routine cleaning

[Slaphppy7]

HOB = Hang On Back

[Taurus]

None of my fish are surface eaters. They don't seem to even notice food that floats.

Then I wouldn't feed flakes, they might just be making a mess of your tank. You might want to feed sinking pellets in lieu of flakes?

[angelcraze2]

None of my fish are surface eaters. They don't seem to even notice food that floats.

They don't nab the pellets as they float down? My fish all eat everything before it hits the substrate. My tetras do not eat from the surface in my 120g. All my fish have learned to jam as many pellets as they can into their mouths.

[marc4]

Generally, I use both pellets and flakes at feeding time. My fish are still all juveniles or teenagers, So i give them the small pellets. Some of my fish are herbivores and some are omnivores. One is pretty small, 1.25 inches and likes brine shrimp, but if that goes in the water it is gone before it hits bottom.

My demasoni will eat anything, but if it is not veg., he spits it out. They all eat spirulina flakes, plankton flakes, and one or both kind of pellets. I try to put the flakes just in front of where the water coming from the filter so that the flakes are pushed under the water. I would agree that flakes are more messy. With even a small pinch, they won't all be eaten, but some want the flakes and not the pellets.

Sometimes I get a white, cotton ball like mold on the pebbles. It comes up the siphon easily, but it seems to grow over night. (I do a head check in the evening to make sure everyone is alive and no one is distressed. ). i'm getting another syphon with a thinner head to get into spaces between the rocks and acrylic front that I can't get right now.

[angelcraze2]

What type of substate do you have?

If you can, try to get all your fish on pellets. Buy the smallest veggie and meaty pellets. I use the baby size for Hikari, or 0.5mm size for NLS, 1mm for North Fin. Also I big hit is Fluval Bug Bites. The blue case has really small pellets. They contain green peas and black soldier larvae.

Honestly, this is my opinion, but I would only feed one type of food as a staple. Like a pinch of veggie pellets and a pinch of meaty pellets. The brine shrimp I'd feed only add a treat so that small one starts eating pellets like the other. You'd be surprised how much they can fit into their mouths, even my juvie angelfish. Like I mentioned, it might take them a while to get onto pellets, but those flakes are so messy and most cichlids won't get enough nutrition per bite with flakes. Crush the pellets if you have to, but even my little gold tetras eat 0.5mm NLS Grow pellets.

I drop the pinch of small pellets for my fish that don't eat from the surface below the water line. In one spot. The fish frenzy feed (along with my rams who have learned to push into the frenzy) before the pellets hit the substrate. If I want them to eat more, I let more go again until is all eaten up. Try letting the veggie pellets go on one side, and meaty pellets in the other. All types of fish I own learn where the food falls lol. Good luck marc :)