Calculate exact daily food amounts for aquarium fishs by species, size and count. Prevent overfeeding and ammonia spikes | Calculator4U
Calculate feeding amounts for aquarium fish.
Maintain pristine water quality and promote optimal aquatic vitality with the Fish Nutrition Calculator & Aquarium Feeding Guide. Unlike land animals, aquarium fish have an incredibly direct impact on their immediate environment. A single instance of overfeeding can destabilize a closed aquatic ecosystem, precipitating rapid ammonia spikes, nitrite toxicity, and dissolved oxygen crashes. While most generic guides offer vague instructions, this scientific tool allows you to calculate precise daily food mass distributions in grams or milligrams based on specific species profiles, metabolic requirements, and population parameters.
A major gap in traditional fish feeding advice is the failure to distinguish between feeding levels and physiological anatomical adaptations. Species are genetically optimized as surface feeders, mid-water suspension feeders, or bottom-dwelling scavengers. For example, surface-dwelling carnivores like Betta fish possess upturned mouths designed for capturing insects and require floating pellets or flakes high in animal proteins. In contrast, deep-bodied cichlids, delicate specialist discus, mid-water angelfish, or bottom-feeding plecos and freshwater shrimp all require targeted sinking wafers, specialized tablets, or bio-encapsulated live-frozen foods (such as bloodworms and daphnia) matching their respective trophic classifications.
This calculator utilizes the fundamental 2-Minute Rule alongside custom-calibrated mass profiles to prevent metabolic overload. Overfeeding is the leading cause of premature mortality in home aquariums, manifesting physically as constipation, fatty liver degeneration, and swim bladder disorder. Economically and biologically, any food left unconsumed after 120 seconds quickly breaks down, contributing to organic waste, unsightly algae blooms, and toxic surges in the bio-filter load.
| Fish Category | Dietary Guild | Preferred Feed Level | Critical Husbandry Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Betta Splendens | Strict Carnivore | Surface / Floating | Prone to bloating; benefits immensely from a weekly fast day. |
| Goldfish | Substrate Omnivore | Mid-Water to Bottom | Lacks a true stomach; requires high-carbohydrate, sinking pellets. |
| Tetra / Guppy / Molly | Opportunistic Omnivore | Mid-Water Suspension | Requires tiny micro-pellets or crushed flakes to accommodate small gapes. |
| Discus | Specialist Omnivore | Mid-Water Column | Highly sensitive to water parameters; requires pristine, high-protein feed. |
| Catfish / Pleco | Detritivore / Herbivore | Benthic / Bottom | Requires solid wood matter and sinking algae wafers with zero float time. |
| Freshwater Shrimp | Scavenger / Herbivore | Benthic / Bottom | Requires supplemental calcium to assist in proper exoskeleton molting. |
Feeding a Single Adult Betta (~3g typical mass): The metabolic baseline dictates a total daily ration of approximately 0.15 grams of food per session, administered across 1–2 feedings per day. To ensure optimal digestion and nutrient absorption, this target mass should ideally be broken down into a balanced profile: 0.06g of high-protein pellets, 0.07g of live or frozen foods (such as daphnia to assist with digestion), 0.02g of surface-floating flakes, and an occasional trace element of freeze-dried treats.
| Nutrient Core Profile | Carnivore Target | Omnivore Target | Herbivore Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Crude Protein | 45% – 55% | 35% – 40% | 25% – 30% |
| Crude Lipids (Fats) | 10% – 12% | 5% – 8% | 2% – 4% |
| Maximum Crude Fiber | 3% Maximum | 5% Maximum | 10% – 15% (Vital for gut transit) |
A single adult betta needs roughly 0.15g of food per session, fed once or twice daily, mostly from high-protein pellets and live or frozen food like bloodworms and brine shrimp. Enter your betta's actual weight in the calculator above for a precise per-feeding dose.
Signs of overfeeding include leftover food after 2 minutes, cloudy water, a rise in ammonia levels, and fish with bloated or bulging bellies. The 2-minute rule is the simplest check: if your fish haven't eaten everything within 2 minutes, you're feeding too much.
Most aquarium fish do best with 1 to 2 feedings per day, though this varies by species: goldfish and bottom feeders can handle once or twice daily, while active tropical fish and fry often benefit from smaller, more frequent meals. A weekly fasting day is also recommended for most species to support digestion.
Uneaten food decomposes in the tank and breaks down into ammonia, which is toxic to fish even at low concentrations. Removing leftover food promptly and feeding only what fish can finish in 2 minutes is the most effective way to prevent ammonia spikes from feeding.
Yes. Goldfish are omnivores that eat almost continuously and typically need about 3% of their body weight in food daily, compared to carnivorous bettas, which need closer to 1-2% and are prone to overeating and bloat.
Yes, most aquarium fish benefit from one fasting day per week, which gives their digestive system time to fully process food and reduces the risk of constipation, bloating, and swim bladder issues.
Freshwater shrimp are scavengers that get most of their nutrition grazing on biofilm and algae, so they only need a small amount of sinking food 2-3 times per week rather than daily feeding. Overfeeding shrimp is a common mistake, since even a small piece of uneaten food can foul the water in a small tank.
Angelfish are omnivores that do best on a varied diet of high-quality pellets or flakes as a base, supplemented with live or frozen protein like brine shrimp or bloodworms 2-3 times a week. Feed once or twice daily, only what they can finish within 2 minutes.
Discus are specialist feeders that need small, frequent, high-protein meals, often 2-4 times daily, and are pickier and more sensitive to water quality than most cichlids. Their higher feeding frequency means extra vigilance about removing uneaten food to prevent ammonia buildup.
Catfish and plecos are largely bottom feeders that need sinking wafers or pellets, with herbivorous species like plecos requiring mostly algae-based food and occasional vegetables like blanched zucchini. Feed once daily in the evening, since many catfish species are more active at night.