How to determine amount to feed fish?

[Finthusiast]

Interesting, thanks again for advice!

 

[Nick Park]

When I started in the hobby, I read things like "A fish's stomach is only the size of its eye." Then I thought about it a bit more, and realised that if this was true then a great white shark would have eyes the size of a fully grown seal.

If you're overfeeding then you'll see your water quality deteriorating. If you're underfeeding then the fish will get skinny. Your fish looks great!

 

[Finthusiast]

Thanks for the compliment I will keep updates coming along as he grows!

 

[DDK]

Who else feeds 3 times a week?

I'm just curious to see how many people actually feed their fish everyday rather than the people who 3-4 times a week. PS: I'm taking about my full grown/nearly full grown fish.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Here's a thread I made back in the day to see how people feed their fish that might be helpful to you.

My perspective is that I try to underfeed my fish, a slightly under weight fish is always healthier and will outlive an obese fish imo. A good % of the fish in the hobby are overfed and obese so I think the amount your feeding is good. Maybe include a day or two of fasting a week. Feeding daily doesnt necessarily mean your over feeding if your feeding small amounts, and fasting the fish and then feeding unreasonably large amounts a couple times a week could be considered over feeding.

Everyone finds their sweet spot that works and its just trial a error. I only feed small to moderate amount 3-4 times a week just because it impacts water quality too much with larger fish regardless of how much filtration you have. I always see a spike.

 

[Omrit]

When I started in the hobby, I read things like "A fish's stomach is only the size of its eye." Then I thought about it a bit more, and realised that if this was true then a great white shark would have eyes the size of a fully grown seal.

If you're overfeeding then you'll see your water quality deteriorating. If you're underfeeding then the fish will get skinny. Your fish looks great!

I think the eye thing might apply to smaller fish pretty well. I tell people that when I need them to watch my fish to ensure they don't overfeed,but I only have small fish right now so it works.

 

[RD.]

IMO one of the most sensible comments, from the link posted above.

Herbivores typically eat every day, sometimes most of the day. E.g., cows aren't fed just 3 times a week at 7 PM. In the wild, when they catch fish that are herbivores and examine stomach contents, they typically always contain something whether it's vegetation, krill, plankton, crustaceans, invertebrates. That's how many feed.

Krill and plankton feeders swim and feed most of the time, much like cows graze most of the time. Great white sharks, lions, snakes on the other hand don't eat all the time. Most of the time, they aren't eating at all.

Piscivores when they are caught more often than not will have empty stomachs because they have infrequent but large meals.

So, depending on what type of fish a person has (including those that operate between those extremes) feeding very infrequently could be correct or incorrect. When I kept my plecos, I arranged it so they could eat all day long...and they pretty much did.

This is not a question where one size fits all.


The OP's cichlid is still very young, and growing, during this part of its growth stage ideally it should be fed every day. For optimum growth probably twice a day, once in AM, and once in PM.

 

[tlindsey]

IMO one of the most sensible comments, from the link posted above.




This is not a question where one size fits all.


The OP's cichlid is still very young, and growing, during this part of its growth stage ideally it should be fed every day. For optimum growth probably twice a day, once in AM, and once in PM.

I also like how Drstrangelove has researched and made this simple to understand.
Thanks RD.

 

[RD.]

And here's a link to a past discussion regarding the same question. In this comment I provided link to a paper that demonstrates how different the optimum frequency of feeding can be among different species of fish.

Just keep in mind that how much one feeds, can be just as important as how often. Both how much and how often one should feed is a tricky question, dependant on the species of fish, their typical activity level, and even more important their life stage. I feed adults once a day, and skip feeding on water change days. So no more than 5-6 times a week. When I was actively breeding, fry and young juvies generally were fed 2-3 times a day due to having higher metabolic rates, so their feeding frequency was different than adults of the same species.

In a past discussion on "how often" one should feed I posted a few links to scientific papers that demonstrates how different the optimum frequency of feeding can be among different species of fish.





It's a complicated subject. From a paper that I read a few years back...….



The initial observations in the present study did not detect further growth responses (on percent basis). In the present study the higher body weight was observed in fsh fed to a frequency of two times per day. Similar results were observed by James and Sampath [26] in Red Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) which indicated that feeding twice a day resulted in the highest growth and reproductive success of this specie in a cultured system, when compared with 4 alternative feeding regimens (once, thrice, once and twice a day). James and Sampath [26] had similar findings in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens. Regan) who showed that fish fed twice a day to satiation elicited maximum growth and reproductive output when compared with its counterparts (1 meal in 3 d, 1 meal in 2 d, 1 meal/d, and 3 meals/d). Contrary to our results commercially cultured fish species such as Black Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) suggested that feeding to satiation once a day resulted in optimum growth [27]. Gibel Carp (Carrassius auratus gibelio), showed a significant surge in growth rate and feed efficiency when feeding frequency increased from 2 to 3, 4, 12, and 24 feedings per day, with the recommendation of 24 feeding times per day for this species [15]. The difference in results might be due to the fact that goldsh is not usually reared for commercial purpose. Moreover, this fact also leads to the fact that there is a need to improve the genetic potential of goldfish if we want to rear it for commercial reasons. In the present study, the maximum weight gain was observed in the feed (B) and the same result was observed in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens. Regan) which showed that 2 meals per day fed to satiation are sufficient to support the maximum growth. Further it has been reported that ornamental Red Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) fed 2 meals per day resulted in the greatest growth [28]. But contrary to present study the juvenile Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) displayed improved growth rates when fed on satiation 5 times per day, compared with one time per day [29], and African Cafish (Clarias gariepinus) exhibited greater growth rates when fed to satiation twice compared with 3 times per day [30]. In the present study the better feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed in Feed (A) but contrary to present study best FCR were observed for the Goldfish fed 4 times per day, indicating that this frequency of feeding was optimal, suggesting that both growth and feed utilization are more efficient at this feeding frequency [31].


PDF | Influence of Feeding Frequency on Growth performance and Body Indices of Goldfish (Carrassius auratus). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/public...d_Body_Indices_of_Goldfish_Carrassius_auratus [accessed Jul 11 2018].


PDF | Influence of Feeding Frequency on Growth performance and Body Indices of Goldfish (Carrassius auratus). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/public...d_Body_Indices_of_Goldfish_Carrassius_auratus [accessed Jul 11 2018].

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[Finthusiast]

Wow thanks for all the input everyone! I will check out these links a little later to get a wider understanding of feeding fish! Appreciate the help very much!