Better on the fish, or the aquarium cycle, to feed at 1st light, or last light???

[Magnum Man]

Title pretty much says it all… I work all day, so I need to feed at 1st light, or at last light… is one better for the fish than the other, how about for the tank, concerning waste that follows feeding???

 

[MaloK]

Control waste by not letting it happen in the first place... Feed good meal at first and last light See that they eat 90% and more...

I know it's not that fun to defreeze bloodworms while your having your morning coffee.

But under doing it twice a day is still 10 times better than overdoing once.... Veggies only on Friday. Try to have an hour loose after supper.

Just kidding... But that's what I'm aiming for. Not really always possible.

Once cycled a well fed aquarium will digest every left over.

 

[Lcc86]

Hmmm interesting point to raise! I feed based on what works best for my schedule. Fish get fed in the morning while I'm having my coffee/doing some admin and can sit and watch them (around this time of day as I write). Frogs get fed in the evening as they're more nocturnal and I also have a bit more time in the evenings so if one is hiding I can spend the time to track them down. I've never really considered what impact there might be on waste.

 

[Magnum Man]

I currently feed at night mostly, usually about an hour before the white light goes out, as that works best for me… started wondering if it might actually be better for the fish to eat in the morning, where the white lights are on all day??? And of course a regular feeding time certainly isn’t natural for the fish… don’t know if it’s "better" for them or not???
Right now I don’t have any specific nocturnal feeders, maybe my Coolie loaches… so as cleanup crew, night feeding might work better for them???

 

[GaryE]

Kuhli loaches like to be fed at night, but they adjust.

I feed in the morning, but I don't care about the cycle foodwise. I don't overfeed. Getting amount right is a bit of an experience thing, and we all overfeed at the start.
Your Tilapia as food fish need lots of food, but for the others, it doesn't take a lot.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

i almost always feed at night, just because i’m busy during the day. but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with feeding your fish in the morning

 

[TwoTankAmin]

How one feeds really depends on what the eating habits of the fish are. I keep two types of tanks. The first are pleco breeding and grow tanks. These fish are often night time feeders and daytime hiders. The rest of my tanks are planted communities with an assortment of fish.

For me the best time to feed is in the evening. It needs to be early enough for the fish which sleep at night can feed yet lase enough that the sinking foods will be there after lights out.

When I kept discus I would feed them smaller ammounts a few times a day as they are basically grazers. When I experimented withspawning angels thier fry needed to be fed nultiple times a day and early on with live foods.

I also skip feeding at least one day a week except for fry.

I would think that for most of us how we feed depends to a great extent on our own schedules. So, there are time when I have not choice but to feed at odd times every now and then. But any fish I ever kept was a pig when it came to food, They would try to eat as much as they could of anything they thought was food any time they could.

I have often said that fish basically have 3 thoughts which govern almost everything they do:
1. Can it eat me?
2. Can I eat it?
3. Can I spawn with it.

One last observation- I have watched my open water fish eat the food on the substrate for the bottom feeders and those bottom feeders take flakes off of the surface. Like I said, they are all pigs when it comes to food.

edited to fix a typo

 

[Magnum Man]

my cory's that I have currently in 3 tanks, all come to the surface for the good stuff...

I was just wondering if it's better for the fish, to not be hungry through the whole day, or if it's better for the fish, to be fed through the day light hours??? not sure if it could increase or decrease aggression during the day, between the hungry or full condition, when I can't witness??? ( I don't don't normally witness physical aggression during or after feeding... I do witness competition for food, but not singling out of any fish type aggression )

 

[Uberhoust]

I feed when it is convenient for me, typically just after I eat so I can sit and watch the fish feed. It also allows me to adjust the food amount based on how long it takes them to eat. I only feed once a day. I know hatchery trout will adapt to any feeding schedule within a few feedings, in the absence of any other data it's what I go by. In the wild the fish in our parts will feed whenever food is available, if there is a hatch of insects within a little bit you will see them start to rise to the surface to feed, though this typically occurs in the mornings or night.

 

[Ram419]

I work from home so so I'm able to feed around 1PM - 2PM or so once per day on all my tanks and pond. Unless it's a fry tank, then I feed them multiple times a day.
I do think, unless the animal is nocturnal, that it should be fed while there is still light.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I feed here, there and everywhere. Yeah yeah- too much usually. Then I'll take a couple of days off. I typically only give them a little pinch when I do feed them, so it's not hanging around ...usually...