Am I Underfeeding My Fish ...

[CezzaXV]

Most fish just don't have the mechanism that we have that tells us when we've eaten enough food and we feel full. Fish will continue eating and eating and will always look hungry. You've got to remember that in the wild fish don't get a regular feeding schedule like we give them - they've got to take food whenever and wherever they find it.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Most fish just don't have the mechanism that we have that tells us when we've eaten enough food and we feel full. Fish will continue eating and eating and will always look hungry. You've got to remember that in the wild fish don't get a regular feeding schedule like we give them - they've got to take food whenever and wherever they find it.

Hi Cezza,

How would I find out how much fish would eat in the wild? I do a lot of reading about fish keeping but don't remember coming across anything about that. i'd be interested to know how much they'd eat in the wild if you could share any info you've got?

Thanks!

 

[jenjen_82]

i often go the odd day with out feeding my fish but as a general rule i like to keep it once a day.

you really need to up your neons to a bigger group. Y do u only have four?

First fish in a 40 litre tank , should be getting some more this weekend hopefully , not sure what to go for though , quite liked the look of guppies when I saw some the other day , any other suggestions ? ...

More neons?

I have neons, harlequins and guppies and I put a tiny pinch in and watch them eat it if there still going top after all the foods gone I put another tiny pinch in and i do this once a day as my filter swirls the food away sometimes before most of them have noticed I've put it in n I found I was over feeding due to the amount of snails I had!

No problem, I have two of said books here....One is Encyclopedia - The Tropical Aquarium by Gina Sandford and the other is The Bumper Book of Tropical Aquarium Fishes by Dick Mills. Verify away peeps

Defensive much? I really just wanted to know, because I had never seen such a suggestion.

No worries, just you're the 4th person to question what I wrote regarding feeding. Its not aimed at you, I just don't get why people try to disprove each other round here. I thought we all were here to share opinions and stuff? I only joined a couple of days ago and already it looks like people always try to criticise each other! I'm just trying to help, that's all!

Because some "opinions" can be harmful. Nothing wrong with a little friendly debate and/or back and forth. That way, the original posters have a variety of things to read and make up their mind for themselves. I generally see 3-5 minutes as the accepted time. I think a LOT of people overfeed, and that can be a huge problem. So, I think that's why people are not agreeing with you recommendation. If I fed my cichlids for 15 minutes, I'd expect that they'd all end up with Malawi bloat.

Again, I never said feed them for 15 minutes. At no point did I say this. It was a comparison between the book's recommendation of not feeding anything that cannot be completely consumed within 15 minutes. Comparing that maximum with fish that are consuming everything in a matter of seconds, it puts the amount thats being fed into perspective.

I think if I put enough food in there so it was still floating around for 15 mins I'd have definitely over fed them and have no food left as mine sinks pretty quick lol