll test nitrates tomorrow to make sure the plants are taking up any extra. Should I turn off the light too when they're eating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Fish need very little food. Look at the size of the fish then imagine how little of the body actually consists of the stomach. Do not turn the lights off when you feed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Thanks guys. The fish and I are now on the same wavelength They've worked out to come up when it's time to get fed and I've worked out how to dish out a really 'micro' amount of food crushed to the right size. Pump off and light on. I have a little ammonia and nitrite in the tank now (just the first reading past nil. I think it's .25 on both). Am being extra careful to feed sparingly. Tests have been the same for 3 days now so not getting any worse which I think is good. I'm hoping they'll start coming down soon as the bacteria establishes. pH is about 7.5. Thanks for all the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 a gravel vac is an essential piece of equipment. get one as soon as you can so that your water changes are more effective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Yup. Ordered a gravel vac and a whole barrage of other essential items just minutes ago now that I'm back at work. My home PC was not co-operating with Pet Planet's new and improved website Most impressive upgrade there I must say and the prices are just amazing (My PC was to blame.. it is woefully behind as far as browser updates go... we're switching to Mac hopefully at the end of this week!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 (My PC was to blame.. it is woefully behind as far as browser updates go... we're switching to Mac hopefully at the end of this week!!!) lol Never mention you're buying a Mac, or your opinnion of Macs on an internet forum, you'll open a whole bag of ugly nerd worms! :lol: :lol: Glad to hear about your tank going well Make sure to keep an eye on the fish, WCMM are hardy but any measurable ammonia in a tank with a pH higher than 7 can lead to ammonia poisoning, if they start gasping or looking slow, increase your water changes until they look revived. High ammonia levels may be great for cycling your tank, but dont want to risk the fishies either, it can be a bit of a balance, so keep an eye out for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 hee hee! Have I now officially labelled myself as a geek/nerd? Damn I was hoping to pretend a while longer :-? Definitely watching the fish. I was worried about one of them a couple nights ago (I think this most likely when the ammonia was establishing its presence) He looked a little stressed. A bit pale and not exhibiting the same behaviour as the others but not gasping.. more like a little bit of flashing. I replaced a small amount of water and he's settled since and is eating fine and back to normal swim patterns. If the ammonia or nitrite rises at all above current levels or any of the fish show signs of stress I will do a water change (due for the weekly change in a few days anyway) but for now just didn't want to slow down the process since everyone seems happy enough. Hopefully my gravel cleaner will have arrived by then I am testing daily about 20 mins. after feeding in the a.m. and will continue to do so until I'm satisfied they're stable at zero again. Let me know if I should be doing anything differently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted January 8, 2007 Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Sounds perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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