# Help me! I don't know how to feed my fish properly



## sonicscape (Oct 10, 2007)

Hi all, 

I'm a newbie at rearing fish, started a small tank a month ago and kept about 10 neon tetras. 

Just today, I added some new species in, including 6 guppies, 4 miniature puffer fish (not actually puffer fish, but they look like them - Im not sure what these species are, and also 5 white fish with are slightly larger than the neon tetras.

I tried feeding them today and noted this: 
The white fish are VERY active, always swimming around very quickly. 
Whenever I add food, the white fish gobble all the food up! Only some of the food gets to the tetras and guppies.
The mini puffer fish are always hiding at the bottom, and NO FOOD GETS TO THEM!

Im not sure what I should do. I read up some help guides and they instructed me to feed the active fish first, and while they are distracted, feed the less active fish. However, this is not working very well.

The mini puffer fish are still not getting any food.

Im considering removing the white fish for the greater good of the aquarium. Is this necessary? Will the less active fish die? Or will they find a way out themselves.


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## Danh (Feb 19, 2007)

It's pretty hard to say. It may be a good idea to take them out. The other way that I can think of is to dump a bunch of food in. Which is what I do for the bigger fish in my bigger tanks. Making it impossible for the mid to upper swimmers to eat it all before the slower fish and bottom dwellers can get some... Then you've got to worry about water quality though.. The easiest thing to do is remove the white fish.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

well the "puffer like fish" are probably indeed puffers... and most likely won't eat the stuff you are adding anyway... sorry to say... but you didn't research the fish you put in... and whats worse, you don't even know the common names for the majority of you fish. This puts us in a very big bind... as we can't even suggest something you could do at this point. I'd say you have some very incompatebile fish at the momment... but why is a different question and one I cannot answer.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

25 fish in a "small tank" may be too many anyway, I hope you are changing a lot of water. What size is it? Can you get us pictures of the fish?

You could try a different kind of food. If you feed a sinking pellet and flakes, the pellets might reach the lower fish while the "white fish" are taking flakes from the top. Just keep in mind that the more food you put in a tank, the more water changes and filtration it needs.


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## neilfishguy (Oct 7, 2007)

you probbably have dwarf puffers or pea puffers. theres no other fish that look like mini puffers. they wont eat flake food. you need frozen blood worms or somthing for them. Soon when your dwarf puffers are adults and comfy in their new home they will kill all the other fish. good luck!


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## sonicscape (Oct 10, 2007)

neilfishguy said:


> you probbably have dwarf puffers or pea puffers. theres no other fish that look like mini puffers. they wont eat flake food. you need frozen blood worms or somthing for them. Soon when your dwarf puffers are adults and comfy in their new home they will kill all the other fish. good luck!












indeed you are right. They are dwarf puffers.

I asked the store keeper and he told me that there will not be any problems with compatibility and that they won't grow much!

He also told me that they have no problems eating normal fish food!

Have I been duped?


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## sonicscape (Oct 10, 2007)

Fishfirst said:


> well the "puffer like fish" are probably indeed puffers... and most likely won't eat the stuff you are adding anyway... sorry to say... but you didn't research the fish you put in... and whats worse, you don't even know the common names for the majority of you fish. This puts us in a very big bind... as we can't even suggest something you could do at this point. I'd say you have some very incompatebile fish at the momment... but why is a different question and one I cannot answer.


well, I tried asking the shop keepers for directions and asking them which fish are compatible, all of them just assured me that they were. So I trusted them, and bought the fishes. And the shop was so busy noone was even interested to help me out much... and there were no labels on the fish tanks to show what kinds of fishes they were..


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2007)

Dwarf Puffers are very nippy fish and should be kept in a species tank. Another issue with them is that they generally only eat frozen or live food. They usually won't take flakes. They need meaty foods like frozen bloodworms as their staple food. 

If you can't get another tank for them alone, you should consider returning them to the store. I suspect that the store workers weren't really interested in giving you correct information (either that or they don't know correct info) and that they just wanted to make a sale. 

Do you know what size tank you have? I'm afraid you may have too many fish in the tank. 

Can you get a picture of the white fish? 

For now, you can try to put some food on one side of the tank for the faster fish and then quickly put food on the other side for the other fish. Maybe try to make the food sink for the other fish. You should also pick up some frozen bloodworms for the puffers while you have them. It still may be hard to get them to eat. A tank of their own is really best for them. Since you have 4, I suggest atleast a 10g tank with alot of hiding spots and plants. They can be rather aggressive to each other (especially males) so its suggested that you have 2-3 gallons of water for each puffer (meaning a 10g tank is right at the minimum).

edit: Just wanted to add that you can find some good information about Dwarf Puffers here: http://www.dwarfpuffers.com.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

95% of store owners, and store staff will not have a clue on compatebility, diet, or anything of the sort. Most are just there to sell you stuff... and indeed you got duped. I would immediately return the dwarf puffers. They are aggressive little fish that will attack fish many sizes bigger than themselves. They may be timid now, but they won't be for very long as long as they get food. 

Also there is another little problem called the nitrogen cycle that you are probably going to be going through. Read this- http://www.fishforums.com/forum/general-freshwater/7125-nitrogen-cycle-basics.html


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## Betta1 (Jan 5, 2007)

Ok I don't know much about puffers as I've only heard them in passing but I did catch that they are a very difficult fish and for some reason I thought they were brackish.... is this correct? I've prevented customers from buying puffers at my store as I assumed they were brackish and I figured they got quite large.

Sonicscape I have no solution for you but your current dilema is one of the big reasons discus are a difficult fish to keep. Also I personally hate to see a fish held out of water like that


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2007)

Some puffers are brackish but Dwarves are full freshwater.


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## TankdreamerJim (Sep 25, 2012)

one thing I have found that will help your neons is to pinch up the food real fine then take a pinch stick your fingers in the water and release the food slowly by pressing fingers together and do it by the outflow of the filter so the food gets distributed evenly throughout the tank. That should ensure that the food get down to the neons so they can eat. Depending on what type of filter you have you might be able to just drop the food into the overflow/waterfall part of the filter and it will spread the food throughout the tank.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hey jim....i don't think you noticed ; but this thread is over 5 years old.....don't be getting absentminded like me...lol


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