Underfeeding or Natural Fish Behavior

[theotheragentm]

There are times when I have accidentally put too much flake food into the water. The fish don't leave anything behind, but it just looks like too much. Anyway, I noticed that after I "overfeed" that is the only time I don't see the fish digging around in the sand and rocks like they are looking for food. My fish look normal, not overly plump, and I've never seen a skinny fish that wasn't sick. Is it possible I am not overfeeding them and I am underfeeding them, leaving them hungry and looking for food?

[Smidge]

I have heard it said in the past that "a hungry fish is a healthy fish". Whilst i guess that's not strictly true it is better for you to underfeed rather than overfeed as you'd pollute your water and raise those ammonia levels if you had too much rotting debris in there. You should only ever feed your fish what they'll consume in a matter of minutes. I think...

The experts will no doubt help you out, there are some very fish-learned people on here! Good luck.

[coldmachineUK]

Generally safer to underfeed than overfeed, but it's not as simple as that I suppose. For cichlids to grow and mature and colour up, they need a good diet. Some fish eat more than others because they need to. Some fish can eat quickly, others take more time. And so on and so on.

I regularly fast my fish (all of them), skipping a day of feeding either once or twice a week. It's worked well for me (and them), although I have to keep an eye on aggression levels with my cichlids, which seem to rise when they're hungry.
Likewise, I only feed once a day when I do feed them. Some people feed twice a day, or three times a day, but smaller amounts.

I suppose you just get used to a routine: if you feel unsure or uncomfortable (like, there's a niggling feeling) about your current feeding routine, then have a go at changing it and keep your eye on things. If all seems well then make the change permanent

[kansei]

I feed twice a day morning flake/freeze dried , evening frozen(worms shrimp or plakton) and vegies .

[Smidge]

I also fast my fish every now and then it seems to work for me and it helps me to maintain good water parameters.

[theotheragentm]

I definitely fast my fish once a week. That's called, went out last night and can't get up to to feed myself, let alone the fish. All the food is definitely consumed, so water levels are not my problem. I think it's just natural tendency to think the fish are hungry then they are poking around the rocks and sand.

[fearlessfisch]

Of course, what else do they have to do in there?

[theotheragentm]

Originally Posted by fearlessfisch

Of course, what else do they have to do in there?

Mate. They do that too.

[hc8719]

i dont believe in fasting, just because they can live through it, doesnt mean its healthy. different feeding amounts greatly contribute to a fish's growth.

i have 2 BGKs, one in a community tank, and the newer, baby, rescue BGK by himself in another tank.

well the baby didnt have any compitition in his tank, and within a couple of months, outgrew the older, and once larger one.

another note on my BGKs, fish may snap at anything, but they know when they are hungry or not... when i ran out of bloodworms for 2 days, the baby BGK in his own tank, devoured all the ghost shrimp i had in there, which he never touched for months before. fish are not mindless eatting machines, they know when their starving.

i feed my fish 2-3 meals a day, sometimes more depding on how much i'm home, my water still stays clean as well.

hungry isn't healthy, just for an example, who's going to live longer a kid starving in asia or a western world child fed 3 meals a day, who's going to have a better immune system, less stress on their body, and stronger body.

tropical fish are hard to overfeed, given their high metabolism, please consider this

[zenkatydid]

actually, for many animals fasting IS a healthy thing to do. i fast my other pets too, even the cats occasionally. it's very cleansing for a human to go on a fast, to clear out the gut and start afresh.