will this hurt my tank?

Question

if i tried to feed my fish and some of the food fell and got lost in the gravel, about 4 or 5 pieces

it is a male beta

Answer 1

This always happens to my Koi Fish (I have two) and they're pretty stupid. I put about 7 shrimp pellets and they just sink to the bottom with Dumb and Dumberer (my Koi's names) just staring at them. This will NOT harm your tank. It'll just make your tank a little dirty. After about 2-4 wks, just use a tank cleaner (found at Petco) and suck up about 2/3 of the water and then you can clean the gravel too! That way, your fish will have clean water and some clean gravel too!

Or, get catfish or algae eaters to eat poop and leftover food on the ground! I bought four: Alex, Zach, Motto, and Gravel and they do their job well!

Answer 2

No that's not a problem. That usually happens whether you want it to or not. Some fish learn to pick through the gravel to find food or if you have bottom feeders you've made their day. A good thing to have is a filter that is larger than your tank will need. For example, I have a 25 gallon tank with a bio-wheel for a 55 gallon. So not only is my tank pretty much sparkling clean all the time, but it saves a lot of work on having to do water changes. I also have a huge apple snail to take care of what the filter isn't getting to, so everyone seems to be pretty happy.
Don't worry too much about excess food unless your tank starts to look gross, then I'd suggest cutting down on how much you feed.

Answer 3

Not a problem at all. If you watch them for a while, you'll notice that throughout the day fish go to the bottom of the tank and pick through the rocks for food. However, this does NOT mean that you should overfeed them every day in an attempt to coat the gravel with future meals. That will mess with the chemical balance of the water. Just feed them normally and don't worry too much if a little food hits the bottom.

Answer 4

if you dont regurarlly change your water then YES

food releases ammonia if left for a while on the bottom and ammonia is one of the worst things for fish and theyll be dead before you know it

using a tube with a gravel attachment is the best way to go, usually 5 to 10 dollars... the filter will help but usually cant pick up all the things at the bottom like food so it is important to change at least 30 % of your water once per month (i change 10% weekly) this reduces a lot of the ammonia and will keep you fish healthy

the gravel attachment will pick up some food and even if you dont want to dip all the way to the bottom just changing some water will usually be enough

so if you odnt change your water your fish can die

a tip : the ammonia levels should be so low that they should not register on any store bought ammonia ditecting kits if they do the ammonia level is way to high!!

Answer 5

It depends on your fish food and filter system. In a healthy aquarium with an established bio filter, this should not be a problem. If your aquarium is new, I would use a gravel vacuum to remove this food. Also the some foods are higher in nitrogenous waste that will decompose and raise toxic ammonia levels, stay away from low quality foods that are high in animal proteins (vs. aquatic based) and high in cereal (mostly roughage to fish).
If you do not have at least an ammonia test kit, I would recommend one for testing your aquarium for ammonia produced from fish waste or decaying food.
For a lot more information that is up to date and well researched (not written by armchair aquarists), check out this site:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Information.html
Also for a usefull aquarium forum:
http://groups.msn.com/EverythingAquatic/

Answer 6

no, it won't hurt until it rots, so get some corycats (catfish) they will eat most of the uneaten food. For every 10 gallons get 2, but it depends on how many fish you have and how much you feed them. Also make sure to stir up the gravel once a week, so the filter can suck it up. Good Luck

Answer 7

Not as long as you clean the tank out regularly. What kind of fish?

Answer 8

Its fine! If it starts to happen alot tho get a catfish or african dwarf frog or shrimp!

Answer 9

hell no.

i have fish too and let me tell ya my fish poop the shi* out of me.
i belive in "eye for an eye, poop for poop"

so every time they poop in my fish tank and they don't clean it up, i poop in their tank and make sure they clean the tank themselves, i am teaching them responsibility, just like my mommey taught me.





so now most of fish are dead, but i am thinking about putting my kids in their.



peace in the middle east

Answer 10

NO THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE A FILTER FOR.