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Fish feed dilemma.
I have a dilemma with my tilapia. For the first six weeks after I put them in their new home (20 tilapia in a 200 gallon tank) they ate like pigs and I fed them three times a day. Then, suddenly this week, they started feeding only once a day. I tried to feed them at 6 in the morning and they just sit at the bottom of the tank, staring up at me. I end up scooping the food out after five or ten minutes. Same thing at noon. Then, when offered food at about 6pm, they churn the water like piranha while feasting. I end up feeding them nearly as much as I would have all day within a five minute time frame.
Is this normal? Or, could they be stressed, or just shy?
Specifics:
200 gallon tank
27 square feet of grow bed, 1 foot deep
Water clear to slightly brownish
PH-between 7.0 and 7.2
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-approx 20-30
Ammonia-0
Temperature approx 82 degrees F (might get down to about 80 at night before heaters kick in)
Plants healthy
Fish seem healthy except for apparent laziness throughout the day outside their self-proclaimed feeding time.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Stratton on
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Yes, plenty of aeration. Use a 254 CFM GPH air pump with two stones in tank. In addition, I use bypass pump water rigged with a venturi to create aeration as the water recirculates through the tank and, of course, my two ebb and flow growbeds that drain about every 30 minutes.
The water level in the tank does fluctuation by about fifteen to twenty percent. Could this be causing stress on the fish?
George said:Plenty of aeration?
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Permalink Reply by Randy on
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James
I would not worry about it as long as they are eating once a day. I only feed mine once a day and if I have any concerns about the water quality I will skip a couple of days. If you talk to a sport fisherman he will give you a thousands reasons (excuses) why the fish weren't biting.
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