Only Feeding Every Other Day?

[4CalendarC]

the fish person at the Ocean Reef Store i buy my aquarium supplies from said that to cut back on the amonia and fish waste that i could feed them every other day. basically my fish are making a mess as far as poop, i have cut back on how much i give her meal usually three times a day and 2 pinches. two pinches ended up leaving alot behind so im going to do just 1 pinch per meal, three times a day, Every Other Day.

is that a good idea? she said she feeds them only every other day, just wanted to hear some other opinions before i starve my fish every other day.

 

[Mako Man111]

the fish person at the Ocean Reef Store i buy my aquarium supplies from said that to cut back on the amonia and fish waste that i could feed them every other day. basically my fish are making a mess as far as poop, i have cut back on how much i give her meal usually three times a day and 2 pinches. two pinches ended up leaving alot behind so im going to do just 1 pinch per meal, three times a day, Every Other Day.

is that a good idea? she said she feeds them only every other day, just wanted to hear some other opinions before i starve my fish every other day.

I say just feed once a day, thats plenty and would spead out the waste fine

 

[SPLiSH]

I don't think it would hurt them in the long run, it might make them a bit uncomfortable though. Your plan sounds fine. As a guideline, a fishes' stomach is approximately the size if its' eye.

 

[Nevergone815]

i agree, i feed my fish once a day and i fast them every sunday ( 1 day, once a week) to clean out their tracts. you dont want them to be bloated which can cause stress and other issues. also i was told that it's good to fast any fish because of internal parasites the mroe the fish eats and more that sits on their stomach th higher the chances. i dont know how true it is, but its what i've been told.

what i would do is feed them once a day and if you miss a day dont worry it's not the end of the world.

 

[highfire]

I have been having trouble with consistantly high nitrate in my tank, although all other readings were fine.
I have cut down from twice to once a day, and the nitrate is lowering gradually. Of course, I've been doing regular water changes aswell.
Overfeeding is very easy to do, especially when you walk past your tank and all your fish go mad, and literally seem to be pleading with you to drop some food in. Incredibly hard to resist!

 

[Bignose]

As a guideline, a fishes' stomach is approximately the size if its' eye.

This is what is known as a myth. Have you ever dissected a fish and seen how large their stomachs actually are? For that matter, some fish don't even have a stomach, they basically just have intestines. But they have eyes.

This was suggested, good naturedly, as a way of making sure not to overfeed the fish, but really, the fish should not get any more than they will eat in 3-5 mins. If there is still food after that time, you have overfed, and should learn that lesson for next time.

Now, to the original poster, are you really saying that you still have ammonia in your water? Have you cycled your tank? If the tank is not cycled, feeding every other day is a great way to decrease the amount of ammonia produced. And, while the tank is cycling, you definitely want to keep the levels of ammonia low so that you don't harm you fish.

Plus, getting fed every other day is still better off than a large number of fish in the wild. Sometimes more than a week passes between meals in the wild, since food is not provided on a schedule. Fish have learned to survive for quite sometime between meals, which is why if you only go away for a week's vacation it is often better to just let the fish be than get a friendly someone who thinks that they should feed your fish every time they act hungry and you come home to a polluted tank with bloated fish.

 

[mifty12]

I used to feed mt fish every day, i waasn't overfeeding but i was finding thaat the fish were getting very 'lazy' and lackluster at meal times just sitting around the middle of the tank waiting for food to come to them. I have now changed this to one feed every other day and i gotta say all the fish look much brighter and energetic and my tank water appears a lot clearer since. I 've been doung this now for the last 5 months and had no problems at all.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Feeding every other day is a good way of reducing ammonia during cycling/ammonia spike. Whether it is good as a general rule depends on the species of fish.
Some big predators are better off being fed just once a week.
Some of the smaller livebearers on the other hand have very small stomachs and really need feeding quite frequently in small portions, though they can are fine with the occasional fasting day or even long weekend. Fry and juveniles are likely to have their growth stunted if not fed several times a day.
If your tank is established and you are still unable to keep the readings under control, then chances are you are either feeding too big a portion or the tank is overstocked. Depending on the species of fish, you need to either reduce portion size (2-3 flakes a day is about right for a small fish like a platy), or reduce frequency of feeds. But feeding overbig portions infrequently is probably not that helpful, the food will still rot.

 

[dthoffsett]

Why not just reduce feeding to 2 times per day, and fast them once a week. Most adult fish can handle fewer feedings, but juvies and subadults need food more often to grow faster.

 

[Bignose]

Why not just reduce feeding to 2 times per day, and fast them once a week. Most adult fish can handle fewer feedings, but juvies and subadults need food more often to grow faster.

ummmmmmmm, did you mean 'reduce to feeding once every two days?' because feeding twice a day really isn't much of a reduction.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Why not just reduce feeding to 2 times per day, and fast them once a week. Most adult fish can handle fewer feedings, but juvies and subadults need food more often to grow faster.

ummmmmmmm, did you mean 'reduce to feeding once every two days?' because feeding twice a day really isn't much of a reduction.

It is if you reduce portion size. IMO with most small fish, small portions once or twice a day is actually going to lead to less pollution than one massive feed every two days. They can only eat so much in one go, and then it starts rotting. Aim at not more than 1 or 2 flakes per fish per feed. It might help if you count the flakes out just a couple of times to get used to the idea of what a small portion looks like.

 

[Bullrock74]

It is if you reduce portion size. IMO with most small fish, small portions once or twice a day is actually going to lead to less pollution than one massive feed every two days. They can only eat so much in one go, and then it starts rotting. Aim at not more than 1 or 2 flakes per fish per feed. It might help if you count the flakes out just a couple of times to get used to the idea of what a small portion looks like.

I am so glad you said this. Thank you. It is so hard to get people to say just how much food they should feed their fish. I don't subscribe to the 3-5 minutes rule since my fish will have eaten enough food to last them a whole month if I allowed them to eat constantly for four straight minutes. I feed my fish every other day and only what they can eat in about ten or fifteen seconds. The pacu eats all of its food in just about three seconds. The oscar takes longer at about ten seconds. As said before, my fish are much more energetic at feeding time than they were when I was feeding them three times per day like the makers of fish food try to get you to do. They have much brighter colors as well. It makes total sense why the makers of fish food want you to feed that often. Money.

 

[Nevergone815]

It makes total sense why the makers of fish food want you to feed that often. Money.

it's a very sad truth that they only care about money and not the health of the animal. this isn't just in the fish world either

 

[Bignose]

No mention by dthoffset of potion size was made, that's why I just wanted to point out that feeding twice a day didn't seem like the right advice.

Also, I think you guys are being a little harsh on the food companies. If all they cared about was the money, there wouldn't be any quality ingredients at all. You, the consumer, have to do your part by looking at the label, and buying the food with the ingedients you want. Look at Omega One's foods for instance, very good stuff in there for pretty much the same price. Tetra's crisps are cooked slower for less ash content. Those companies aren't just doing that for profit. There are other good foods out there, the consumer has to do their part too by reading the label. And in regards to the money part, are you suggesting that they should be making fish food just for the fun of it? The company should be rewarded for making a product the consumer wants. That, and I don't think that there are too many fish-food millionaires out there. It is just not a huge profit-making business especially when you look at it compared to oil or computers or television. Yes, there is money invovled, but you have to pay your employees and pay to distribute, etc. etc. For example, Omega Protein corp (makers of Omega One foods) lost over $7 million (U.S. dollars) last year. ( http/finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=OME&annual ) Pretty poor if 'they're just in it for the money', eh?

And if you are so gullible, or brainless, or unable to think for yourself that you are going to do exactly what any company tells you, you're not going to get any sympathy for me. I'm not going to feed my fish on any schedule other than the one I've found works for me, regrdless if the company tells me to feed 1 times, 2 times, 22 times, or whatever. You have to think for yourselves.

 

[Bullrock74]

Bignose, you are such an angry, angry man!