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How to feed a zebrafish

It is difficult to raise zebrafish for the fact that zebrafish have special needs when it comes to food.  Baby and adult zebrafish have different diets, so one has to be aware of the age of the zebrafish when it comes to feeding.  There are three types of zebrafish food: Paramecium, Brine Shrimp, and flake food.

Paramecium
Paramecium are one-celled organisms that are found in freshwater environments.  They are only fed to zebrafish babies that are 5 days old to 14 days old.  Paramecium are ready to filter and feed babies after growing for 5-7 days.

1. Filter a container full of paramecium through a clean white handkerchief and feed the filtrate to 30-60ml tanks.  These filtered paramecium can be fed twice a day and can feed 40-60 fish.
2. Look on baby directions (white tag on each baby tank) for specified amounts.  One has to do research ahead of time to see what are the needs of the specific zebrafish that are growing in each tank to determine the food amount.
3. Scrub out container with water and a brush. 
4. Fill with reverse osmosis water and a 1/8 tsp of salt. 
5. Add about 12 drops of Liquid Fry© along with 50mls of left over paramecium. 
6. Put the lid on loosely and place container at the very end of the line of all the containers that need to be fed.

Brine Shrimp
Brine Shrimp are very small organisms that are found in saltwater and are often times referred to as Sea Monkeys.  They can be bought from various companies or be raised by a lab.  Brine Shrimp can be fed to older babies or adult zebrafish.

1. Remove air hose from oldest brine shrimp hatchery and let brine settle.
2. Drain hatchery into a cloth to collect brine shrimp and expel salt water. 
3. Throw away unhatched, brine eggs. 
4. Rinse the brine with system water and resuspend with system water. 
5. Clean out the hatcher using a brush and water only. 
6. Fill with system water and two (1/2 tsp) of brine eggs and two (1/4 tsp) salt.
7. Replace the air hose.  The brine will be ready to use the following day.
8. For feeding, 1 dense pipette full (about 2 mls) should be fed to tank with 10 adults.  For tanks of 20 or more adults, 2 dense pipette full (about 4 mls) should be fed.  For babies, one should research ahead of time, the proper amount to feed to each species of zebrafish.

Flake Food
Flake food is a combination of Tertramin Flake©, OSI Flake©, and Freeze-dried bloodworms.  The three types of flakes can be bought from fish food companies.  This mixture could be fed to babies, but it has to be ground up into a powder before it is fed. This mixture can be fed to baby or adult zebrafish.

1. Mix 1/3 of Tetramin Flake©, 1/3 of OSI Flake© and 1/3 of Freeze-dried bloodworms together into a container.
2. Use 1/2 teaspoon to feed tanks of 10 or more adults and 1 tsp. to feed tanks of 20 or more adults.  Babies are fed according to the directions posted on each tank.  Again, one has to do research ahead of time to see what are the needs of the specific zebrafish that are growing in each tank to determine the food amount

Frequency:

• All the zebrafish should be fed 2-3 times daily. 
• AM feedings are done with Brine Shrimp
• PM feedings are done with Flake Food
• If there is food left over after 10 minutes from feeding the amount given was too much and should be corrected the following time.