Is it beneficial to skip daily feedings?

[FishHobby99]

Yes, with some clarification. Feeding mature fish more than once each day is not generally recommended. I feed once daily, except I miss two, sometimes three, days each week. Water change day is a "fast" as one should never do this sort of work after feeding the fish, and it is best to give them some "down" time after the W/C. Though a couple hours later could be the time to feed the weekly "treat" of frozen daphnia or bloodworms.

Fish in an aquarium do not need the energy like wild fish, that are constantly foraging for food, perhaps avoiding predators, etc, all of which takes considerable energy. In the aquarium one would hope neither of these issues applies, so food energy should be less. And as fish do not need energy to provide a regulated internal body temperature like mammals and birds, that means significantly less food. Think of it something like, your dog needs considerably more food per body mass than do the fish

Wondering after more thought why to skip feeding on W/C day. Would one want them to take a collective dump after eating & before change?

 

[FishHobby99]

Hello
I always fast my fishes once a week but the day after, as soon as I passed before the tank I was faced with this

View attachment 144091

Hilarious! My cichlids line up at the glass & stare me down whenever I approach. Not as cute as puppy dog eyes, but close.

 

[FishHobby99]

I skip one or two days a week, the second day feeding my platy a pea before fasting her the next day; It seems to help her to poop (I do especially if I had overfed the day before and want to lessen her bloating.)

Always make sure to change up what you feed. I rotate between bug bites, bits of algae wafer, peas, and cucumber. I'm working on adding in freeze-dried brine shrimp and some fruits now too. Variety is nice for them and I enjoy watching her eat different foods too!

I rotate food as well!

 

[Byron]

Others have mentioned feeding a variety of foods, and I believe this is very important. I have three upper fish foods and three substrate fish foods, so each day when fed they are getting something different from the day (or two days) prior.

Fry are different, they need more frequent feedings, but we are talking mature fish here.

The reason not to feed before or immediately after the water change is because digestion takes energy, and if fish are all excited (somewhat stressed perhaps, but not seriously so) they are not going to be able to properly digest the food. Same reasoning as applies to humans...the advice to not do physical exercise immediately after eating.

 

[FishHobby99]

Others have mentioned feeding a variety of foods, and I believe this is very important. I have three upper fish foods and three substrate fish foods, so each day when fed they are getting something different from the day (or two days) prior.

Fry are different, they need more frequent feedings, but we are talking mature fish here.

The reason not to feed before or immediately after the water change is because digestion takes energy, and if fish are all excited (somewhat stressed perhaps, but not seriously so) they are not going to be able to properly digest the food. Same reasoning as applies to humans...the advice to not do physical exercise immediately after eating.

Thanks again, Bryon!