feeding fish

[petitemonk]

Iam new and I have a stupid question lol. Can i hurt my fish by over feeding them? I have 4 rosy barbs and they just eat and eat and eat lol. I feed them and they eat it all so i give them some more and they eat that and then more and so on... they never stop eating. Dont wanna give them cardiac arrest or something lol.

 

[cginflorida]

There are no stupid questions here. Welcome to AA, petitemonk.

The usual rule of thumb is to feed no more than your fish can eat in 3-5 minutes. I think the danger in overfeeding when they eat everything you give them would be that they might get constipated. Then they get all bloated, sit on the bottom, and they could die.

Hope that helps.

 

[petitemonk]

ok cool I was over feeding them then lol thx for the help... Dont want a pudgy constipated fish.

 

[Fishboy-from-NY]

yes, do research on their natural feeding habits. For example, if you have herbivours that generally graze on algae for food you sould feed them regularly at least 3 times daily. Carnivours if constantly active sould be fed 2 daily thats it and follow cginflorida advice on how much.

 

[TankGirl]

I would say that a huge majority of the problems aquarists face in the hobby are related to overfeeding, so even though they seem to be hungry it is not doing them any favors. Fish in the wild do not eat regularly, so it is not unnatural to leave them fasting.

I feed mine twice a day, but only as much as they can eat in 1-2 minutes, and often will skip one of those feedings. Sometimes I will skip a whole day. If I have fry I feed them thrice daily to help them grow.

It is good of you to wonder about it - there are a lot of people who would not consider the issue and wind up with water quality and fish health problems.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Tankgirl is exactly right: overfeeding is probably the biggest contributing factor to water problems and illness- so you're right to be concerned with your feeding routine, Monk.

It's hard to learn to resist those little begging bodies every time you walk by the tank but remember- fish are MUCH healthier being a little bit hungry rather than a little bit overfed.

 

[petitemonk]

thx alot, really helps. lol Ya they are hard not to feed.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Watch out... Barbs are very prone to obesity.

The problem is that barbs, as active fish, have a very efficient metabolism. That means: a tinny little bit goes a long way. They get large amounts of energy from little food, and their systems are "set" to conserve that energy. And, just like in humans, energy saved is stored as fat!