How Much & How Often...............

[soybean]

I don't starve my fish. I just don't feed thm more than they need. And of the two, I consider slightly nderfeeding better than over feeding. This is just my opinion. There's nothing wrong with my fish and they are all healthy with good colour, so I'm not going to change my schedule.

 

[riffraff]

hello AbbeysDad

can you name names please, you could pm if you done want to put it here.

i have 7 different foods, and frozen, and get live and put fresh veg in
not all at once of course, i feed mine all different times, sometimes twice a day
sometimes once and sometimes skip a day. hey at least im following everyones advice!!

cheers
riffraff

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I don't starve my fish. I just don't feed thm more than they need. And of the two, I consider slightly nderfeeding better than over feeding. This is just my opinion. There's nothing wrong with my fish and they are all healthy with good colour, so I'm not going to change my schedule.

+1

Have you seen the damage done by over feeding, Abbeysdad? Swim bladder issues, amongst others, plus polluting the tank causing potentially harmful ammonia spikes?

 

[AbbeysDad]

I don't starve my fish. I just don't feed thm more than they need. And of the two, I consider slightly nderfeeding better than over feeding. This is just my opinion. There's nothing wrong with my fish and they are all healthy with good colour, so I'm not going to change my schedule.

I referenced your post only in regards to your comment about a tank not being a natural environment.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I don't starve my fish. I just don't feed thm more than they need. And of the two, I consider slightly nderfeeding better than over feeding. This is just my opinion. There's nothing wrong with my fish and they are all healthy with good colour, so I'm not going to change my schedule.

+1

Have you seen the damage done by over feeding, Abbeysdad? Swim bladder issues, amongst others, plus polluting the tank causing potentially harmful ammonia spikes?

Again, my reference to Soybean's post was only relative to the tank not being a natural environment. A zoo is not a natural environment, but we don't feed the lions bread (so why feed [bread] flour to our fish?).

Shall I reference the bloke that said he only feeds his fish every few days.
Infrequently feeding 'ample amounts' is more likely over feeding that can result in the very things you speak of.
I'm only suggesting feeding modest amounts of high quality fish food twice a day, every day (more for fry). If all of the food is consumed and there is less waste, there is no polluting bio-load.

I think the fear of over feeding coupled with misinformation has resulted in many false notions and once the newbie hears it echoed a few times (often by other newbies), of course it must be true.

 

[soybean]

I think it depends on how you define under feeding. I feed my fish well five days out of seven and don't consider them underfed. You do. It's a matter of opinion.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I feed mine twice a day in very small amounts. I enjoy watching them dart for food. Unless your fish are getting sick or dying, there is wiggle room for how you feed them based on your personal experience and habits.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I think it depends on how you define under feeding. I feed my fish well five days out of seven and don't consider them underfed. You do. It's a matter of opinion.

And everyone is entitled (I meant no offense) ;-)

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Again, my reference to Soybean's post was only relative to the tank not being a natural environment. A zoo is not a natural environment, but we don't feed the lions bread (so why feed [bread] flour to our fish?).

Shall I reference the bloke that said he only feeds his fish every few days.
Infrequently feeding 'ample amounts' is more likely over feeding that can result in the very things you speak of.
I'm only suggesting feeding modest amounts of high quality fish food twice a day, every day (more for fry). If all of the food is consumed and there is less waste, there is no polluting bio-load.

I think the fear of over feeding coupled with misinformation has resulted in many false notions and once the newbie hears it echoed a few times (often by other newbies), of course it must be true.

Well, I am very cautious about how I feed my fish because I have seen first hand what daily feedings in wrong amounts can do to a fish. My husband accdentally overfed (just one feeding) my SA cichlid, and I ended up with some very bloated fish with swimming problems. They are okay after a couple of days fasting, but I think it is better to slightly underfeed and do it daily, than to risk overfeeding by feeding small amounts multiple times a day. Just my opinion. I haven't lost a fish to starvation or food related illnesses going by my method.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Again, my reference to Soybean's post was only relative to the tank not being a natural environment. A zoo is not a natural environment, but we don't feed the lions bread (so why feed [bread] flour to our fish?).

Shall I reference the bloke that said he only feeds his fish every few days.
Infrequently feeding 'ample amounts' is more likely over feeding that can result in the very things you speak of.
I'm only suggesting feeding modest amounts of high quality fish food twice a day, every day (more for fry). If all of the food is consumed and there is less waste, there is no polluting bio-load.

I think the fear of over feeding coupled with misinformation has resulted in many false notions and once the newbie hears it echoed a few times (often by other newbies), of course it must be true.

Well, I am very cautious about how I feed my fish because I have seen first hand what daily feedings in wrong amounts can do to a fish. My husband accdentally overfed (just one feeding) my SA cichlid, and I ended up with some very bloated fish with swimming problems. They are okay after a couple of days fasting, but I think it is better to slightly underfeed and do it daily, than to risk overfeeding by feeding small amounts multiple times a day. Just my opinion. I haven't lost a fish to starvation or food related illnesses going by my method.

You're really proving my point.
Yes over feeding....and over eating is bad. Feeding a larger amount once a day or once every two or more days is BAD. It's much better to feed regular small amounts two times a day. I have read that because food is often not available in the wild, fish, like many creatures, have become 'programmed' to gorge themselves when food is available. But when fed modest regular amounts, this does not happen.
The bottom line is this is food for thought and we should think about it rather than accepting folklore. ;-)

 

[Cazgar]

I tend to feed flake 2/3 times a week with vegetables in between.
Frozen Daphnia as a treat every now & then

 

[balajake]

mine have flake in the morning and frozen bloodworm/artemia at night. i've always done this and my fish seem unbloated and healthy

 

[SteelerLuke]

For 10 years I've always fed my fish just once a day & to my knowledge never had any under/over feeding problem. My fish never seem to beg either unless I lift the lid up.