Who else feeds 3 times a week?
- Thread starter DDK
- Start date
I feed 3 times a day Pellets AM, Flakes, afternoon , FD black worms at night and Beef heart day of water change and the juvie/grow out gets up to 4-6 feedings of beef heart daily with Sunday off.
3-4 times a week, water changes everyday I feed. Except for the Ray growouts, they eat everyday.
Every other day for my mature fish that are mostly well over 5 years old. Once a day for my small growing fish
I fed daily for years, but for the past couple years, I have shifted more toward feeding every other day or so.
I've no idea what's best. I am a one day feeder and sometimes add some extra food a second time.
I've read pros and cons for both. It seems that people tend to underfeed large fish in particular for one or another reason which leads to all sorts of issues. I think underfeeding is as bad as overfeeding. This is especially important for growing fish. Some take a year to grow to adults and one can stunt them with underfeeding. I've certainly stunted even young livebearers by feeding them just once a day.
I think that if one is underfeeding because of water quality then a bigger, less stocked tank, larger filtration, more water changes etc.. is in order. Personally I try to feed enough, overfilter my tanks and do large water changes and the shorter lived fish I've kept like guppies and platies seem to live full life spans of 4-5 years(guppies 4, platies 5) They pig themselves daily and have big trailing poops often so you'd think I've been overfeeding but my point is they live as long as they should. That's my base to determine if I've done something good or wrong. My other fish are all long lived and I would have yet to see in the future what I've done for them food and water quality wise.
Here are some issues that can be caused by underfeeding or feeding incorrect food.
Vitamin A – Eye problems, loss of appetite, impaired growth, intramuscle and fin-base haemorrhage (internal bleeding), anaemia, dropsy, weakened gills.
Vitamin B (complex) – Loss of appetite, poor growth, fragile blood vessels, poor growth, anaemia, muscular wasting, convulsions, loss of equilibrium, cloudy eyes, poor vision, over-pigmentation, gasping and flaring of gill covers.
Vitamin C – Loss of appetite, over-pigmentation, eye haemorrhage, deformed cartilage and spine (commonly seen as a zig-zag shape from the dorsal to tail-fin – a 'kink' in the tail), intramuscular haemorrhage, anaemia, fragile blood vessels.
Vitamin D – Poor growth.
Vitamin E – Muscular wasting and poor growth.
Biotin – Loss of appetite, poor growth, muscular wasting, convulsions, intestinal lesions and convulsions.
Choline – Poor growth, poor food conversion, fat collection in liver, kidney and liver haemorrhage.
Folic Acid – Poor growth, lethargy, fragile fins, over-pigmentation and anaemia.
Inositol – Poor growth, distended stomach (dropsy – collection of fluid in the body cavity), skin lesions and increased stomach emptying time.
Niacin – Loss of appetite, rectal lesion, muscle spasm, skin haemorrhage, skin lesion and anaemia.
If you read this paragraph below from seriouslyfish, it gives all sorts of reasons for fish not living a healthy style and not reaching full life spans:
"We’re not so sure, and reckon ‘big’ fishes are often exposed to conditions or practises that could be considered stressors, some of which may not be obvious initially. These include:
Hunger due to underfeeding, inappropriate feeding regime, competition via presence of dominant individuals, or insufficient knowledge on the part of the aquarist regarding nutritional requirements of juvenile ‘big’ fish.
Malnutrition. Such deficiences can arise even if the diet is well-balanced, especially in juveniles which naturally grow at a faster rate than adults. This is likely a major cause of stunting and associated skeletal deformities in aquarium ‘big’ fish, as is the use of ‘feeder’ goldfish in the diet of predatory species. We’ll be covering this in more detail later.
Fear and distress caused by presence of predatory or dominant fish, repeated handling, sudden changes in lighting, etc.
Poor water quality and environmental conditions; in particular low dissolved oxygen, inappropriate or fluctuating pH, inappropriate temperature and lack of diurnal rhythym, high levels of carbon dioxide, excessive suspended solids, and high levels of nitrogenous waste products such as ammonia and nitrite. Another principle reason for stunting and poor growth in these species under captive conditions.
Confinement stress and subsequent inability to swim in a natural fashion; this being especially acute in those ‘big’ fishes which are naturally migratory or move over long distances in nature. More on this in a future article.
Over-stocking and/or over-crowding.
Lack of environmental stimulation has not been well-studied in fishes but may be more significant than is traditionally accepted (Southgate, 2010), especially in those maintained in completely bare set-ups. "
I've read pros and cons for both. It seems that people tend to underfeed large fish in particular for one or another reason which leads to all sorts of issues. I think underfeeding is as bad as overfeeding. This is especially important for growing fish. Some take a year to grow to adults and one can stunt them with underfeeding. I've certainly stunted even young livebearers by feeding them just once a day.
I think that if one is underfeeding because of water quality then a bigger, less stocked tank, larger filtration, more water changes etc.. is in order. Personally I try to feed enough, overfilter my tanks and do large water changes and the shorter lived fish I've kept like guppies and platies seem to live full life spans of 4-5 years(guppies 4, platies 5) They pig themselves daily and have big trailing poops often so you'd think I've been overfeeding but my point is they live as long as they should. That's my base to determine if I've done something good or wrong. My other fish are all long lived and I would have yet to see in the future what I've done for them food and water quality wise.
Here are some issues that can be caused by underfeeding or feeding incorrect food.
Vitamin A – Eye problems, loss of appetite, impaired growth, intramuscle and fin-base haemorrhage (internal bleeding), anaemia, dropsy, weakened gills.
Vitamin B (complex) – Loss of appetite, poor growth, fragile blood vessels, poor growth, anaemia, muscular wasting, convulsions, loss of equilibrium, cloudy eyes, poor vision, over-pigmentation, gasping and flaring of gill covers.
Vitamin C – Loss of appetite, over-pigmentation, eye haemorrhage, deformed cartilage and spine (commonly seen as a zig-zag shape from the dorsal to tail-fin – a 'kink' in the tail), intramuscular haemorrhage, anaemia, fragile blood vessels.
Vitamin D – Poor growth.
Vitamin E – Muscular wasting and poor growth.
Biotin – Loss of appetite, poor growth, muscular wasting, convulsions, intestinal lesions and convulsions.
Choline – Poor growth, poor food conversion, fat collection in liver, kidney and liver haemorrhage.
Folic Acid – Poor growth, lethargy, fragile fins, over-pigmentation and anaemia.
Inositol – Poor growth, distended stomach (dropsy – collection of fluid in the body cavity), skin lesions and increased stomach emptying time.
Niacin – Loss of appetite, rectal lesion, muscle spasm, skin haemorrhage, skin lesion and anaemia.
If you read this paragraph below from seriouslyfish, it gives all sorts of reasons for fish not living a healthy style and not reaching full life spans:
"We’re not so sure, and reckon ‘big’ fishes are often exposed to conditions or practises that could be considered stressors, some of which may not be obvious initially. These include:
Hunger due to underfeeding, inappropriate feeding regime, competition via presence of dominant individuals, or insufficient knowledge on the part of the aquarist regarding nutritional requirements of juvenile ‘big’ fish.
Malnutrition. Such deficiences can arise even if the diet is well-balanced, especially in juveniles which naturally grow at a faster rate than adults. This is likely a major cause of stunting and associated skeletal deformities in aquarium ‘big’ fish, as is the use of ‘feeder’ goldfish in the diet of predatory species. We’ll be covering this in more detail later.
Fear and distress caused by presence of predatory or dominant fish, repeated handling, sudden changes in lighting, etc.
Poor water quality and environmental conditions; in particular low dissolved oxygen, inappropriate or fluctuating pH, inappropriate temperature and lack of diurnal rhythym, high levels of carbon dioxide, excessive suspended solids, and high levels of nitrogenous waste products such as ammonia and nitrite. Another principle reason for stunting and poor growth in these species under captive conditions.
Confinement stress and subsequent inability to swim in a natural fashion; this being especially acute in those ‘big’ fishes which are naturally migratory or move over long distances in nature. More on this in a future article.
Over-stocking and/or over-crowding.
Lack of environmental stimulation has not been well-studied in fishes but may be more significant than is traditionally accepted (Southgate, 2010), especially in those maintained in completely bare set-ups. "
Hello; I read thru your post. The thing that stood out and the part I wish to respond about are the references to underfeeding. My take on this thread has been that the feeding schedule is the question. I do not think that by skipping a feeding day or so each week we are necessarily guilty of underfeeding. I am not sure your intention was to equate skipping feeding days with underfeeding, but my reading of the post left that feeling.
I and others have cited the distinction of often feeding fry and young fish. I will feed fry more than once a day for a time. Once fish get some size I have found no personal evidence that fasting days are a problem.
The first couple of decades of my fish keeping I was bad about overfeeding. I began to observe a positive difference in my tanks when away for the occasional two of three day trip. Check the threads on the forum about how fish keepers deal with being away for a few days. I no longer take any feeding actions if I am to be away for less than a week. I began to note a positive difference in tanks after being away for a few days back during my overfeeding days.
At any rate I do not equate underfeeding with skipping feeding days.
Good luck
Yes, you are right. It doesn't necessarily mean that by skipping days one is underfeeding. I suppose one should stick with the feeding regime for the duration of the fish's life to make any long term conclusions. I don't skip days but if I am away I don't feed either.
I think overfeeding doesn't equate with daily feeding either. I do not think I overfeed but I don't let the fish stay hungry for long periods of time.
On a side note, what were the positive effects you noticed? Is that related to better water quality or is it directly related to feeding the fish less? I tend to separate the two because of course one can foul any tank if any of the other factors like tanks size, stocking, water changes aren't sufficient.
I think overfeeding doesn't equate with daily feeding either. I do not think I overfeed but I don't let the fish stay hungry for long periods of time.
On a side note, what were the positive effects you noticed? Is that related to better water quality or is it directly related to feeding the fish less? I tend to separate the two because of course one can foul any tank if any of the other factors like tanks size, stocking, water changes aren't sufficient.
I would think the definition of "underfeeding" is highly dependent on the species, as well. Some fish will occasionally fast for months on end (gars and arowanas sometimes do this, for example), especially when first introduced to an aquarium, but they don't necessarily wither away and die from it.
