How often to feed?

[spittinfly]

I am going to start this as a poll and see what every body thinks.

 

[produceb]

I feed small amounts twice a day, mostly for my cleaner wrasse's benefit.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I feed once a day, and occasionaly I go a day without feeding the fish about once a week.

 

[melosu58]

I feed every other day with some seaweed selects on the off days for my tangs.

 

[melosu58]

The OP asked me to move this to FW general. He was looking for FW answers. All of the above answers are from SW persons.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I feed once a day, every day.

 

[martin_j001]

I generally feed once a day, sometimes with a day off once a week or so....

 

[BillD]

I try to feed at least 3 times daily. Sometimes it is less, sometimes more. Growing fish need to be fed often for a good growth rate, but more feeding means more water changes.

 

[Jchillin]

It will be hard to get a consensus as each tank is different in their needs. A small tank with small fish will not need as much as a large tank with large fish. This will also get skewed with tanks that contain bottom dwellers who get supplemental feeding.

 

[Ferret_Friend]

Whether it be SW or FW, I feed mine once a day. If they don't seem all that interested in the food, I'll feed them very little and try again later. Every once in a while I skip a day. I probably skip a day once a week, partly out of laziness and forgetfulness. Everything I'm told though is that skipping a day doesn't hurt the fish, and may even be beneficial, so I don't worry too much.

 

[Zagz]

I feed once a day and add variety of fresh veggies once a week at least in addition to the flakes and pellets.

 

[m.parker]

i am so glad this topic came up...

i feed once a day... but...

my fish act like they are always hungry... the guppies are always nipping at the fake plants, or the thermometer cord on scowering the gravel... and the dannios are alwas chasing each other and stuff...

should i bump it up to twice a day?

btw, its a 46gal bowfront, with 3 guppies, a swordtail, 4 dannios, and a blue moon tetra (thats waht the pet store called it, but that a whole differant story..)

 

[Sidi]

my fish act like they are always hungry... the guppies are always nipping at the fake plants, or the thermometer cord on scowering the gravel... and the dannios are alwas chasing each other and stuff...

Danios chasing each other isn't about food. They're very active fish who chase each other for fun, no matter how full. That's why it's recommended that you have a pretty good sized school so they don't bother other fish. From my experience, most guppies will tend to pick at algae even if well fed as well. They just seem to like it as a hobby. That isn't to say you're not underfeeding, but those behaviors can be very normal if you offer plenty of food.

I'm in the "once a day, but sometimes I miss a day" crowd. I think it depends...if you have bottom feeders and several aggressive feeders one overly heavy feeding, so the top feeders miss plenty, is good. If everyone feeds at a similar rate several very light feedings might be better.

 

[spittinfly]

Well I think that's a pretty good cross section of opinions.

Thanks everybody.

 

[2cvbloke]

My mum's fish get fed twice a day usually, they get Frozen bloodworm or dry food on alternating days in the morning and I pop in a couple of algae wafers in the evening, they always eat everything, and the two Orandas love the algae wafers!!!

 

[johnny1073]

It really depends on what your feeding...I eat at least 3 times a day... so if they swim to the top when I walk by and are eager to eat I feed them.... I also have a lot of fish, some times I have to be sneekie about feeding so that some food gets to the bottom of the tank for the bottom feeders.

 

[Karackle]

I too am in the "feed once a day and occasionally skip a day" crowd, i tend to feed a little and if they gobble it all up pretty quickly, i'll sprinkle in a little more, but yes, the guppies and danios are just active fish who are also little piggies so you do have to be careful not to overfeed. I have to be sneaky too to make sure some food gets to the bottom for my clown pleco and my chinese algae eater, though neither seems to be going hungry, i also toss in the occasional algae wafer.

 

[NJGourami]

I feed 2-3 times a day. Its really simple you can feed them as much as you want however increased feedings will decrease the water quality leading to more water changes. I want my fish to grow quickly and be vibrant in color so I feed 2-3 times a day and do frequent water changes to accomodate.

 

[kaoshavoc]

I feed twice per day but not much at a time. My pleco gets fed once per day as I turn off the lights to the tank.

 

[tomherndon]

I feed twice daily as a rule, but miss a feeding here and there.