What Do Clownfish Eat in an Aquarium?
Aaron Boyd
While setting up an aquarium, the one thing that attracts our maximum attention is, of course, the fishes. We spend a lot of time deciding the number and varieties of fishes that our tank will include.
And why not, after all, it is when these little creatures swim here and there that our tank looks lively, beautiful, and colorful.
There are plenty of choices as far as fishes are concerned but the one that has become increasingly popular and is loved by many aquarists is the Clownfish. Though you get them in a minimum of 30 species, the Orange Clownfish is the most preferred one.
This is a perfect beginner fish as you do not need to take much care of them. However, you do need to take a little care of their diet. For the purpose, you obviously will have to know what do Clownfish eat and how much to feed them. And, this is exactly what we are now about to discover.
Table of Contents
What Food Do Clownfish Eat?
Clownfish are a great choice for everyone, particularly if you have just started with your hobby as an aquarist.
One of the most important reasons behind this is that these fishes are non-fussy eaters. When in their natural environment, Clownfish eat everything including copepods, small crustaceans, larvae, fish eggs, and algae.
When you keep these fishes in a tank, they will readily eat different types of food. Some such food that they will gladly have are mentioned below.
Vegetables
Clownfish are omnivores so it will be a good idea to feed them some vegetables. Both spinach and nori can form an important part of their diet. Nori is easily available at many grocery stores.
You can also feed your Clownfish cooked spinach and chard.
Commercial Marine Fish Food
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If you cannot feed them fresh or cooked vegetables always you can opt for marine fish food flakes and pellets that are rich in spirulina.
This will match the vegetable requirements of your beautiful fishes perfectly well.
Live Fish Food
It is important to include live fish food in the regular diet of your Clownfish. By feeding live foods you will make it easy for these fishes to get familiar with their new surroundings.
Shrimps like Brine, Mysis, and Krill are among the healthiest live foods you can opt for. Such fish foods can easily be found at any local pet shop.
Frozen Foods
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Frozen foods too need to be offered and your Clownfish will love them. You can offer them bite-size bloodworms, little frozen fish, and also chopped up table shrimp.
A few other frozen food options include chopped up squid, peeled and cut shrimp, cooked mussels, chicken livers, and cockles.
Remember, if you feed your Clownfish a well-balanced and varied diet consisting of vegetables and also frozen and live fish food then they will get all the nutrients that they need. And thus, they will always be healthy.
How Often Should You Feed A Clownfish?
Now you know what do clownfish eat, it is equally important to understand how frequently you must feed them. This is important because it will also help decide the quantity.
Most people prefer feeding their Clownfish twice a day. This is quite a perfect idea but only if the fishes have already reached their proper size.
Juveniles are still growing and have a bigger appetite. It is only if you feed them right and enough will they grow into healthy and beautiful fishes. So, make sure you feed the juvenile fishes nearly 3-4 times every day.
How Much Should You Feed a Clownfish?
Clownfish are much appreciated and loved by aquarists because they are not fussy eaters. They will readily eat almost everything you choose to add to the aquarium.
One thing you need to remember here is that they will also continue to eat if you continue to add food. They really do not know what self-control is, so do not expect it of them. It is you who has to learn to feed them only as much as is good for them.
Feeding Schedule
It is not enough to take care of the frequency, the amount you add is also important. There are chances of you overfeeding your Clownfish even if you feed them just once a day.
How does that happen?
Well, by adding more food than they can finish off at a go.
What you need to do is offer these fishes only as much as they can finish within 2-3 minutes. If you feed them more frequently, then you can limit this duration to not more than one minute.
However, if you plan to feed them just once every day then increase the duration to five minutes approximately.
Keep Adjusting
Make sure the fishes eat every single bit of food that you have added to their tank within your decided time frame. If any food is left then chances are you have given them more than is needed.
For example, if you have decided 4 minutes then keep adjusting the food quantity until they finish off the food within the given duration.
You have to understand that overfeeding is never a good idea. Your fishes will only produce extra waste, and the leftover food will harm the quality of your tank water. It will be more harmful if you do not remove the leftovers.
All this may sound difficult but it really is not. It will take some time but soon you will be able to figure out how much and how often you must feed.
Conclusion
Now that you know what do Clownfish eat and how frequently you must feed them you will never go wrong.
Yes, it is true that these fishes can survive without food for 5 – 7 days but do not keep them hungry for that long just to test this fact.
You will obviously want your fishes to look healthy always and for the purpose, you have to make sure you feed them the right way regularly. Just like not feeding them enough is unfair, overfeeding is also bad, and we have already learned about the consequences.
So, feed them the right food, in the right amount, and at the right intervals.
Your Clownfish will then always be happy and thankful. They cannot express it verbally but the way they swim around in glee only confirms the same.
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