🍽️ Aquarium Feeding Guide by Fish Type

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🪵 Plecos (Loricariidae)

🔹 Wood-Grazing Types (Panaque, Hypostomus, Panaqolus)

• Food Form: Sinking wafers, Repashy gel, fresh veggies, driftwood itself.
• Nutritional Need: High fiber, lignin/cellulose (wood scraping), biofilm.
• Best Foods:
  • Algae wafers (low protein, high spirulina/veggie)
  • Repashy “Soilent Green” or “Morning Wood” gel
  • Fresh zucchini, cucumber, spinach, green beans (clip inside tank)
  • Driftwood (Mopani, Malaysian) for rasping behavior
• Avoid: Too much protein (causes bloat, fatty liver).

🔹 Carnivorous / Omnivorous Plecos (Pseudacanthicus – L114, L600, Leporacanthicus)

• Food Form: Sinking carnivore wafers, chopped shrimp, mussels.
• Nutritional Need: High protein for growth and color.
• Best Foods:
  • Shrimp pellets
  • Repashy “Meat Pie” gel
  • Frozen krill, prawns, squid pieces
• Avoid: All-veg diets → stunted growth.

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🐠 Community Fish (Tetras, Barbs, Corydoras, Gouramis, Angelfish)

• Food Form: Flakes, slow-sinking granules, small pellets.
• Nutritional Need: Balanced omnivore diet (plant + protein).
• Best Foods:
  • Spirulina flakes (color enhancement, gut health)
  • High-quality community granules (slow-sinking, so midwater feeders catch them)
  • Frozen/live foods: brine shrimp, daphnia, bloodworms (treats 2–3×/week)
  • Corydoras: specifically need sinking micro-pellets/wafers at night.
• Avoid: Large floating sticks (can’t eat them), overly meaty diets for veggie species.

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🎨 South American Cichlids (Oscars, Severums, Geophagus, Angelfish, Discus)

• Food Form: Floating sticks, sinking cichlid pellets, frozen meats.
• Nutritional Need: Protein-leaning omnivore, with some veg.
• Best Foods:
  • Hikari Cichlid Gold, NLS Cichlid Formula (floating or sinking)
  • Floating sticks (for Oscars/Severums)
  • Flat rocks for hand-feeding chopped earthworms/shrimp
  • Discus: beef heart mix, soft sinking granules, frozen bloodworms
• Avoid: Too many feeder fish → disease risk, fatty liver.

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🌍 African Cichlids (Mbuna, Tanganyikans, Peacocks)

• Food Form: Floating or sinking pellets, spirulina flakes.
• Nutritional Need: Herbivore → high veg, low animal protein.
• Best Foods:
  • Spirulina-based cichlid pellets/flakes
  • NLS Algae Max
  • Fresh blanched peas/spinach
• Avoid: High protein “meaty” foods → Malawi bloat.

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🐡 Stingrays (Potamotrygon sp.)

• Food Form: Strictly sinking, soft, meaty foods.
• Nutritional Need: Carnivorous; high protein, low fiber.
• Best Foods:
  • Chopped earthworms (top choice for growth)
  • Blackworms, bloodworms (transition foods for new rays)
  • Chopped shrimp, smelt, tilapia fillets
  • Sinking carnivore pellets (Mazuri, Hikari Massivore) once trained
• Feeding Style: Hand-feed with tongs, or drop food directly under them (other fish steal easily).
• Avoid: Floating food (they won’t eat); hard shells (rays may injure mouth/discs).

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📊 Quick Matching Table

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🕒 Feeding Schedule (Mixed Tank Strategy)

1. Surface feeders first (cichlids, barbs, tetras) → floating flakes/pellets keep them busy.
2. Midwater next (discus, angelfish) → sinking granules.
3. Bottom dwellers last (plecos, corys, rays) → drop wafers, Repashy gel, chopped meat directly under cover.
4. Veggie clip at night → zucchini/cucumber for plecos.

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⚠️ Common Feeding Mistakes

• Overfeeding protein to herbivores (Mbuna, wood plecos) → bloat, fatty liver.
• Not providing true sinking food → bottom feeders starve while top fish gorge.
• Feeding only flakes → big fish need pellets, wafers, and fresh foods for nutrition balance.
• Forgetting veggie supplementation → plecos and many cichlids need fiber to stay healthy.

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✅ Bottom Line:

• Floating foods = surface feeders (cichlids, barbs, tetras).
• Sinking foods = plecos, corys, rays.
• Veggie-heavy = plecos, Mbuna.
• Protein-heavy = rays, predatory plecos, Oscars.
• Omnivore blends = most community fish.