Tropical Fish Keeping banner

flake food up against surface skimmer

5K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
Hello all,

This is my first aquarium, and the first time I have kept fish. I am looking forward to learning more and participating in this community.

I have a two day old 12 Gallon Nano Cube, the contents of which are:

1 x Red Wag Platy
1 x Balloon Belly Molly
1 x Cory Catfish
1 x Black Phantom Tetra

(there are also some pebbles, which I think were advertised as "organic or natural" and five small plastic plants.

I am feeding (on the advice of petsmart) approximately three flakes per fish daily.

When feeding flake food (Tetra Color Plus) the flakes float around to the surface skimmer teeth.

The fish seem completely uninterested in the flakes. When one or two of them do have a nibble the majority of the flake then floats through the surface skimmer teeth.

Today was feeding day two and so far the Balloon Belly Molly is the only fish that has really eaten anything.

What am I doing wrong, and what do you advise.

Thanks in advance,
John
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Welcome to TFK!

Well, if this is a newly set-up tank (as in only a few days old) sometimes fish aren't exactly the most enthusiastic of eaters. As for the surface skimmer issue, you might want to try soaking the flake before putting it in the tank (in a shotglass full of tank water or something). That way it'll sink. All of the fish you have will eat the flake as it falls or peck it off the floor so that shouldn't be a problem.

Is this tank cycled? If you're unfamiliar with the aquarium cycle, take a look at this article: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/
If the tank isn't yet cycled, you're basically in the midst of a "fish-in" cycle so your next step is to get a good liquid test kit (if you don't already have one) and proceed according to the article.

Also, your cory cat and tetra are schooling fish and would benefit from having more of their own species to school with. If the tank isn't yet cycled I would wait until it is before adding more fish, though. At least three cories would be a good idea and six or so of the tetras. The tank would be pretty heavily stocked but shouldn't be a problem so long as you keep up with water changes.

Forgive me if you already knew all this stuff!
 
#3 ·
Many many thanks.

The suggestion of pre-soaking the flakes worked perfectly.

I didn't know about the freshwater cycle. I am reading up on that now. There is so much to learn in this hobby!

Thanks also for the suggestions about getting extra cory catfish and tetras. I am happy to do so but.... I was told to follow the inch/gallon rule. If each Cory grows to three inches then I could have three....... and nothing else.

The tank intake seems quite strong so I am wondering if lots of sub/approx. one inch fish would be able to handle that current. Which leaves me with looking at four or five fish that are in the 1.5 to 3 inch range.
 
#4 ·
The inch of fish per gallon rule is basically a load of nonsense as it doesn't take into account all sorts of various factors.

I wrote up another article that addresses some of these factors: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...s/basic-guide-freshwater-fish-stocking-38626/

This tool works with a database that addresses a ton of various factors so that you can get an idea of how heavily stocked your tank is. Unfortunately it doesn't list the Nano Cubes but you can get an idea of ballpark stocking levels.
 
#5 ·
Apologies for the delay in replying. It has been a very busy week.

Thanks again for your advice. It is much appreciated. That calculator is fantastic. I added your suggested fish and it calculated a stocking rate of 130%. By removing the balloon molly that drops to 101%. Something to think about.

Either way I am week one into the cycle, so it is not too pressing an issue.

I dont mean for this to go horribly off topic, but is there a link I can use to see other guides you have written?

thanks in advance
john
 
#6 ·
Actually those are the only two articles I've written.

This section of the forum contains all of our member-submitted articles:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/member-submitted-articles/

This sticky also contains a lot of useful links:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquariums/important-topics-257/

The guy who made that stocking calculator has a running thread on the forum about it. He's extremely dedicated to making the calculator the best it can be so he replies very quickly to questions about it and is very fast about adding fish and filters and taking other suggestions under consideration. Here's the thread:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-tropical-fish/site-will-help-you-determine-how-28712/
Somewhere in the thread there was discussion about the stocking levels. Basically, it's designed to be flexible; a tank stocked above 100% can still be done but might need more filtration or water changes.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top