Feeding fish

[Guest]

its obvious you care about your fish hc, enough to over feed them. but your post at the beginning of this thread made it sound like people are treating their fish in-humanely by starving their fish, which simply is not true and a few people tried pointing out why. so if you want feed your fish 3 or more times a day, then be happy doing that, but dont tell people they are doing something wrong for not taking your perspective on this matter.

 

[7Enigma]

i feed my fish 3 times a day or more, i dont know whats with you people starving your fish once a day, if you feed your fish the the 2 minute rule, once a day you think that is really enough, if you feed your fish right, there is no messy tank due to leftover food

none of this "they dont eat this often in wild" arguement. because:
1.they arent in a wild
2.wild fish dont live as long
3.a benefit of being trapped in a glass cube should be eating a humane amount

I like you feed my fish 3 times daily. Once when I get up in the morning (6am), once when I get home from work (3:30pm) and once before bed (10pm). I find this helps to alleviate some stress in the tank when fish might start to nip due to hunger issues. I do NOT feel however that this is more humane, I do however feel that this might be better than lesser larger feedings during the day.

I randomly choose foods during the week and have no real set schedule (other than the times). Flake food is my standard which is fed normally 2X a day, with the 3rd feeding being either blood worms, tubifex worms, krill, or peas (once a week for constipation issues). My fish most definately have a preference for what they want to eat (blood worms are at the top of the list), but I feel a varied diet (as long as you are using high quality foods) is superior to the standard flake food with occasional vegetable suppliment that is normally done.

I also normally after lights out creep into the room with the fish tank in the dark and drop in an algae wafer or shrimp pellet for my lone cory catfish. I see him occassionally and have never been concerned for his nutrition as he looks great (not fat, not skinny).

Once again I want to emphasize that I don't feel feeding once a day is bad for the fish, I just feel that feeding small portions several times a day is better. I also wanted to mention that more frequent feedings does have some impact on the nitrAtes produced. Since I have a moderately planted tank, this feeding schedule allows me to avoid having to dose nitrAtes in the tank since the filter picks up some, the fish's metabolism is sped up (IMO), and ultimately it causes more waste buildup in the tank. Remember a fish's digestive system is so short, that they will eat, digest, and excrete the waste product much faster than humans. When fed a large amount, only a small portion can be used by the fish for growth, the rest is released as waste. With small more frequent feedings, I feel more nutrients from the food actually get used by the fish. HC's position has some validity to it, though I feel he/she could have worded it differently.

And for the record, NONE of my fish are overweight (well except for my Oto).

 

[src]

what if you fed your fish frozen food, they arent this artifical processed food, because you seem pretty stubborn that a flake=big mac

btw i did the math for a big mac meal
big mac
large fries
large coke
-------------
1450 calories,

and no that is not enough to live on, you would not only be nutrition deficient, but in time your body would eat itself.

even a young, non exercising male, needs 2200-2400 calories minimum

and yes, i cant beleive we are arguing about this either

i hope i didnt "pound' too hard on your theory src

You didn't "pound" me at all. I was off on my estimates for what a big mac meal contained, but the point is still valid. Processed food is more complete and more concentrated nutrition, so they need less of it.

Likewise with frozen/freeze dried foods. Exactly how many bloodworms does your average wild fish consume per day? Brine Shrimp? Exactly how much of ANY food does a wild fish consume in a day? My guess is that they don't get a bunch of dead bloodworms dropped in front of their faces 3x per day, for them to eat until they are stuffed. Even if the base nutritional value of the food isn't more concentrated, the availability of the food is. Period.

I just can't figure out why you refuse to acknowledge that feeding a fish in a tank is different than a fish eating in the wild, and that the tank feedings are a more concentrated source of nutrition, either by the food contents or the availabile quantity.

You choose to feed 3x per day, which is fine - that's your choice. But your attitude appears to be that anyone who doesn't do that is starving their fish, and that's just not true, and while you are entitled to your opinion, the judgemental attitude isn't necessary.

 

[hc8719]

By feeding three times daily, your fish are likely overfed. Fish are always hungry. They lack the mechanism that tells them they are satiated

i would have to disagree, after my fish will stop eating if i give them to much in one serving. example, my BGK will not eat all her bloodworms, even if theyare right at her nose, and she has already eatten. because 7 of my fish are gouramis, i feel that 3 meals is adequate

i beleive the fish you speak of (although it may apply to some other fish) that your statement that fish will keep eatting, are goldfish.

and src, im sorry if this discussion stressed heavily towards it being inhumane, as my arguement was meant to point out that more than one meal a day is beneficial to the health, lower stress level, and compatibility in the tank

while one meal is sustainable, i feel it is not enough, but thats just how i feel

 

[Sicklid]

Okay, anybody know the secret to the Richard Simmons Diet? PORTIONS, people, PORTIONS... Giving a few small portions at various times through out the day equal to the amount given in one sitting is FINE! The fish may even like it better. I fed my convicts pellets in the morning, and as much veggies as the will eat a few nights a week, with bloodworm treats on weekends... No problems and they loved it.

 

[3newbie3]

Seems like most of this discussion has been for bigger fish than I have at the moment, which is LOTS of young (newborn to teen guppies, & 1-3 mo old mollies)

What about these smaller-sized, younger live bearers?

I've been doing 2-3 times a day for as much as can be eaten in probably less than a minute (ie, none to fall to the gravel). Other than high nitrates in the guppy tank when I 1st started out, all 3 tanks are fine (I do 30% water changes every 2 wks.