Am I Underfeeding My Fish ...

[katiefairyinnit]

I didn't mean to continue feeding for 15 mins, i meant that every last bit should be gone within 15 mins. I got this info from 3 fish keeping books i have. Its a good guide for not overfeeding but I would say if neons are foraging for food, they are too hungry. If the food is gone in seconds, its not enough. I feed my fish daily and they eat flake, bloodworm and green foods. Variety is best for your fish and you can usually tell if they are too hungry. If you have a feeling, your instinct is probably right

My swordtail just ate pretty much all the food that floated on the surface and she's still foraging for food on the floor. It seems like it's not a sign of underfeeding.

Regarding the askers fish, it probably is a sign of underfeeding. If he thinks they're being underfed and they look hungry, they probably are. i can't speak for your swordtails

 

[FishBlast]

I didn't mean to continue feeding for 15 mins, i meant that every last bit should be gone within 15 mins. I got this info from 3 fish keeping books i have. Its a good guide for not overfeeding but I would say if neons are foraging for food, they are too hungry. If the food is gone in seconds, its not enough. I feed my fish daily and they eat flake, bloodworm and green foods. Variety is best for your fish and you can usually tell if they are too hungry. If you have a feeling, your instinct is probably right

My swordtail just ate pretty much all the food that floated on the surface and she's still foraging for food on the floor. It seems like it's not a sign of underfeeding.

Regarding the askers fish, it probably is a sign of underfeeding. If he thinks they're being underfed and they look hungry, they probably are. i can't speak for your swordtails

As long as they won't end up bloated, I guess it's ok.

 

[seanlid123]

feed them everyday and give them enough flake that will last about 30 seconds in the tank

 

[onidrase]

Hi, you should be feeding your fish daily and feed only what will be consumed in 15 mins. You may have heard that 'a hungry fish is a healthy fish', which is true, but you shouldn't constantly underfeed as this will cause stress and greater susceptibility to disease. If they look hungry, they probably are. If they're foraging then you should increase their food intake. Hope this helps

but let's not forget fish like cichlids, tiger barbs, and catfish which will not stop eating until it's so fat it can't move anymore. Causing things like bloating and constipation, and they always look hungry. My convicts beg for food whenever I walk up to the tank, even just 5 minutes after I fed them. My firemouth sifts sand through its mouth looking for goodies all day long, and my male convict kicks the sand up and eats any goodies that float around with it. My tiger barbs ate till they looked pregnant, and would still beg for food. And if you continue feeding them because they look hungry, that will cause more disease than not feeding them enough. Less is more, imo.

15 minutes is a long time to wait. more like 3-5 minutes is a better way to see it. Regardless, I only give my fish enough to eat within 30 seconds, twice a day. The rest of the day, they find their own goodies within the tank. And that's even over feeding them in comparison to how much they eat in the wild, really. We spoil our fish with a lot of food daily. Getting a little less isn't going to stress them out or kill them. Unless your fish looks malnourished and has its stomach sunk in because you haven't fed in in 3 weeks, you're giving them enough food.

 

[lloyd]

Hi, you should be feeding your fish daily and feed only what will be consumed in 15 mins. You may have heard that 'a hungry fish is a healthy fish', which is true, but you shouldn't constantly underfeed as this will cause stress and greater susceptibility to disease. If they look hungry, they probably are. If they're foraging then you should increase their food intake. Hope this helps

but let's not forget fish like cichlids, tiger barbs, and catfish which will not stop eating until it's so fat it can't move anymore. Causing things like bloating and constipation, and they always look hungry. My convicts beg for food whenever I walk up to the tank, even just 5 minutes after I fed them. My firemouth sifts sand through its mouth looking for goodies all day long, and my male convict kicks the sand up and eats any goodies that float around with it. My tiger barbs ate till they looked pregnant, and would still beg for food. And if you continue feeding them because they look hungry, that will cause more disease than not feeding them enough. Less is more, imo.

15 minutes is a long time to wait. more like 3-5 minutes is a better way to see it. Regardless, I only give my fish enough to eat within 30 seconds, twice a day. The rest of the day, they find their own goodies within the tank. And that's even over feeding them in comparison to how much they eat in the wild, really. We spoil our fish with a lot of food daily. Getting a little less isn't going to stress them out or kill them. Unless your fish looks malnourished and has its stomach sunk in because you haven't fed in in 3 weeks, you're giving them enough food.

I agree b but surely there is a middle ground to where your fish go from being well fed to malnourished with a sunk stomach.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Hi, you should be feeding your fish daily and feed only what will be consumed in 15 mins. You may have heard that 'a hungry fish is a healthy fish', which is true, but you shouldn't constantly underfeed as this will cause stress and greater susceptibility to disease. If they look hungry, they probably are. If they're foraging then you should increase their food intake. Hope this helps

but let's not forget fish like cichlids, tiger barbs, and catfish which will not stop eating until it's so fat it can't move anymore. Causing things like bloating and constipation, and they always look hungry. My convicts beg for food whenever I walk up to the tank, even just 5 minutes after I fed them. My firemouth sifts sand through its mouth looking for goodies all day long, and my male convict kicks the sand up and eats any goodies that float around with it. My tiger barbs ate till they looked pregnant, and would still beg for food. And if you continue feeding them because they look hungry, that will cause more disease than not feeding them enough. Less is more, imo.

15 minutes is a long time to wait. more like 3-5 minutes is a better way to see it. Regardless, I only give my fish enough to eat within 30 seconds, twice a day. The rest of the day, they find their own goodies within the tank. And that's even over feeding them in comparison to how much they eat in the wild, really. We spoil our fish with a lot of food daily. Getting a little less isn't going to stress them out or kill them. Unless your fish looks malnourished and has its stomach sunk in because you haven't fed in in 3 weeks, you're giving them enough food.

I got that from 3 books i have on fishkeeping, its not my words, so you're arguing with specialist books. I already specified i meant it should be completely GONE within 15 mins, not feed continuously for 15 mins. I find a lot of people very critical of others' advice. We're all trying to help out someone who's asked for advice as he feels his fish are being underfed. Everything in fishkeeping boils down to personal experience. Its good to share opinions without criticising others' views. I would never feed my fish twice a day, but I wouldn't tell you that you are wrong for doing it. Everyone has their own way of doing things. We should all help each other

 

[riogal_11]

If I fed my cichlids a flake each day, they'd probably jump out of the tank and attack me! Lol!

Seriously though, if it should be gone within 15 minutes, I'd be seriously screwed and broke buying that much NLS food. I feed a good amount and they devour it in about 15 seconds!

I'm interested to know what books these are, because I've seen a lot of recommendations, but never anything stating anything close to 15 minutes.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

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

 

[riogal_11]

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.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

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!

 

[riogal_11]

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.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

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.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi Katie...i don't think anyone is having a go at you here (i certainly wasn't, and apologise if it came across that way!), it's simply not the way things are done round here, open debates and general opinions is the way forward. What i would be interested to know though, is how you would go about feeding 'what can be consumed within 15 minutes'. Do you put in enough food that lasts them 15 mins? Do you continue to feed them for 15 mins until they are satisfied and/or full?
Any reply you may have is highly appreciated.

Terry.

 

[katiefairyinnit]

Hi Terry,

No I don't feed them continuously for 15 mins, I just make sure there is no food left after that amount of time, floating about. I used the books guide to guage whether my fish were eating enough, or too much. Personally, the way I feed mine is to put a pinch of flake in for my larger fish and then i put in a small amount of powdered flake for my little endlers and my fry endler. Then I put in 3 or 4 catfish pellets for my plec and every few days I treat them to a small piece of courgette as my plec loves green foods and the greedy fish like to steal his pellets!

I never over-feed and as yet (touch wood!) I've never had any problems or deaths in my tank. So I thought I'd use the '15 minute' rule to point out to the asker that if his fish are receiving a tiny amount of food which is gone in a few seconds, they could probably do with a little more. My fish never eat for 15 mins, its usually gone completely within a couple of minutes. I put in enough to make sure everyone eats, as I have a couple of lazy fish that never make effort to fight the quicker ones for food. But the food is gone quickly. I think if i put in a tiny pinch for them all every 2 days, some of my guys would definitely starve!

I think mainly, I was making a contrast between 15 mins and a few seconds. If a fish owner has an inkling something may be wrong, instinct is usually right. Only he can see his fish and its good to share opinions with each other so we can all have happy, healthy fish

I hope I explained myself a little better!

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi Terry,

No I don't feed them continuously for 15 mins, I just make sure there is no food left after that amount of time, floating about. I used the books guide to guage whether my fish were eating enough, or too much. Personally, the way I feed mine is to put a pinch of flake in for my larger fish and then i put in a small amount of powdered flake for my little endlers and my fry endler. Then I put in 3 or 4 catfish pellets for my plec and every few days I treat them to a small piece of courgette as my plec loves green foods and the greedy fish like to steal his pellets!

I never over-feed and as yet (touch wood!) I've never had any problems or deaths in my tank. So I thought I'd use the '15 minute' rule to point out to the asker that if his fish are receiving a tiny amount of food which is gone in a few seconds, they could probably do with a little more. My fish never eat for 15 mins, its usually gone completely within a couple of minutes. I put in enough to make sure everyone eats, as I have a couple of lazy fish that never make effort to fight the quicker ones for food. But the food is gone quickly. I think if i put in a tiny pinch for them all every 2 days, some of my guys would definitely starve!

I think mainly, I was making a contrast between 15 mins and a few seconds. If a fish owner has an inkling something may be wrong, instinct is usually right. Only he can see his fish and its good to share opinions with each other so we can all have happy, healthy fish

I hope I explained myself a little better!

Thanks Katie..yep, that makes it alot clearer for me, so thank you .
I guess how much, when and what you feed is, as you say, all down to personal experience...and you seem to have it spot on with your feeding regime.What was and is always important to me and my tank is that the fish get a very similiar diet and amount of food as they would in the wild... a friend of mine in work simply feeds his tropical tank with the cheapest large tub of flaked food that is available (which is usually one of those big tubs for a quid in the local pound shop), but then again, he doesn't have the pride in his tank that the majority of us do.
Again, thank you,

Terry.