Fish Food

Flake food suits most community tropical fish, who feed at or near the surface, while sinking pellets or wafers are better matched to bottom-dwelling species like catfish and loaches, who rarely come up to take floating food. Many keepers with a mixed tank use a combination of both to make sure every fish in the tank actually gets fed.

Goldfish sinking pellets are worth calling out specifically, since goldfish and other coldwater species have different nutritional needs from tropical fish and benefit from food formulated around that, rather than a general tropical flake.

Feeding amounts matter as much as food type — most fish do better fed a small amount a few times a day than one large feed, and uneaten food left to break down in the water is one of the more common causes of poor water quality in home aquariums. Only feed what will be eaten within a couple of minutes.

Specialist diets exist for particular needs, including colour-enhancing foods for ornamental species and higher-protein foods for growing or breeding fish, so it is worth checking whether your fish would benefit from something more targeted than a general community flake.

Pond fish are typically fed a floating stick or pellet food through the warmer months, with feeding reduced or stopped altogether in winter as fish become less active and their digestion slows in cold water. Overfeeding a pond in cold weather is a common mistake, since uneaten food can affect water quality just as it would in a tank.

As with tank feeding, it is better to offer a modest amount that gets eaten quickly than to feed heavily and let excess sink and decay, particularly in a pond where it is harder to see and remove uneaten food.