Over feeders… yep I’m one, and I know it…

[Magnum Man]

I understand the concept… but my tanks are mostly heavily stocked, with predominately juvenile fish… since I started resetting up tanks again, about 2 years ago the fish have all been here less than 2 years… at some point, as the fish mature ( and that is starting to happen ) I know, I will probably switch feeding to every other day, but will probably still feed fairly heavily, because of the stocking levels…

I’ve only really got one tank, with pest snail issues ( a sure fire sign you’re over feeding )… the hard part, is when you get some mature, and some juvenile… I still want to make sure the juveniles are getting enough to eat…

I have one tank, that the bulk of the fish are nearing maturity, so that one I’ll need to start feeding less, soon…

Anyone else want to admit you know you are over feeding, and still do it anyway???

 

[AJ356]

Maybe you can try and stop focusing on the "juvenile" theme. Just feed the juveniles the same amount you would an adult. We are not talking about fry here.

Unless you are trying to speed up growth to sell your juveniles, there is no point over doing it?

 

[Magnum Man]

Most of my tanks, have a few unusual fish, and I’m just trying to make sure, they finish maturing normally, and before nice examples of those species… my tanks are over filtered, and I’m not feeding heavily enough, to effect the water quality… I usually feed about an hour before lights out, and if there is any food visible in the morning, it disappears pretty much as fast as the comes on…

 

[MaloK]

I always feed as much as possible trying to maintain it without creeping nitrate. As soon as it starts to climb I it cut back lightly.

Playing with that, I was able to figure that the food added was impacting nitrate 7-10 days later. So I slowly was able to figure what the tank was able to "digest" and at what rate. It can be a little tricky on the water quality but once settled I keep the pedal to the metal.

Around 3 times a week I feed them slowly until they they completely quits foraging for a while.

I like it when they grow fast and vigorous. So yes, I overfeed for sure, I try to walk on the line between water chemistry and maximum nutrition.

 

[gwand]

For my bottom dwellers I cut a plastic cup about 1/2 inch from the bottom creating a little bowl. The cup is about 2 inches in diameter. I use a glass tube to direct food right into the bowl. The fish feed at this trough. No food goes on the substrate.