# My fish are spitting out their food?



## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Hi!

Newbie with a 6g. Right now I have 5 ember tetras and 1 amano shrimp.
I'm worried about feeding.

I know overfeeding is the enemy, so I feed my guys 1 big flake of fish food/day (only had them 2 days, though!). I break it up into little pieces. 

The thing is, the fish don't seem to be eating it - they swallow the little pieces but then spit them back out, almost every time. Is this normal? I tried giving them a different food, and breaking up the flake into even tinier pieces, but no luck. This makes it difficult for me to know whether they are eating enough, since the usual guidelines (everything they can eat in 2 min, etc.) involves the fish actually doing some eating.

I know they are hungry because when the little pieces start coming down they go into a frenzy.

Is this normal? Are they getting adequate nutrition even if they seem to be spitting everything out?

Any comments would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

PS I'm not too worried right now about the food waste - Sir Shrimpsalot goes around and eats everything on the ground, and it's only a little bit of food. But I'm keeping an eye on my water parameters.

PPS The fish foods I've tried are "Nutrafin Max Colour Enhancing Flakes" and "Sera GVG-mix Flake Food with Tidbits".


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Don't worry too much, they can go for days without eating. Their stomach are very small, some say it is about the size of their eyes. I think they are just getting used to the tank and the new surrounding.
If they had it in their mouths they probably have eaten some of it before they spit the food out. Tetras will eat anything. Don't give them too much food at this stage, you can even go a few days without feeding them.


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

Is the colour of the flakes red by any chance? My minnows get fed a flake that has white/yellow, green and red pieces and they avoid or spit out the red flakes. eventually they will eat them... but only if there is no other choice. I have no idea WHY they do... but try something in a different colour. I think it could be to do with the amount of dye present in the food maybe? I cant imagine they are reacting to the perceived colour of it.


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Thanks for the info, Fish rookie and Bunny.
I will try a different colour flake next time and I won't worry about it too much just yet.
Much appreciated!


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

Give them some time to be comfortable at their new home then they will be fine


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## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Will do, jhj0112. Already yesterday they were swallowing more food.
Thanks!


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