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My two little kuhlis eat non stop. I feed them half a wafer twice a day and every time I put it in before it hits bottom they're all over it. Am I not feeding them enough or what?

A hungry fish is almost always hungry. Fish don't know when their next meal is in the wild, so they are adapted to eat whenever possible.

The exception are large predators, which will eat something and chill out for a few days.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I would be more concerned if they were not eating. They are just hungry little fellers.

Keith

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For there only being two of them they keep the bottom of my tank pretty clean. I'm afraid of what will happen when I add 3 more kuhlis. I have one that is always out and about where it can be seen and my other one I never see till the lights are off and I throw in the last wafer half of the day.

Yes, yes they are

Try a slice of zucchini elastic banded to a rock. That should keep them busy between wafers

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi,
Just a caution when it comes to feeding. The stomach of
a fish is roughly the size of it's eyes. That is not very
large and it does not take a lot of food to fill it. Slow
moving fish vs fast moving, "hyper" fish should be fed
differently as their memetabolisms are different. Several
small feedings would be better than one huge feeding.

Shinigami is right in the comment about their environment
in the wild and that instinct can lead to gorging
and impaction for those fish in a enclosed environment.

There is a good "rule of thumb" when it comes to feeding
and that is to never feed more than they can eat within
a minute or so and to never feed so much that the food sits
on the bottom of the tank. With the fish that live and
feed on the bottom, you should not leave the food such as
the veggies sitting on the bottom more than 12 hours, and
then wait at least another 12 to 24 or even 48 hours
before feeding again.
The warm water of the tropical tanks accelerates the decay
of the food and can begin to contaminate the water if you
leave uneaten food on the bottom.

Some fish are like kids, they seem to have a "hollow leg",
especially when it comes to treats.
Its up to the "parents" (the fish keepers) to set the
limits and only feed the amount that is healthy for them
and their environment.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

So Frank,

should I only feed them one wafer every other day? I think I've had them a little over a month and they've grown considerably. Could I be over feeding them?

Hi,
I don't know about the wafers as I've never used them.
Depending upon the size and thickness I would think that
every other day might be just fine. One way to check is
to keep track of your nitrate reading and see if you can
correlate a rise with each tablet in between water changes.
"A" wafer every other day should not give you an increase.
If it does, then it is sitting too long waiting to
be eaten and skipping another day between feedings of the
wafers might be an idea.

From the sounds of things it sounds just fine, especially
when you add the additional three to make five.

Callatya is right in suggesting other foods. They do need
a variety of foods, as that will help them grow and
flourish.

The one time I tried an algae food tablet I had one of the
worst outbreaks of algae I've ever had. It could have been
a coincidence, but I decided that I'd not try it again!

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I haven't had a problem with these algae wafers as far as algae outbreaks or nitrate spikes. My fish love them too. They pick on it till the kuhlis get to it then just hover around it till they're done. I will try the zucchini what else can they have? The wafers I give them are Wardley Algea Discs. Is this a good brand? Am I even feeding them the right stuff. They seem to love it so that's what I give them.

Feeding algae wafers is no problem. Most fish foods tend to be relatively balanced; even though it's called an "algae" wafer, it also probably contains fish or shrimp meal to give fish some meat-based protein, which is what your loaches probably enjoy more than the algae.

You could probably do with just half an algae wafer a day.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.