How Often to Feed Angelfish?
Angelfish make one of the most popular freshwater fish pets among modern private aquariums. They make quite the hardy pets yet present an amazingly elegant addition to any tank.
These graceful fish grow to relatively large size of approximately 6 inches and can be quite the fussy eaters, so dosing their meals correctly is essential.
So, how often to feed angelfish, and how much food to offer them in the first place?
Feeding Angelfish
You may feed your adults either once or twice each day, as both experts and professional keepers agree this seems to be the ideal feeding frequency for angelfish.
Even more importantly, you should only offer them enough food which they can eat out completely in a time range of 1 to 2 minutes.
This will ensure there are no food leftovers which can later sink to the tank bottom and cause possible ammonia and nitrite spikes, as these can soon become life-threatening.
In their wild habitats, these omnivores can frequently forage the bottoms of the rivers in the search for crustaceans and smaller invertebrates. During their life in captivity, however, they prefer feeding either at the top or the middle levels of tanks.
Feeding Angelfish Fry
If you are lucky enough to take care of some angelfish babies, you should feed them with specially designed meals with more frequency, in order to ensure they are getting all the extra nutrients which they need to grow. Therefore, feeding them 3 or even 5 times per day is highly recommendable.
Home-made infusoria is always an amazingly efficient food source for fish fry, as they greatly recreate what they would feed on in their natural habitat.
However, infusoria needs several days to be successfully cultured, so it does require some previous planning before your angelfish babies even come to life.
A great alternative, especially if you have no infusoria ready, are commercial meals for fry. The Hikari Tropical First Bites Fish Food is one of the most popular choices as it is greatly affordable yet offers all the nutritive values these tiny creatures need to grow quickly.
It is also helpful in strengthening their immune systems and allowing them to become more resistant to diseases and infections. Plus, it helps to enhance their amazing coloration.
Best Commercial Food for Angelfish
High-quality commercial flakes or pellets should make their core diet, as this is the only certain way of providing them both meaty and green nutrients which they need to thrive.
There are several good brands which are more than appropriate, but one of our first choices are surely the TetraPro Tropical Crisps.
They are great for angelfish as they feature an innovative clear-water formula, which basically allows fish to fully consume their meals at once and reduces the residues greatly.
This helps massively with ammonia and nitrite spike prevention. On top of that, they offer a great source of both nutrients and vitamins, and they also assist with color enhancement.
Apart from appositely designed commercial food, you can include a variety of tasty snacks to their diet. Small meaty treats such as bloodworms or brine shrimp will be happily accepted by your pets.
Obviously, they prefer live options, but you can also offer them occasional previously frozen and dried variations. Tetra BloodWorms make an amazingly nutritive alternative to live bloodworms.
They are affordable and highly practical, as they require no previous processing. Additionally, options like these are especially crafted to minimize the presence of unwanted and potentially harmful living organisms which can sometimes be found in live invertebrates.
To keep your fish interested, it is always suggestable to offer a healthy variety of different treats, so occasionally replacing bloodworms with cubed snacks such as Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms can be a great idea.
Apart from offering all the protein sources which angelfish love, they are also stuffed with a different range of vitamins. This helps greatly in strengthening the immune system of your beloved pets.
When it comes to vegetables, peas are always a good choice and are greatly beneficial for their digestion. Remember though to peel them first and to briefly boil them.
How Long Can Angelfish Go Without Food?
Once you find the ideal feeding schedule which works best both for you and your fish, you should stick to it regularly. However, if you are planning to leave for a while, they can do simply fine without any food for a couple of days.
It is difficult to predict how much can angelfish survive with no food source. Some really healthy and strong adults can survive up to a week, others up to 2 weeks, but it is unknown which health consequences would that bring to your pets.
Therefore, try planning not to leave them alone for more than 3 days in a row. If you have to, ask a friend or a family member to pass by and feed your pets every now and then.
Can Angelfish Die of Overfeeding?
All fish can die of overfeeding, and angelfish certainly make no exception. Indeed, overfeeding can become a serious problem for mainly two reasons.
Firstly, your pets may eat all the extra food you offer them and develop constipation or other health complications. Secondly, they may refuse the extensive meals and let them sink to the tank bottom, which can quickly lead to poor (and dangerous!) water quality.
Can I Feed my Angelfish Every 3 Days?
Feeding your angelfish every 3 days is not the best practice possible. Even though your pets may survive during such a period of time, they certainly cannot thrive.
Try feeding your fish every day, or at least every other day if you have a super-busy schedule.
Wrapping Up
A proper feeding plan is vitally important not just for humans, but for basically any kind of living creature, including fish.
Food is their “fuel”, so choosing their meals wisely is just as important as following a healthy feeding schedule is. Your angelfish should eat once or twice each day once they reach adulthood.
And remember, they should consume their entire meal in less than 2 minutes.
