Clownfish are the most popular fish for saltwater aquariums. Understanding their diet is vital to keeping them healthy in your tank. Clownfish eat a varied diet consisting of mysis shrimp, copepods, algae, flakes, and pellet food.
They will eat things in your tank such as algae, zooplankton, and copepods, and of course they will eat appropriate fish food.
- Mysis shrimp
- Brine shrimp
- Uncooked Peeled shrimp
- Copepods
- Isopods
- Algae
- Flake food
- Pellet food
What Is The Best Food For Clownfish?
The best food for clownfish is flakes, pellets, and frozen mysis or brine shrimp. We prefer to use a mixture of flakes/pellets with frozen mysis a couple of times per week. This also may depend on what your fish are used to having. We have gotten clowns that would not eat flakes, but gobbled up the pellets and shrimp.
Fish food is not expensive, so it doesn’t hurt to get both, or you can ask the fish store what they have been using. Having said that, most will eat about anything, but we have seen some that are fickle at first. Your local pet store may offer frozen food for your fish.
It all comes down to this. The most appropriate food, is whatever they will eat, but variety is always good.
How Often Do You Feed A Clownfish?
Adult clownfish need to be fed twice per day, and juveniles need to be feed 3-4 times a day.
This of course is flexible depending on your schedule as well as your tanks environment. Also, if you are having problems with water changes and/or nitrates, it may be good to reduce feeding.
You should only feed them what they can eat in a couple of minutes. They may act like they are still hungry, but do not overfeed your fish. This can cause problems with excess nitrogen and waste.
Frozen usually comes in little cubes. Each cube contains a lot of little mysis in it. It is way too much food for a tank with just a couple of fish, so keep that in mind when using this type of food. If you don’t need the whole cube, you can cut a little piece off and drop it in some of the tank water in a small cup.
That way, you can see how much you have, and after the food has thawed a bit, you can get some of the pieces out for feeding. Dropping a hole cube of frozen shrimp into a tank with a small amount of fish will create a lot of extra waste and uneaten food on your sand bed.
How Long Can A Clownfish Live Without Food?
A clownfish can go as long as 10 days without eating, however, that is not something that you want to do. Just because some of lasted that long does not mean yours will. If you are going be to away from your aquarium for more than a few days, you should arrange to have someone come and feed your clowns.
Final Thoughts
The final thought on what do clownfish eat? Try multiple things, and feed them what they like. In addition to that, it is a good idea to feed them a variety.
