[Diver Down]

My juvenile Zebra Danios have such tiny mouths. I have been crushing flaked food in my palm before sprinkling and spreading it in the tank. The food becomes more of a powder than it is granular or flaked. I started this practice after seeing a few individuals "hit" and then spit out larger pieces. Is this method proper? In general, will the fish be satisfied with small bites or do they prefer to take repeated hits on larger pieces?

 

[Flint]

I would stick with what you've been doing. I've noticed that if fish take a piece of food that's too large and spit it out, most of it ends up in the gravel and dirties the tank much faster.

 

[Misomie]

I still do this with my adult danios. I leave in some larger pieces for the barbs, but if I don't grind up the flakes the little pigs will eat everything before the slower barbs get their fill. Those crazy little eaters. XP

 

[willow]

i do a bit of both for the fish.

 

[NeonFlux]

I crumble my flakes for my fish all the time.. What I do if I have very large flakes is to put them in a ziplock bag and just crush them up good into bite-sized pieces.

 

[Gilljay]

I use Tetramin Junior for my smaller surface feeding fish and then some JBL granules which float a little but then what few that descend are gobbled up by the Rummies and Glowlights, after that it's the Cory cats that clean up. It's always a fun spectacle to see the Red Cherry shrimp join in the battle.
There is rarely much detritus on the bottom when I vacuum. The Cory's get a tablet all of their own as well.

 

[Diver Down]

Thanks everyone.

Gilljay - I haven't tried any tablet foods yet. I presume they are designed to sink right away in order to reach the bottom dwellers. Do they have to be broken into pieces to be shared among multiple individuals, or do the Cory cats take turns?

 

[Gilljay]

Hello Diverdown, the tabs I use are called Novotabs by JBL.
The Novo Tabs are specifically for Corydoras and they sink straight away but begin to disintegrate after a couple of minutes. The Cory's know when it's time for their tab - the Pandas are first in along with the Julii. There is a general free for all and they push it around the gravel like a hockey puck. As it rolls it crumbles and so some of the Cory's are distracted and pick up the bits. Once my Sterbae join in they just seem to nibble for a while and then chew on whatever they have broken off. They all get along very well. I tried breaking one into bits but it fell apart so quickly there was nothing left for them to nibble at and I was concerned that too much would settle into the gravel and be wasted. They should have no more than it takes to eat in an hour.
The tablet is usually gone in 45 minutes but they will spend all morning foraging for bits.
I also sometimes put in a Novo Fect, also by JBL, which is for the Otos but they don't seem too bothered.
The Rummies also like the tabs and once they start to break down the Rasbora hover around over the Corys feeding on broken off bits that float to the surface.
All round an excellent foodstuff, appreciated by all.

Here's a couple of shots:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...re-planted-tank-13825/feeding-time-106842.jpg

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...e-planted-tank-13825/cats-v-shrimp-106834.jpg

 

[Gilljay]

Hope this is better for you,