How Often to Feed Clownfish? Read This First!

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Clownfish are some of the easiest saltwater fish to care for. They’re fun, colorful and super adorable. But, they have this way of giving you their own version of puppy dog eyes at all times of the day in an attempt to get more food out of you. Don’t be a sucker for your clownfish, it will be to their ultimate detriment.

So, how often should you give food to clownfish? For a simple answer, feed your clownfish once in the morning and once in the evening. For best results, do this at the same time each day. But, you can create a more precise schedule if it suits you and your fish better.

What Is a Responsible Amount of Food for Clownfish?

Clownfish love to eat and they’ll put on all the stops to see if they can get more. It’s important that they only eat the right amount of food. Too much food will cause the water parameters to fluctuate within the tank, thereby creating more waste and ammonia. Plus, your clownfish might get fat and incur other health issues due to overeating.

The best basic schedule is to feed your clownfish what it can eat in 30 seconds or less twice per day. This will be plenty and sufficient enough to keep your clownfish happy and thriving. Any more or less will be harmful to it.

How Do You Know How Much Your Clownfish Will Eat?

When you first acquire your clownfish, observe it intently when you feed it. Do this for about a week or so. Because these fish are omnivores, you’re going to feed it a variety of foods that include meat and veggies. Different menu items will have differences in feeding requirements.

What’s more, you’re going to want to give treats, so you should also take that into account. It’s a good idea to jot down the feeding details. Include what you fed, how much you gave and the amount your clownfish ate. Also take note of how long it took the fish to eat it.

Monitor the water parameters if you notice that there’s more food than what your clownfish eats. If the water readings are out of whack, fix the issue right away. When you are meticulous about feeding like this, it will ensure the fish eats enough while maintaining the stasis of the aquarium.

What Is the Ideal Schedule for Feeding a Clownfish?

As mentioned earlier, it should be sufficient enough to feed your clownfish two times per day and only what it can eat in a matter of seconds. However, some fish keepers like to be a little more exact about it. Consider the following feeding schedule:

Morning – 2 to 3 pellets or 1 pinch of flakes; If giving veggies, ensure they’re the same size as the pellets and serve the same amount
Afternoon – 2 to 3 pellets or 1 pinch of flakes; If adding a treat, make it 1 to 2 pellets or a ½ pinch of flakes
Evening – 1 to 2 pellets or ½ pinch of flakes; If adding a treat, offer only a few flakes

Other Feeding Considerations

When abiding by this sample schedule, this means your clownfish will receive about four to six pellets or three to four pinches of flakes per day. This is the appropriate amount for the average clownfish.

However, there are some aquarists who prefer to feed their clownfish by spreading their food out to as much as five or six times per day. So, your schedule will come down to what you can handle and what your availability is. Therefore, if you know you’re going to be gone all day, you can put in whatever the fish needs in the morning.

Including Meat ; Veggies into the Schedule

If you want to add fresh meats and veggies into the mix, ensure you cube or break them down into smaller pieces. Use the pellets as a sizing guide and give your fish the same amount as you would the pellets.

Of course, every fish will be different. Your schedule will rely on how many clownfish you have and what your availability is to feed them. If you’re a busy person, once in the morning and then in the evening may be the only ideal schedule possible.

What Kinds of Food Are Best for Clownfish to Eat?

Clownfish, as you may very well know, are the piggies in your aquarium. They will eat almost anything you give them. But, because of their color, activity and genetics, they require a high-quality diet filled with a variety.

Ensure you give them a topnotch pellet and/or flake that includes a high amount of protein along with things like spirulina. While you can give them a daily standard of pellets and/or flakes, you should change it up with a fair amount of frequency.

Fresh or Frozen Meats

Clownfish will eat small invertebrates such as brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, earthworms, blackworms, amphipods or copepods. It doesn’t matter if they’re frozen or fresh, your clownfish will love them.

Dried Foods

Aside from the dry flakes you feed the fish regularly, consider getting things like dried seaweed. Ensure that it is organic and unseasoned. You can even use a chip clip to put it on the side of the tank and let the fish eat it. This is ideal for busy people who can’t feed their fish more than once per day.

Veggies

Aside from seaweed, clownfish will eat a host of other vegetables like spinach, lettuce, zucchini and cucumber. Just make sure you blanch them for a few moments, allow them to cool and cut them into tiny pieces.

Final Thoughts

It’s not difficult in knowing how often to feed clownfish, but you do have to devise a plan. On average, feeding a few pellets in the morning and the evening will be just fine. But, whatever you do, don’t give into your fish’s apparent demands for more food. It’s a put on.