assuming you are feeding a good quality food, of the correct type for the fish... how much should they eat???

[Magnum Man]

so I feed using a long handled plastic serving spoon, and have a spoon measuring set, that I add a varying amount of a variety of foods to the serving spoon, to feed each tank, depending on fish type, size and tank stocking density, which I keep in my work area... but I have been trying to figure out good volumes of food for each tank... since this is "unscientific" how many "mouthfuls" of food volume does a fish needs on a daily / every other day basis, I suppose for growth, and then for maintenance???

for example, for maintenance, is 2 mouthfuls of food enough per fish, for a day??? just as a general rule, 4 mouthfuls every other day, more??? less???

just curious your thoughts of food volume required for growth, or long term maintenance...

 

[gwand]

Without detailed scientific studies for each species, I think feeding is more art than science. It is said that the stomach of a betta is the volume of its eyeball. Other fish may have larger or smaller stomachs. Only scientific studies can inform us. Another variable in addition to what you listed is water temperature. Since fish are cold blooded, their metabolic rate is highly influenced by water temperature. Colder water temperature translates to less energy needs, thus less food requirements.

 

[Colin_T]

Baby fish and young fish that are growing should be fed as much as they can eat at least 3 times a day (more often if possible). They should look like pregnant guppies at all times. This lets them have a lot of nutrients that they require to grow.

Adult fish that are being used for breeding should be fed the same as the babies (as much as they can eat 3-5 times per day). They should be fed like this for at least 2 (preferably 4+) weeks before actual breeding takes place. The high volume and quality of food allows the broodstock to develop high quality gametes (eggs & sperm), which in turn produces the best quality offspring. The regular food intake also replicates the breeding season when more food is generally available to the fish.

Adult fish that aren't being used for breeding can be fed as much or as often as you like but one good feed per day is probably sufficient. That's all I did with mine, fed them once a day until they were full then stopped.

There's no point trying to work out how big a fish's stomach is and how much food they should get because the stomach can expand to hold more food when food is plentiful. Just feed until they are full. In the wild they eat whenever food is available and they eat as much as they can get when it is available.

 

[AJ356]

Adult fish that aren't being used for breeding can be fed as much or as often as you like but one good feed per day is probably sufficient. That's all I did with mine, fed them once a day until they were full then stopped.

Very surprised to read this from you Colin.

I think overfeeding fish is probably the number two downfall of many an aquarium and lost fish lives (due to ammonia and nitrite poisoning), with number one being immature filter media, and obviously, the two are linked.

I tell people that, if you are feeding your fish, and they have quick and very close access to the food when you put it in the tank (i.e. they are not hunting the food down like corydoras for example), then if your fish is still eating food after 30-45 seconds, you have over fed. If you time 30-45 seconds and just watch the clock, it's quick. But if a fish is constantly chomping on food for 30-45 seconds, that's more than enough. Once a day. Fry and growing-on juveniles is different. Also, I am not including food that fish nibble on like algae, or vegetables, or a stuck-on dried tablet on the glass. Also, perhaps some tiny live foods like daphnia and cyclops might not apply to my rule.

To say you should feed an adult fish until it stops eating (like you have alluded to) scares me, especially if someone is reading your post that doesn't know any better. To be fair, you are saying that's what you did with your fish.

When you say "until they were full", to clarify, does that mean until they lost interest in eating? You would feed your adult non-breeding fish until they didn't want to eat any more?

 

[AJ356]

so I feed using a long handled plastic serving spoon, and have a spoon measuring set, that I add a varying amount of a variety of foods to the serving spoon, to feed each tank, depending on fish type, size and tank stocking density, which I keep in my work area... but I have been trying to figure out good volumes of food for each tank... since this is "unscientific" how many "mouthfuls" of food volume does a fish needs on a daily / every other day basis, I suppose for growth, and then for maintenance???

for example, for maintenance, is 2 mouthfuls of food enough per fish, for a day??? just as a general rule, 4 mouthfuls every other day, more??? less???

just curious your thoughts of food volume required for growth, or long term maintenance...

As you will see from my post above, my opinion is that it's more about time (in seconds) as to how much to feed fish. Although, I did include some exceptions to that rule of mine, and there are probably some other other exceptions I did not think of right now.

 

[gwand]

While most of my fish species attack food as soon as it is offered, my a. cacatuoides and borelli let the food settle to the substrate before approaching it. Sometimes it will take them 10 minutes before they take their first bite.

 

[jaylach]

I don't know how true this is but an OLD rule of thumb is to portion the food to about equal the fish's eye size.

 

[Back in the fold]

Some fish eat like horses and others nibble lightly at whatever you feed them . It’s personal experience with the fish you have . New fish can be finicky because their food got changed but will settle down after a week or two . I have a single Angelfish that usually eats good but sometimes she will go on a day or two hunger strike . My Aplocheilus lineatus Golden Wonder Killifish will eat until they are bloated . My Endlers and Platy’s are not at all fussy or picky . They eat until everything is gone . My new Nothobranchius are still settling in and aren’t crazy about frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms but they nibble at it but they love newly hatched baby brine shrimp . No fish seems to be able to resist that .