Let's clear up confusion about fish feeding

[corrado33]

Hey guys. I have a few questions about the simplest of things for a tank. How much to feed the fish. This question is often brought up, and is often answered with many different answers. The answers I've heard are...

• Feed once a day, no more than your fish can eat in 5 minutes (or 2 minutes)
• Feed once every two days
• Feed twice a day, no more than they can eat in 1 minute
• (For Bettas) Feed 4 pellets, twice a day
• (For Bettas) Feed 4-8 pellets, once every two days
• (For Bettas) Feed 4-8 pellets, once a day

So you can see the confusion of any semi new fish keeper. I currently feed my community tank, and betta twice a day, when I wake up, and at 5:00 (2 hours before lights out). When I feed the community tank, I pretty much just put a bunch of food in the tank. The fish will go crazy, but some food will fall down. This is mainly because the fish couldn't get to it fast enough. If they could, they would definitely eat it. This all happens in probably 30 seconds. Now, I could sit there and literally feed them little by little for 2 minutes... but that seems stupid.

For my betta, I feed him roughly 4-6 pellets, twice a day. he doesn't look fat, he looks like he has a "soft protruding belly" which I've read is good.

I know that fish feeding is very opinionated, and will vary from person to person and fish to fish. I also know that fish are opportunistic feeders, and will eat pretty much whenever they can. But honestly I'm at a loss here. I have no idea what "rule" to follow. Can you guys offer some words of wisdom?

 

[mctypething]

I think this is a great topic to discuss. I'm certainly no expert, but I feed my fish twice a day, 6 days a week. I have read numerous times that it's good to have your fish fast one day a week. I usually put a small amount of food for each feeding time, it usually takes 1-2 minutes for it all to be eaten. For cories, I put a few shrimp pellets in at night or an algae wafer.

I haven't had any issues in my tank, so I just assume I'm doing something right.

I would love to see what more experienced people have to say.

 

[meegosh]

I have been feeding my tanks for years - once a day except Sundays, I fast them. I guess you could say that on Tuesdays they get fed twice, I feed some frozen foods or peas.

 

[WhiteDevil]

I feed 3-4 times a day what they can eat in 15 minutes. My discus breeder feeds like this and has no water quality issues like myself.

I have alot of young growing fish all the time so that takes into account the amount I feed and how often as well.

 

[BigJim]

Usually, I feed my fish flakes Sunday-Friday. Water change day is usually Saturday and I feed frozen brine and algae wafers after the PWCs.

The betta only gets a few pellets a day. My wife is very careful after having to treat the betta for constipation.

 

[corrado33]

I've also heard that fasting fish once a week is good. Helps clear the digestive tract. Anyone else have feeding hints?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

I feed mine twice a day once in the morning once at night. I then feed them once on sundays when they get brine shrimp as a treat. I will however start doing somethings different because you've all suggested some things I like. One day fast, and brine shrimp after pwc's. Great thread thanks!!!

 

[jestes]

I feed my fish every day except for Tuesday and Thursday. I do the water changes on Friday, and feed frozen bloodworms on Wednesday. I've always heard and read that a slightly hungry fish is a healthy one, so I don't drop a ton in. Just like people, if you eat every single time you're hungry, health issues are sure to follow...

 

[sarahh]

this is a great thread.. i think i am overthinking the feeding routine
i feed the adult cichlids pellets and spirulina flakes every morning. At night they have pellets and tetra color flakes at night. (<--what they had at their old
house) 7 days/week

community tropicals tetracolor and sometimes freezedried bloodworms and brineshrimp. 7 days. a few peas every week

baby cichlids, crushed pellets.

big community, some cichlid pellets for the angel and dollar, and then some flakes for the littlies.

all tanks get 2 algae wafers a week.

As of sunday, my fish will be fasting once a week. PWC are done at staggered intervals. mon, tues and thurs, with two more tanks to add lol

 

[mfdrookie516]

I guess ill be the oddball, i feed my fish once every two days, except i dont feed on saturday or sunday, so they get fed monday, wednesday, and friday. I heard an old timer tell me that "if the fish aint hungry, aint no need to feed 'em"... which i totally agree with. If I feed them every day, there is a good chance that the food will not be totally eaten. That leads to problems down the road. I feed what they'll eat in 1 minute. I do sometimes throw in some greens for the mbuna, but thats once a week tops, usually just once every other week or so

 

[corrado33]

I guess ill be the oddball, i feed my fish once every two days...

Technically, fish are opportunistic feeders, and in the wild they probably never eat every day. In the wild, it really depends on food availability. Fish can easily go a few days without eating. However, for captive fish, I feel there is a slight difference.

I'm guessing most captive fish have been fed regularity their entire lives. I honestly think that as long as you do feed your fish on a regular basis, you'll be fine. Watch your fish's weight (for the fish that it's a problem) and adjust your feeding from there. Also, many people do feed deshelled frozen peas every once in a while to help with digestion. Other than that, I think feeding once or twice a day is a good start.

Plus, most active fish don't have a problem with exercise... I mean they are swimming, so I don't think it's that easy for a fish to get fat, unless you're REALLY over feeding them. I don't know, I think I'll stick with my twice a day feeding.

 

[dkpate]

Community tank~
Thursday; micro pellets in the morning (3 pinches), peas at night.
Friday; flakes in the morning, some sort of frozen food at night.
Saturday; micro pellets in the am, flakes at night
Sunday; same (water change day)
Monday; same
Tuesday; micro pellets in the afternoon
Wednesday; flakes in the afternoon
I also have some algae wafers, kelp flakes and veggie crisps that I throw in occassionally for the loaches and gourami (he's a pig)

Bettas~
Thursday; 3 soaked pellets apiece in the am, peas at night (pwc 5G)
Friday; 3 pellets in the am, 2 pellets and a few frozen food pieces at night
Saturday; 3 soaked pellets in the am, 3 soaked pellets at night
Sunday; same (pwc day)
Monday; same
Tuesday; 3 soaked pellets in the afternoon
Wednesday; same

I NEVER give my fish freeze-dried anything, because it bloats them too much.

 

[datkidkevin]

well i feed my fish twice a day 7 days a week..reading all this i mite fast 1 day.. but i feed my guys tropical flakes crushed with sum crushed goldfish flakes (veggie) and mixed with bloodworms (for betta and angelfish) and 2-3 pellets of brine shrimp(for golden dojo loach).

 

[VelcroDuck]

I feed twice a day what they can eat in a minute, but then I only have 3 fish at the moment. I skip the feeding that follows a PWC, but the one after that they get a veggie treat, either thawed and "popped" frozen peas or blanched cucumber, AND either bloodworms or brine shrimp. I also skip one other feeding somewhere in the middle of the week.

I'm no expert, but I was just in that same spot and did a lot of reading on it. From what I've read, there's a few things I try to follow:
1. Aim for the same ~1hr window for every feeding. If you miss the window, just call that one of your fasting periods. Fish are opportunistic, but their prey tends to work like clockwork. Ask any fisherman (oh sweet irony).
2. Once you figure out how much, aim for that amount every time. Don't compensate for a missed feeding with more food the next time. But if you accidentally overfeed and can't scoop out in time, there's nothing wrong with feeding less the next time or even fasting.
3. Mix up brands or types of fish food to make sure they are getting a balanced diet and any nutrients that one or the other may be missing. If your fish are omnivorous, mix in veggies once in a while, blanched (boiled for 30 seconds, the immediately cooled with water to stop the cooking process - this cooks it without depleting the vitamins...works for you too), or veggie flakes or tabs.
4. This is a little controversial. Check the expiration date on your food. If it's too far beyond, it will lose nutrients and might even spoil. Dump it. Go buy the smallest canister (it's what, $3?) so you're getting fresh food regularly. Sure you're not getting a deal per micro-unit, but your fish will get nice fishy-smelling food and be all the more excited to eat. Some have said you can buy in bulk and freeze what you won't use right away.
5. To reiterate a point made earlier, to underfeed is better than to overfeed. "A slightly hungry fish is a healthy one."

HTH

 

[FLFishFanatic]

I generally feed my fish...

1. Morning - Community Flakes
2. Late Afternoon - Pellets

I feel that my my fast, darting fish sometimes grab up all the food before my little tetras can get to it, so I give them two small quantities of fish food so everybody gets a chance to eat.

 

[Mudfrog]

It really depends on the fish. My fish usually eat once at night, skipping two days during the week. Other times they will eat twice a day and skip 3-4 days.

While my fish are young I will power feed to gain lots of size on them quickly. I will feed them 2-3 times a day with 50% water changes every other day. It packs on size real quick.

 

[Asbestos]

I feed my community tank a bunch of flakes every other day and some times on the off days i will throw in a few pellets. I binge feed them because I have a Raphael catfish who is difficult to feed so I have to overfeed just so that he will get a little in the commotion.

 

[Craigthor]

I pretty much feed my tank everyday but tehy don't all eat at the same time. I do feed nothing but live foods though.

There are always black worms in my substrate for them to pick at if they get hungry, I typically feed one of hte following: brine shrimp, micro worms, walter worms, wingless fruit flies in the AM. As soon as my Daphnia culture expands I will start feeding Daphnia as well.

Just cause there is food in the tank doesn't mean they eat all the time though.

 

[mattrox]

I feed what the fish can eat in 20 seconds then put in another pinch and repeat. When they have all eaten I stop feeding. I do this twice a day. More on the weekends, but I know that during the week when I get busy I might miss a day.

I do have to do regular large pwcs to keep nitrates down. The up side is that my juvenile fish grow quickly and my female breeders (malawi mouthbrooding cichlids) recover quickly.

 

[Etunes]

I fed my tank every day of the week flake food and tubiflex worms for my bichir except for saturday. My 10g i feed once a day and he only gets fed 3 days a week on carnivore pellets (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday).

I agree with you Dk as i heard that carnivore pellets would be a staple food for my bichir and he bloated fast. I took him off it and back on tubiflex and i was good as gold. He gets them as treats VERY rearly but he gets them. I plan on moving him to earthworms.