Am I feeding enough?

[Guppylover3x]

I am unsure if I’m feeding enough. My guppies get fed every few days or every other day. My fish always seem to be rooting through the gravel after feeding and even in between. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Colin_T]

Is the tank cycled?

 

[Built2Prfctn]

I sometimes feed twice a day. Maybe I'm over feeding lol.

 

[EllieTheJellyy]

I always feed twice a day 8am and 6pm I only give a bit at a time and as much as they eat in 2 minutes. If it starts falling to the floor I stop.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Is the tank cycled?

No the tank isn’t cycled that’s why I don’t feed a lot at the moment.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I sometimes feed twice a day. Maybe I'm over feeding lol.

Many thanks for the feedback, I think this is probably the right way to feed and what the stores would advice.

 

[Guppylover3x]

I always feed twice a day 8am and 6pm I only give a bit at a time and as much as they eat in 2 minutes. If it starts falling to the floor I stop.

That’s a good rule to go by. Many thanks for the feedback. Maybe I need to increase my feeding. I worry because the tank isn’t cycled.

 

[Colin_T]

Do not feed more than 2-3 times per week if the tank has not cycled because you will get ammonia problems and poison the fish. When the tank has finished cycling and there is no ammonia or nitrite levels, then you can increase feeding to several times a day if you like.

When you do feed the fish, give them a little bit of food and they should eat it all in about 30 seconds. Remove any uneaten food after feeding.

 

[EllieTheJellyy]

That’s a good rule to go by. Many thanks for the feedback. Maybe I need to increase my feeding. I worry because the tank isn’t cycled.

Adding on to that fish will constantly want food and eat whatever’s available even if they are not hungry, my fish are beggars but I have to ignore how cute they are and not give them any more food. So them seeing me (the person who gives them food) they’ll go crazy to be fed again.

 

[Guppylover3x]

Adding on to that fish will constantly want food and eat whatever’s available even if they are not hungry, my fish are beggars but I have to ignore how cute they are and not give them any more food. So them seeing me (the person who gives them food) they’ll go crazy to be fed again.

I agree! They are generally scavengers anyway. If we gave in everytime we would be in trouble.

 

[Byron]

During cycling is different than normal, as Colin noted.

Normal feeding of non-fry fish should be less than what manufacturers recommend. Once a day and not every day is preferable for most fish. Fry need more feedings to develop properly, but other wise there is no reason to overfeed. Fish should consume the food within a minute or two; only exceptions are slow feeders and substrate fish (cories, loaches) who will chow down on sinking pellets/disks/tabs for much longer assuming these do not break apart too fast.

Fasting one or two days a week will hurt no mature fish. In fact, the opposite. Fish will tend to eat if food is offered, and just like humans, that can lead to serious internal issues. In their habitats, food is not always readily available, and fish will tend to be looking for it continually. There are only three aspects to a fish's life, namely feeding, surviving (from predators) and reproduction.

A common tetra only needs one small flake each day to obtain all the nutrition necessary. Obviously, the type of flake is important here; the point I'm trying to make is that fish do not need very much to be healthy. Certainly not two or more times a day. What goes in must come out, so right off you are lessening the water quality by double.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

During cycling is different than normal, as Colin noted.

Normal feeding of non-fry fish should be less than what manufacturers recommend. Once a day and not every day is preferable for most fish. Fry need more feedings to develop properly, but other wise there is no reason to overfeed. Fish should consume the food within a minute or two; only exceptions are slow feeders and substrate fish (cories, loaches) who will chow down on sinking pellets/disks/tabs for much longer assuming these do not break apart too fast.

Fasting one or two days a week will hurt no mature fish. In fact, the opposite. Fish will tend to eat if food is offered, and just like humans, that can lead to serious internal issues. In their habitats, food is not always readily available, and fish will tend to be looking for it continually. There are only three aspects to a fish's life, namely feeding, surviving (from predators) and reproduction.

A common tetra only needs one small flake each day to obtain all the nutrition necessary. Obviously, the type of flake is important here; the point I'm trying to make is that fish do not need very much to be healthy. Certainly not two or more times a day. What goes in must come out, so right off you are lessening the water quality by double.

Couldn't agree more Byron, Overfeeding is so easily done and most people don't realise how little fish need to eat. Fish for food production are fed about 3-4% body weight per day (obviously dependant on life stage ect) but if you take that for a 10g fish you only need 0.4g of food and that is designed to grow these fish at massive speeds, and produces a lot of waste! a maintenance diet is considered between 1-2% per day and even that for a small guppy at maybe half a gram is a ridiculously small amount of food per fish and you would need 200 half a gram guppies to even warrant feeding a gram of food a day.

Personally I feed every other day as standard for most of my tanks. ( however like any things there will always be exceptions.

If you want to know a bit more I did a thread about it
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/feeding-and-nutrition-in-fish.450390/#post-3805913