Are My Fish Fat? (Overfeeding?!)

[gabriel.mihu]

I started my tank about two months ago. I have the fish for... 4-7 weeks. When I bought them, they were "normal". Now, the molly (if it's a molly), my guppy and my tetras seem really fat compared to how they were. Until about two weeks ago, I thought it's ok, but now they seem to be a little bit out of proportion

.
 
I feed them 3 times a day, flakes/dry worms/tetra color pellets... mostly pellets, as they seem to like them more than other foods. Every time I feed them, it's like a frenzy, they all run to get as much food as they can... so I was assuming I am not feeding them too much, since they are always hungry.
 
Need advice if the fish are ok or overfed. Thank you.
 
Here's some photos:

 

[attibones]

You are definitely overfeeding them! You should only be feeding once a day, if that. Feed very small amounts, about as much as can be devoured in as little as two or three minutes. In this case, I'd recommend fasting the fish for a night or two. Also avoid feeding freeze dried foods like blood worms as these are linked to bloating and other problems. Frozen foods which have been thawed are great though.

 

[Madness13]

They definitely have pot bellys! I feed mine once and on occasion, twice a day. Basically as much as they can eat within 5 minutes or so. I feed my tetras Hikari micro pellets (only a small pinch to make sure they can eat it all before it drops to the floor). Then a few algae wafers for my loach and bottom feeders, although the tetras still eat the wafers from the floor (and pick them up which looks hilarious).
 
So... micro pellets, frozen bloodworms (make sure they are thawed like Herder said), high quality tropical flakes. Just change it around each day, but only feed bits at a time. If you're over feeding, they'll produce a lot of waste and the food that's left over will cause ammonia/nitrite spikes.

 

[CrimsonBoli]

Nice plump fish! 

Awesome pictures by the way!!!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Too much food... but your neons also look like females, the rounder ones... and females are rounder than males.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

3 times a day is too much. Once every morning is usually suffice. Fishes can survive for 14 days without food in the wild and won't hurt if you skipped feeding for a day

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

I think if all of them are fat you are overfeeding, but if only a few are fat then you have some pregnant fish.
 
I would only feed once a day, I actually only feed my betta and cichlid every 2-3 days as betta is in the bowl and cichlid is in the 15g.
 
They do totally fine when I got on weekend trips. I just ask my mom to make sure the temp is stable and fish are alive.

 

[gabriel.mihu]

You are definitely overfeeding them!....

They definitely have pot bellys!...

I don't give them too much food at once... they're about 20 fish and I feed them about 10-15 small flat round pellets at a time, or a pinch of flakes... they devour everything in about 2-3 minutes, fighting for every bit. (on the box says 1 pellet/inch of fish, 3 times a day...)
 
 

Nice plump fish! 
Awesome pictures by the way!!!

Thanks.
 
 

I think if all of them are fat you are overfeeding, but if only a few are fat then you have some pregnant fish.
 
I would only feed once a day, I actually only feed my betta and cichlid every 2-3 days as betta is in the bowl and cichlid is in the 15g.
 
They do totally fine when I got on weekend trips. I just ask my mom to make sure the temp is stable and fish are alive.

 

Too much food... but your neons also look like females, the rounder ones... and females are rounder than males.

Well, a few are rounder than the others... what should I do about them spawning? I never had tetras with fry
 
 

3 times a day is too much. Once every morning is usually suffice. Fishes can survive for 14 days without food in the wild and won't hurt if you skipped feeding for a day

I'll reduce their food ratios to 2 a day at most... maybe once a day for a while. They have to get in shape .

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I feel you during feeding time. Its really tempting to give them another dash of food, right? Especially when they're all active and skipping at the water surface Lol

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Neons are difficult to breed as they require very specific conditions to hatch their eggs and rear their fry.  Without those conditions none of the eggs will ever hatch so you don't have to worry about unexpected babies.

 

[fluttermoth]

You have to remember that, unlike us and other mammals, fish have mechanism to tell them when they're full, so if there's food there, they will carry on eating.
 
That's why they act hungry all the time. If you overfeed them though;
first of all the food won't be doing them any good, they'll be passing it out more or less undigested
second, it could led to them getting constipation impacted guts or other digestive tract problems
lastly, it'll be increasing the bioload on your tank unecessarily.
 
You should also have one 'fast' day a week, where you don't fed them at all, unless you have fry.
 
Neons may spawn in the tank, but the eggs will either get eaten, or they won't hatch, as they need very soft acidic water and are light sensitive, so will only hatch in darkness; the fry are also light sensitive, until they become free swimming.

 

[gabriel.mihu]

I knew about neons that they need very particular water parameters met in order to spawn.
 
About the food, I did cut down already. Once, maximum twice a day, about the same amount/feed.