# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Dealing with uneaten fish food

## ConcaveLiNkiN

Hi all,

not sure if this is the best place to post this topic but since uneaten food will very much lead to algae, this could be where it should be.

I hope that we could share, how do you deal with fish food that are left un-eaten by the fishes that sinked onto the substrate and if there is foreground carpet, it gets stuck underneath them. Fanning with your hands is one of the method but it is not always successful.

Is there an ideal method where it is effective and consumes minimum time?

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## bennyc

Shrimps is always my best. Clean up crew.

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## thebaldingaquarist

To me.... prevention is better than cure.

Feed little by little. Wait till it's almost finish then drop a bit more. 

If no choice, over fed, can siphon away the excess but be careful of uprooting your plants if poke the pipe too deep..  :Smile: 

If too much food is stuck too deep into vegetation, I use a palm vacuum method. 
I place my hand palm down, pressing the plants a bit. Then move my hand upwards. Due to vacuum, water will force the waste to come up.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> Shrimps is always my best. Clean up crew.


There is a risk if you leave it to the clean-up crew. The clean-up crew are suppose to clear the algae in your tank. If they are used to eating leftover food, they will always wait for left over food and not clear the algae in your tank.

I will try my very best not to leave it to them, but sometimes it is really difficult

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> To me.... prevention is better than cure.
> 
> Feed little by little. Wait till it's almost finish then drop a bit more. 
> 
> If no choice, over fed, can siphon away the excess but be careful of uprooting your plants if poke the pipe too deep.. 
> 
> If too much food is stuck too deep into vegetation, I use a palm vacuum method. 
> I place my hand palm down, pressing the plants a bit. Then move my hand upwards. Due to vacuum, water will force the waste to come up.


I am leaving my fishes pinch by pinch, and you know them, many times they are very "chow kuan", totally no aquarium manners  :Mad: . Once the food flow a little faster and it touches the substrate or carpeted foreground, they refuse to eat them. Don't you find them spoilt from time to time?

But your palm vacuum method does work, somehow I have some spots within my tank where I could not lay my palm at due to space constrains.

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## PKB

I just feed slowly and I pour in 100 pcs of Malayan Shrimps. No problem anymore.

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## David

which means you are over feeding bro..... :Wink:

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## kapitan

> I just feed slowly and I pour in 100 pcs of Malayan Shrimps. No problem anymore.


where do we buy malayan shrimps?

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## PKB

> where do we buy malayan shrimps?


Seaview. 

They always have package with 100 pcs on a Sat or Sun morning

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## thebaldingaquarist

Oh yes, forgot to add, for me, if it's a bit of feed, I leave it be. Things like shrimp, seed shrimp and after some time, bacteria in the substrate will handle it. But I need to emphasize.. A little feed...

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## David

Food is able to hit bottom = over feeding... :Wink:

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## Urban Aquaria

Feeding fishes is one of the fun activities in this hobby (or the most fun in many cases)... but it always results in overfeeding, i am also guilty of that.

Nowadays, the way i control the urge to overfeed is to only feed the fishes half of what i would think they need (which is actually too much) and i only feed them on alternate days. Even with what seems like a little bit of food, i found that the fishes still look healthy with nice color, and whenever i feed them they really snap up all the food very fast, no food pellet will ever get the opportunity to sink to the substrate.

If i need to supplement mid-bottom feeding fauna like otos and shrimps, i use a glass feeding dish and only put a very small amount of food each time, after an hour i'll just remove any leftover portions.

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## bennyc

> There is a risk if you leave it to the clean-up crew. The clean-up crew are suppose to clear the algae in your tank. If they are used to eating leftover food, they will always wait for left over food and not clear the algae in your tank.
> 
> I will try my very best not to leave it to them, but sometimes it is really difficult


So you want clean up crew or algae crew? Hahaha. Hold one pay, do two jobs. Employ more shrimps la.

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## bennyc

@urban, in my betta days. I was taught to "starve" the fish, helps its digestive system. I was also taught by veterans, in nature no fish will have food daily.

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## David

That I will agree to Bennyc

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## Aventador

I'm guilty of over feeding as well. Resulted, having planaria in the substrate  :Sad:  was taught by GC guy to starve the live stocks for a few days, planaria is in control now.

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## bennyc

I have a feeling is Ron. I receive many advice from him, which he gives very generously even when I did not buy anything.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> Oh yes, forgot to add, for me, if it's a bit of feed, I leave it be. Things like shrimp, seed shrimp and after some time, bacteria in the substrate will handle it. But I need to emphasize.. A little feed...


The left overs will not be infested by algae?


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## Aventador

> I have a feeling is Ron. I receive many advice from him, which he gives very generously even when I did not buy anything.


The polytail guy! He's really nice and shared lots of tips with me while doing WC. And yes he's generous, because I only bought a catch pen and tetra food.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> So you want clean up crew or algae crew? Hahaha. Hold one pay, do two jobs. Employ more shrimps la.


I have got around 13 Amano shrimps hiding in my tank which I want them to clear the algae. That is why I do not want them to eat my left overs.

Your "hold one pay, do 2 jobs" very familiar. It seems to apply to a lot of us. Heehee...


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## felix_fx2

> I have a feeling is Ron. I receive many advice from him, which he gives very generously even when I did not buy anything.


Buy coffee black (kopi ti lo), eventually you will buy something there. GC has some stuff exclusive to them.




> The left overs will not be infested by algae?


More likely will have mould on excess food.




> @urban, in my betta days. I was taught to "starve" the fish, helps its digestive system. I was also taught by veterans, in nature no fish will have food daily.


The same theory goes to all my tanks last year. once a month outside, once a week indoors. (outside have shrimplet, tubifex worm, cyclops so good)
This year, got a bro give me a bottle few months back. i feed until now have Planaria outbreak starting.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> @urban, in my betta days. I was taught to "starve" the fish, helps its digestive system. I was also taught by veterans, in nature no fish will have food daily.


Very true. But when they get hungry, do they tend nip at each others' tails and fins?


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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> That I will agree to Bennyc


Senior David, do you agree on Bennyc's "hold one pay and do 2 job" or the starve theory? Both also make sense, ya?


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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> I have a feeling is Ron. I receive many advice from him, which he gives very generously even when I did not buy anything.


Agree! Been there once, and he shared and shared and I enjoyed talking to him till I was late picking me wifey. In the end, kena one time big one from her!  :Sad: 


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## bennyc

> Buy coffee black (kopi ti lo), eventually you will buy something there. GC has some stuff exclusive to them.
> 
> Ya I got my best diffuser from them. Nag bubble counter cum diffuser.
> 
> More likely will have mould on excess food.
> 
> 
> 
> The same theory goes to all my tanks last year. once a month outside, once a week indoors. (outside have shrimplet, tubifex worm, cyclops so good)
> This year, got a bro give me a bottle few months back. i feed until now have Planaria outbreak starting.


Once a month is amazing.

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## bennyc

> Very true. But when they get hungry, do they tend nip at each others' tails and fins?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Hmmm.. I am not very sure because I have never kept two bettas together. 
Btw, have you seen your own signature? It is very big... Scroll thru your
thread is very tiring... Ha ha.

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## felix_fx2

> Once a month is amazing.


Provided the environment does have things for the fish to hunt.
My closer friends in AQ call me sadistic  :Sad:  , but got plants to nibble got shrimplet and worms all that. Still feed = the alien worms i have now.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> Hmmm.. I am not very sure because I have never kept two bettas together. 
> Btw, have you seen your own signature? It is very big... Scroll thru your
> thread is very tiring... Ha ha.


Heehee... It is more like a banner huh... I kind of like that character a lot. Please pardon me... Haha...


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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> Provided the environment does have things for the fish to hunt.
> My closer friends in AQ call me sadistic  , but got plants to nibble got shrimplet and worms all that. Still feed = the alien worms i have now.


Show me the alien worms, I want to breed them... Heehee...


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## felix_fx2

madness!!!! i donate you some okay?  :Cool:

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> madness!!!! i donate you some okay?


Snap me a picture first? I only keep cute creatures. heehee....  :Roll Eyes:

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## felix_fx2

> Snap me a picture first? I only keep cute creatures. heehee....


it is cute to guys...just guys.

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

> it is cute to guys...just guys.


Hmmm... Just guys? Gers will go: Eeeeeeeeeee!!!???


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## ConcaveLiNkiN

Today, I am feeding my little tiny ones only once a day, during the evenings when I get home. Pinch by pinch, I released the tiny pallets or sometimes flakes onto the surface where they will flow with the current within the tank pass the lily-pipe where they will be washed down deeper into the water. The little tetras will then snatch for their food. My pinch of fish food gets lesser each time and by the time I notice that they are not interested anymore, little fish food is wasted or are there any left to flow to the bottom of the tank.

I realise that I will only need to focus on feeding the little tetras. The little Rams are not in anyway faster than the tetras, but somehow they will find some left-overs hanging by the driftwood or rock. That solved the left-over problems, where it gets eaten by the Rams and yes, the Amanos will sometimes get a slice of the leftovers.

I guess this will vary from tank to tank, one will just have to pay close attention to their tank enough and understand how their fauras behave. You will eventually derive at a pattern where it will fit your aquarium community.  :Smile: 

Have fun observing!!


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## felix_fx2

> Hmmm... Just guys? Gers will go: Eeeeeeeeeee!!!???
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I don't understand the language. Seems like i see it often in my mobile.... hmmmm....

My girlfriend HATES my fish tank now. enough said.

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