Should you always soak flake food first as opposed to just sprinkling on top of water. I've always just sprinkled it on but there was a site I checked out that was posted here (for goldfish, if that makes a difference) and it stated that all food should be soaked for it to sink.

If not, could cause problems like swim bladder.

I think that was just general info about how to make flake food sink - soak it. I've never heard of flake food causing problems with swim bladders. Anyone?

Thanks...I don't remember the exact wording but it had something to do with the fish getting air when they were eating the food on top!

So...no worries then?

It is critical for seahorse ponies not to take food from the surface.

Most of my babies have presoaked food, BBS for their tucker.

Can't beat it in MHO.

Alan 104

BBS? Tucker?

Baby Brine Shrimp

tucker - food

BBS = Baby Brine Shrimp.

Definately TUCKER.

Also trout pellets, when newly from the factory, need to be soaked cause the are so dehydrated, that when the fish eat it, they can swell to such a point, that they die.

I found out from experience.

Moral of the story is,

feed only enough for the fish to eat in a short time and still be looking for more.

Feed small amounts often, instead of one big meal.

Alan 104

Hi Caper

I have also read on quite a few sites about soaking food for goldfish. The fancy varieties are more prone to swim bladder problems because of their funny shape. Taking in air with their food one of the things that is meant to make this worse.

With our goldfish, I put a little tank water in a cup that I keep for feeding. I put the flake food in this and swirl it around until it sinks (usually only a few seconds) before adding it to the tank.

The goldfish soon learn the routine and will chase the food as it sinks. I don't worry about the odd piece that makes it to the bottom of the tank as goldfish love to scavenge among the gravel and I am careful not to be too generous with feeding.

You could also simply push a bigpinch of food under the tank's surface before letting it go...

Makes sense to me! Never had goldfish, so I never knew that before. Plan on having a hexagonal corner tank with some Ryukins and red cap orandas someday, so this will be filed in memory for that day Oh, about food getting to the bottom... just get a catfish. Cory cats are perfect for just about any tank and are excellent about picking up leftovers. Plecos (or Bristlenose) and the rest of the cats do the same.

But the catfish probably wouldn't like the 12 degrees celcius that my tank is sitting at! Besides, my black moor looks so cute checking the gravel for every last scrap of food that might be there.

Well Plecostomuses can actually be acclimatised to cold water.

Port Hoplo catfish do ok in cool water as well.

I have 2 in my goldfish tank

Some fish will have a problem with taking in air with their food, but most will be fine. I've even read you should sink food for neons and other tetras, but I don't think many people do it and mostly their fish are fine. So, perhaps you could read up on your individual types of fish and find out what their feeding preferences are. Just do a google search or something.

Cheers,

Vapo.

I had heard goldfish eating from the surface could have swimbladder problems, mine used to get flake and goldfish pellets (that floated) both on the surface and i never had a problem. My tropicals get flake on the surface and some swirled about 25mm underwater to ensure the smaller loaches get some. If your worried about it just place a pinch slightly under water and wiggle a finger to get it to disperse.

Solution: get cichlids. They don't get swim bladder problems from eating from the surface. Their bodies aren't so mutilated by selective breeding that they can't deal with a few bubbles along with their food. :lol:

Plus they're way smarter.

And fightier

Three spot Gourami are cool. Ours are really friendly and they like to breathe a bit of air.

I've started putting a pinch under water...but find it difficult to see if everybody is getting some the tetras just "swarm" together :lol: :lol:

Tried it in with goldfish too, but think I need to put a little less.

Anyway, it seems the concensus is that feeding from top is okay so I will do that with the occasional pinch under water.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP

Funnily enough, I ran into a problem this weekend concerning just this. One of my new Congo Tetras arrived from the LFS with a very big belly. I was pleased that she was so nice and fat (will be going in a spawning tank in a few weeks) but soon noticed she was having trouble swimming. A few hours later she was at a 45 degree angle head-down tail-up working very hard to keep from going to the surface. I grabbed her and tossed her in the hospital tank to keep a closer eye on her and give her a break from the fast flowing current of the tank she was in. Within a few hours I started seeing the expected bubbles coming from the back end and by the next morning the indigestion/gas was over and she was able to return to the main tank.

Are you serious...they can get indigestion...gas...OMG!

Did you know that was the problem when you saw him swimming like you described?

Nah, I thought she was a goner and was planning on returning her to the shop once she went belly up. But yeah, between the little bubbles coming out of her back end and the abdominal swelling going down gradually it made sense. Keep in mind that these fish literally jump out of the water to take food from my fingers, so it's my own fault.