How much to feed. Fish vet talks about feeding here.

RD.

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Underfeeding has become an increasingly popular trend?
Only for idiots.

I honestly can't believe that the owner of those fish was that clueless. Generally speaking people tend to overfeed, at least from what I've seen. Far more fat fish in this hobby, than starving fish like the ones in that video.
 
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TwoHedWlf

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Wow, yeah, that guy is way underfeeding. He's got to be one of the rarest people ever. Almost everyone overfeeds.
 

TheLastKon

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Wow, yeah, that guy is way underfeeding. He's got to be one of the rarest people ever. Almost everyone overfeeds.
Lol i was thinking the same thing when i saw his fish. Only seen fish like that in a neglected petshop or someone bored of the hobby. But they do look healthy, just super hungry.
 

Drstrangelove

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Nice video.

Adult fish vary on nutritional requirements by age, species, environment, type of food, reproduction activities, etc. but in studies, even the most sedate and energy efficient fish need at least .75% of their body mass in net dry food per day just to cover daily maintenance and energy requirements. Growth comes from surplus food. So the owner was grossly underfeeding.

The condition of the fish is misleading. There is no question that the fish could not have grown to be that size on the amount of food that was indicated. Perhaps the owner changed feeding habits or bought the fish, but you can't raise fish on 20% of their minimal daily needs anymore than an adult human can reach full size on 500 calories a day. (Fish food farms would love to cut food costs by 80%, but alas, it doesn't work that way: fish can't grow if they aren't being fed more that their energy needs.)

The fish in that video would eventually die at the rate the owner was feeding them, because the food wasn't sufficient to maintain long term daily metabolic rates. Eventually, the fish would die from internal organs failing, diseases becoming virulent due to lack of nutrition, or some other indirect cause due to nutritional deficiencies.
 
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RD.

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I agree. I suspect that the owner purchased the fish at semi adult sizes, then slowly watched them starve. What I don't agree with is the vet stating that this is some kind of popular trend. I have no idea where he got that from, but may just be something that he has run across locally, among local idiots that don't understand the basic fundamentals in feeding an animal.
 
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