no fish will starve themselves to death. well some but not all. i starved my datnoids when i got them, for about almost a month. so whenever they are hungry they stare at me and come in front of the tank. other wise i dont feed them. first start them off with mysis shrimp and bloodworms. then krills after they got a taste of shrimp, throw in some market shrimp. then stuff the shrimp with some pellets. after that just feed them pellets. now all my datnoids eats pellets and saves me alot of money. except for 2 thinbars.