Common aquarium feeding mistakes - overfeeding, single-food diet, and timing.
The most common aquarium mistake. Excess food rots, spikes ammonia, fuels algae. Feed only what fish eat in 1-2 minutes. Skip a day per week (it's actually healthier for them).
Pellet-only diet leads to HLLE, faded coloration, and nutritional deficiency. Rotate flake/pellet/frozen mysis/brine shrimp/nori/algae wafers across the week.
A spike in ammonia + nitrite means stop feeding immediately for 3-5 days. Test before each feeding when parameters are unstable.
Frozen food should be rinsed in tank water + Selcon-soaked before feeding. Soaking adds vitamins + lipids fish need but commercial frozen lacks.
Auto-feeders are great BUT verify they don't over-dose. Set to 1/3 the dose you'd hand-feed; small frequent meals beat one large meal.
Feeding right before lights-out leaves uneaten food rotting overnight. Feed in early morning + early afternoon if 2x daily; never within 2 hours of lights-out.
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