Feeding times

[Corypower]

Then feed once in the morning and another at night

No, but there are always some nocturnal fish in my community tanks.

 

[itiwhetu]

Over feeding is one of the biggest problems with fish tanks. I have always only fed my adult fish once a day. By letting them scavenge, I will know that everything I put in the tank will go through a fish. By leaving the lights off until midday the fish wake slowly and are most active in the evening when I am home enjoying their company.

 

[Corypower]

Over feeding is one of the biggest problems with fish tanks. I have always only fed my adult fish once a day. By letting them scavenge, I will know that everything I put in the tank will go through a fish. By leaving the lights off until midday the fish wake slowly and are most active in the evening when I am home enjoying their company.

I guess it’s alright better to underfeed then overfeed

 

[Fishfinder1973]

I have tropical fish and if any one actually read my first post I said I feed my fish in the morning and at night,not once did I say they needed to be fed at that time,I feed them at that time cause I know that’s when fish feed more in the wild.It’s for myself,not the fish.
I thought I would just explain why the fish in the wild feed at those times.

 

[Guyb93]

I feed my fish 6am an 6pm apart from Friday when they don’t get fed at all .. I feed twice a day mainly because it kerbs some aggression and some of my fish are nocturnal eaters , I know some people who only feed there fish twice a week

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I have tropical fish and if any one actually read my first post I said I feed my fish in the morning and at night,not once did I say they needed to be fed at that time,I feed them at that time cause I know that’s when fish feed more in the wild.It’s for myself,not the fish.
I thought I would just explain why the fish in the wild feed at those times.

That sort of makes things clearer, although at no point in your original post did you say you were feeding tropical fish.
Again, whilst your feeding regime can work out well for yourself, using the regime of some UK coldwater, freshwater fish as your rationale doesn't make much sense to me, but hey! It's a broad church.
Plus, don't forget that fish are always on the look out for a meal, which is why the numerous blokes in big wellies, with tartan flasks and packets of egg sandwiches, arrayed upon the river banks pass the time of day.

Thinking further about this topic...
Tropical fish in their 'wild' will have a completely different diurnal and annual cycle to here in Blighty, so any wild caught fish either adapt to what they're given, or their keeper provides them with what they are used to receiving.
...And the 'wild' could be anything from the upper reaches of the Amazon, to streams from the Indian Himalaya, through to SE Asian paddy fields and Sri Lankan pools.
Farm-bred fish will have grown used to a wholly different (and artificial) regime and, again, adapt to what we provide for them.

Fortunately, fish are usually very adaptable with respect to feeding and lighting conditions, especially if changes are introduced gradually...and I do like the article @AbbeysDad refers to.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I also note how many of us introduce a 'fasting day' to our fish. On reflection, I'm thinking that this is probably just a useful technique to help us lower the risk of overfeeding, rather than to directly benefit the fish*.
In a natural setting, fish that go without food will weaken and will be more likely to become prey to other fish. The actual process of hunting for food keeps an animal animated and alert and effectively physically and mentally exercised. I try to replicate this with relatively random feeding and by presenting a variety of suitable foods.

*Although obviously, not overfeeding is beneficial.

 

[Corypower]

I also note how many of us introduce a 'fasting day' to our fish. On reflection, I'm thinking that this is probably just a useful technique to help us lower the risk of overfeeding, rather than to directly benefit the fish*.
In a natural setting, fish that go without food will weaken and will be more likely to become prey to other fish. The actual process of hunting for food keeps an animal animated and alert and effectively physically and mentally exercised. I try to replicate this with relatively random feeding and by presenting a variety of suitable foods.

*Although obviously, not overfeeding is beneficial.

How is reducing bloat not beneficial to fish?

 

[AbbeysDad]

As I re-read this thread a couple of additional thoughts came to mind. Mentioned several times was overfeeding and of course we don't want that. But an important point when discussing feeding is the quality of the fish food you're feeding. There are many quality commercial fish foods, but there continues to be lower quality foods on the market using low quality fishmeal with lots of grain/grain starch as binder/filler. I did a LOT of research and contacted many Commercial Fish Food manufactures for an article I wrote (it's a good read, but a deep dive so strap in!). With high quality fish foods the fish get better nutrition and frankly, there's less fish waste. I dare say that fish can do very well with less quantity of higher quality food than lower.
It also occurred to me that when I prepare fish for auctions, swap meets, or LFS sales, I withhold food for up to 4 days (adult fish only)....this ensures that there is less waste in the bag they may be in for several hours .... and the fish are fine and suffer no ill effects. Now I don't normally fast the fish one or more days a week, but clearly, based on the above, there's no harm in doing so.

Note: Many years ago I switched to higher quality fish food. Previously I would have fish with sometimes long trails of excrement behind them. Soon after the switch to higher quality food, very little 'poo' trailed behind the fish! (lower quality foods use ample grain/grain starch and fish can't process grains well so it passes through as excess waste).

 

[Fishfinder1973]

That sort of makes things clearer, although at no point in your original post did you say you were feeding tropical fish.
Again, whilst your feeding regime can work out well for yourself, using the regime of some UK coldwater, freshwater fish as your rationale doesn't make much sense to me, but hey! It's a broad church.
Plus, don't forget that fish are always on the look out for a meal, which is why the numerous blokes in big wellies, with tartan flasks and packets of egg sandwiches, arrayed upon the river banks pass the time of day.

Thinking further about this topic...
Tropical fish in their 'wild' will have a completely different diurnal and annual cycle to here in Blighty, so any wild caught fish either adapt to what they're given, or their keeper provides them with what they are used to receiving.
...And the 'wild' could be anything from the upper reaches of the Amazon, to streams from the Indian Himalaya, through to SE Asian paddy fields and Sri Lankan pools.
Farm-bred fish will have grown used to a wholly different (and artificial) regime and, again, adapt to what we provide for them.

Fortunately, fish are usually very adaptable with respect to feeding and lighting conditions, especially if changes are introduced gradually...and I do like the article @AbbeysDad refers to.

I posted this in the tropical discussion,I didn’t think I had to mention they weren’t cold water fish Bruce,but there we go.
Only when fish become torpid or are unwell do they not feed,so this day of fasting can makes zero sense to me unless it’s folk with fish in a garden pond that do this,which makes perfect sense.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

The rationale behind me using the habits of uk freshwater fish feeding times is simple,I like trying to replicate it in my own home

 

[Avel1896]

I feed most of my fish in the day while my pleco at night

Bottom feeders can eat quieter at night.

 

[Fishfinder1973]

That narrows it down a little.
What species are you feeding in your tank? You're using UK cold freshwater species as your model, but in this tropical part of the Forum, we'd normally be talking about tropicals and these would have a life quite different from your average Roach in the Tay.

I wouldn’t know Bruce,there aren’t the big shoals of 2lb roach in the Tay anymore,not since the grain boats stopped docking

 

[PheonixKingZ]

salt water

Yes, saltwater fish should be fed multiple times a day, because they have such high metabolism rates.

I feed my saltwater fish 2-3 times a day, while I feed my freshwater fish 1 time a day, usually at night.

As long as you aren’t over feeding, there’s nothing wrong with feeding your fish 2x daily.

 

[Colin_T]

saltwater fishes have the same metabolism as freshwater fishes.