Kessil

Fish 'Fasting' (aka how do you feed fish)?

How often do you feed your fish?

  • Multiple Times per Day

    Votes: 5 55.6%
  • Once Per Day

    Votes: 3 33.3%
  • Try for once per day, but OK to miss a day here and there

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3-5 times per week

    Votes: 1 11.1%
  • Once per week

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Less frequently

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .

borker

Supporting Member
Hi all,

Searched the forum and couldn't find an easy answer, so wanted to get feedback from this group: How often do you feed your fish?

I used to feed them (when I was up in Boston) every single day, sometimes multiple times per day. I never 'overfed' (tried to get them to eat it all in 30s-1m) but ended up having nutrient challenges.

My roommate whose good friend was a host on Tanked said fish in the wild go for very long periods of time without eating, and that if anything, we in the hobby tended to overfeed.

After that I had no problem leaving my fish multiple days without feeding. I've taken that to an extreme (one time not feeding my fish for 3 weeks) and they were fine. Until one wasn't (lost a fish after a 2 week trip once).

All this to say, I've had pretty good results not feeding fish every day, but also have no idea how this kind of 'forced intermittent fasting' (to use human terms) challenges or stresses fish.

Anyone have insight here? Articles they can link?

At the moment for my tank I try to feed my leopard wrasse daily (because he's new), but also don't know if I'm feeding enough / too much / not at all.

Figured we could get this started. Let me know how much you feed below.
 
Most fish want multiple feedings per day. Tanked sucks. Bad. I seriously doubt the knowledge those guys have about fish, and if they do have the knowledge it makes what they do even worse. No regard for life. Animal cruelty.
 
Depends on the fish species. Some fish (anglers) can go quite a while without eating. Some fish (wrasses) should be fed small amounts three times a day. Different species expend different amounts of energy and have smaller or larger stomachs, etc.
 
Grazers graze....
Unless it’s a predator that gorges at a single feed....
Feed the fish at least 5 times each day...appetizers
And a varied diet
No single feed has every nutritional element
 
Most fish, if they’re healthy, can go several days without food. Like others have said though, it will depend on the species. Notice I said can, and not that they should or it’s better for them. I would feed as often as my tank could handle it.
 
Interesting - is there a good resource that shows growth rate and consumption of various common reef tank species?

I'd love to see it. Maybe I'll set up an auto-feeder on my tank now.
 
I auto-feed about 4 times per day. Small doses of pellets.
I hand feed frozen in the evening.

Your strategy has to be both good for the fish, and good for your schedule, so everyone is a bit different.
 
I feed new life spectrum pro biotic pellets twice a day, nori once a day when I remember and frozen mysis soaked in selcon with reef chili (and another coral powder I can't remember) three or four times a week.

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