How Much Should I Feed My Fish And How Often?
This is a question that is quite relevant and pertinent to answer. Overfeeding is a common mistake that new aquarists make – they probably get carried away by the way the fish come to the front of the aquarium and “beg” for food.
However, overfeeding clogs the filters, the fish dirty the water more, and in short release more toxins in the water which can be harmful for the fish, so … don’t.
In their natural habitat, fish tend to eat whenever they are hungry and/ or when food is available. If food is available in plenty, they tend to eat several times a day, while if food is scarce, they could go for days between meals. In short it all kind of averages out. This incidentally also make them rather opportunistic when it comes to food – since they don’t know when their next meal is going to come across, they will eat up any food that comes their way – even if they are not particularly hungry.
A word of caution here – do not try to mimic the same conditions in your aquarium. Be sure to feed your fish regularly – else you may find the fins on some of your fish missing.
So, how much should you feed your fish?
The rule of thumb is to feed your fish as much as they can consume completely in 3-5 minutes. If in doubt, it is better to underfeed, rather than overfeed (because of all the reasons mentioned above). If, due to any reason, you do end up overfeeding, and there is some food left in the tank, try it remove it from the tank (sometimes if the fish do not like the new brand of flakes you may have to resort to it as well).
And how often should you feed your fish?
Frequency would vary based on the type of fish, but frankly, most fish do pretty well on one feeding per day. You may want to feed them more than once a day, in which case, keep the feedings very small. The time for feeding, is not terribly critical for most fish – they are more bothered with the food, but try and to feed them around the same time everyday. Nocturnal feeders, such as certain catfish, are the exception, and should be fed just before turning the lights out at night.
The exceptions to the one meal a day rule, are the herbivores or vegetarians, who, in the wild tend to graze on plants all day long. They need to eat frequently because they do not have large stomachs to hold a lot of food. They should be given several small feedings a day, or provided with live plants they can nibble. In either case, it is good to have live plans in your aquariums.
And in the end, let me leave you with this video from VideoJug.
Must reads:
What Should I Feed My Fish?
Introducing New Fish To Your Aquarium
Species Aquarium Or Community Aquarium?
Pic via here.
