Overfeeding

[dany83]

OK, i have had my tank for two months now. I have had many fish die, but it all happens at once. For example, for 2 weeks everything is fine, then suddenly 3 or 4 die in one day. My nitirite and ammonia are always at 0, temperature stable at 79-81. i've tried asking everyone in this forum but i cant seem to figure out the reason for all these deaths. Could it be lighting, plants, stress i dont know. But one possibility is overfeeding. I tend to feed twice a day, enough food that can be eaten in less than 2 minutes. But maybe i am overfeeding, so how do i know?

 

[k2snowboards88]

i'm kind of new to this, but i was always told that your supposed to feed twice a day. I was also told that you put enough food in the tank so that its eaten in 5 minutes. You might be underfeeding them.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

i'm kind of new to this, but i was always told that your supposed to feed twice a day. I was also told that you put enough food in the tank so that its eaten in 5 minutes. You might be underfeeding them.

Nah, what you just said is overfeeding them. It's very easy to overfeed fish, they are not like us and they have different motabilisms to us and need less food. Tehy do not produce their own body heat like us and in a mature tank they are surrounded by food.

I feed my fish once every other day, I feed them as much as they can eat in about 3 minutes. On the days they do not get fed they are very active and trying to find food for themselves.

dany83, are there no signs of disease on your fish? What fish do you have and what size tank?

 

[Nidge]

i'm kind of new to this, but i was always told that your supposed to feed twice a day. I was also told that you put enough food in the tank so that its eaten in 5 minutes. You might be underfeeding them.

Nah, what you just said is overfeeding them. It's very easy to overfeed fish, they are not like us and they have different motabilisms to us and need less food. Tehy do not produce their own body heat like us and in a mature tank they are surrounded by food.

I feed my fish once every other day, I feed them as much as they can eat in about 3 minutes. On the days they do not get fed they are very active and trying to find food for themselves.

dany83, are there no signs of disease on your fish? What fish do you have and what size tank?

I agree, Food manufacture's often tell people to feed their fish twice or three times a day this is so you will use more of their product. There are some fish that need to be feed a couple of times a day. I feed my fish once a day and i often dont feed them for several days in a row. Over feeding is one of the biggest mistakes we all make in fish keeping.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Over feeding is one of the biggest mistakes we all make in fish keeping.

This is very true, can leave fish listless (not looking for food so don't need to be active), mess up water, cause excess algae, make the tank dirty and also costs more to keep your fish (which is expensive enough as it is).

 

[dany83]

I guess i might be overfeeding then. I will cut down. thanks guys

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Cool, you should at least give it a try if there's no other things that worry you.

 

[Angry_Platy]

I had the same thing. After the tank had cycled I had fish dying left right and centre. Each week 3-4 fish would die.....dropsy, weird behaviour, no reason. EVENTUALLY in chat, Tolak enlightened me to the fact that I was feeding too much too often.....but then again I was feeding my fish bloodworms everyday. The dropsy was due to rgan failue from too much protein....

Now I feed once a day.....small amounts......i feel guilty because it doesn't look like enuff...but the fish are happy....they don't fight anymore and they don't die without a reason...one day a week I starve them and let them find their own food.....

I thought back then that if they were fed they were happy, which they were, but I feed less now and they still beg me for foid, like they used to before....but they are alive, and happy.....

 

[purple_drazi]

That's exactly what I'm going through... how much is enough?

They look so hungry with their little faces pressed to the glass saying, "feed me! I'm starving!!"
must ... not.... give... in!
And when I put some food in (twice a day, alternating pellet, bloodworm & flake, 1 minutes worth and I don't feed them on Thursdays) they go crazy like piranha! ack!

I wish they were more like my cats. I just leave the food out and they eat what they need, no pigging out (the vet says they are a perfect weight).

 

[BlueIce]

wow..i'm suprised at how little some people feed.
I feed my fish 3-4 times a day..as much as they can eat in approx 3 minutes.
Unless you are feeding so much that your fish becomes bloated or the food isn't all consumed quickly,then it isn't too much.


If my fish were dying like that and my tank was cycled and all tests were good,then I would look at who you are buying the fish from.Talk to other costumers and find out how their fish do.

Are there any signs of illness? Clamped fins,spots etc?

 

[arj]

I used to overfeed, twice a day, and there used to even be some left over. Darn lfs! they didn't actually tell us, so we read the packaging and just did what that said.

Anyhoo, after a while, we noticed these tiny worm things attatched to the glass. someone at the shop said its a sign of overfeeding, now the fish look a lot healthier and happier because we feed only once every other day. even now, though, the two corys re always searching for food at the bottom, but then i guess thats just their nature.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

wow..i'm suprised at how little some people feed.
I feed my fish 3-4 times a day..as much as they can eat in approx 3 minutes.
Unless you are feeding so much that your fish becomes bloated or the food isn't all consumed quickly,then it isn't too much.

wow, that's loads!!

 

[BlueIce]

wow..i'm suprised at how little some people feed.
I feed my fish 3-4 times a day..as much as they can eat in approx 3 minutes.
Unless you are feeding so much that your fish becomes bloated or the food isn't all consumed quickly,then it isn't too much.

wow, that's loads!!

How do you figure that's loads?

How often do you eat in a day?


All you have to do is make a commitment to water changes and more then adequate filtration.
Not saying you don't ^^^^^^^^ ...but really how would you like to be fed just enough to keep you alive?

 

[Ahmad]

I never had a problem with overfeeding. I know a friend that did though he feed them 3-4 times a day and would dump in food.

His fish where always dull in color, and where not active at all, those are some signs of overfeeding. Plus the filter was clogged, water stank, and the color of the water was funky!

So I took the fish off his hands now there in a 125g and perky as it gets lol they have been in there for 2 years now.

I feed all my fish once everyday, as much as the can eat in 3-4 minutes. They eat diffrent food for eveyday of the week. My fish are always perky and full of color (Always on the go lol), since there always swimming around looking for food in the gravel and playing with eachother.

MENU (Usually)

MONDAY- Fish flakes
TUESDAY-Frozen blood worm
WEDNESDAY- Brine shrimp
THURSADY- Vegetables
FRIDAY-Fish pellets
SATURDAY- Krill/ Fish flakes
SUNDAY- shrimp pellets/ vegetables.

I try to put as much variety as I can in there diet so they dont get bored with the food I give them.

The only reason I think that we overfeed our fish is because we love them too much, and want the best for them But we have to show restraint sometimes for the sake of the fish lol!

 

[Cheese Specialist]

If you read what I said earlier you will understna d why this - "How often do you eat in a day?" is of no relevance.

It's a lot, there's no need for it. I'd say you are overfeeding by about 3 x what you should be. It does depend a bit on what fish you have anf fry should be fed more often but the vast majority need much less than that.

It's JMO though, it's up to you what you do but I would not be surprised if you encounter problems later on.