How Much And How Often Do You Feed Your Fish?

[NeonTetra97]

I asked this question to the staff at my LFS and was told to feed my fish twice a day but some places on the internet suggest every other day, once a week, in fact wherever i look i find something different! So, my question is how often do you feed your fish and roughly how much. Secondly in your opinion how much and how often would you feed 5 Guppies and 7 Neon Tetras? 
 
I am worried because i know overfeeding such small fish can harm them but i don't want the poor little guys to starve!
 
Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Nordk]

General rule of thumb is however much they can eat in a few minutes once a day. Fasting them once a week or for a couple days won't hurt them, as in the wild food can be scarce, and fish haven't been raised in tanks for that long.

 

[bloodyeagle4]

I feed mine twice a day about a pinch of food...they eat it up in about 30 sec to a min... and sometimes i go a few days without feeding like ^^^^ said!

 

[kevingrods]

my suggestion to you is, if you think your over feeding them.  Then  you are wayyyyyyyyy over feeding them.

 

[Arcticfox1977]

I feed my fish once a day with a small pinch. They can usually eat the pinch within 22 seconds. I've timed them lol. I miss 2 days in a week, as I have noticed I'm getting pest snails breeding now.

 

[KirkyArcher]

There is always the worry that you are underfeeding especially when you get the "dance" at the front of the tank, and think I'll give them a little more, after all they're eating it all quickly, however most fish will eat lots more than the actually need and just poop it out more often, this results in requiring more tank maintenance and probably excess nutrients that will lead to algae or even ammonia problems, No doubt what you are feeding each day would be enough to keep your fish healthy if you fed them the same quantity over two days or every other day, A good reminder that was posted on here not long ago is that most fishes stomachs are approximately twice the size their eyes if that will help you better guess/estimate the amount to feed them.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

I feed mine a small pinch of flake every day except Saturday and Sunday (I feed them a quarter of a pea on Saturday and I fast them Sunday).
 
A pinch every day/every other day should be fine for your fish Try not to feed them one day a week.

 

[Mollydolly]

Im new to this but someone told me to feed mine every two days and a small pinch. On days my levels are high and i do a water change i was told not to feed them, when my partner first set up i fed his for him. And yes i gave them way to much, i think you learn more as you go along on how much to give when you watch what the tank is doing regarding levels and how the fish are. I dont feed mine daily and some days if my levels have gone high i miss that day. They wont starve as some usually floats to the bottem that they go back to graze on. and i agree if you think you are feeding them to much you usually are good luck with yours x

I feed mine a small pinch of flake every day except Saturday and Sunday (I feed them a quarter of a pea on Saturday and I fast them Sunday).
 
A pinch every day/every other day should be fine for your fish Try not to feed them one day a week.

Can i ask what peas do and what type also please sorry to intrude but not heard of peas added before

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Can i ask what peas do and what type also please sorry to intrude but not heard of peas added before

 
Peas help with curing/preventing swim bladder issues and they help clean out the fishes bowel systems. They also provide a vegetable matter in the fishes diets which most fish don't get when fed with flakes (note: if your fish are carnivores, do not feed them peas).
 
I just use frozen peas that I cook with. They are minted but, because I figure the mint flavoring is mostly on the shell, they're safe to use. 
I run some warm water over a pea until it feels "squishy", I then deshell the pea and cut one of the halfs in half, then I use the back of a knife to mush the pea which I scrape off the cutting board and feed to my fish
 
Depending on the size of your fishes mouths, you may not want to squish the pea, instead cut it up. 
I squish mine because I'm cautious about the pieces being too big as I had one of my fish choke on a pea that was too big. I did manage to save the fish though

 

[betta fish]

I feed my fish once a day in the morning 

 

[NeonTetra97]

Thanks for the replys everyone! From now on I will feed my fish once a day except for Saturdays, small pinch of flake food. Blondielovesfish, what you were saying about feeding your fish a pea every now and hen sounds interesting I will definitely start doing that, makes so much sense to replicate their natrual diet.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

glad I could be of assistance.
 
Depending on the fish, there are other vegetables that can be fed. Have a look at this link (I apologize if the link is not allowed).

 

[snazy]

You can't compare fish in nature to a fish tank because in nature many don't survive, even starve to death. But generally once a day works for many. However, for better health smaller meals a couple of times a day is even better providing you don't double the amount of food by accident. Baby fish, fry or not fully grown fish need to eat more often to grow healthier. Some fish in nature eat all day long. If it's a community tank, some species maybe more competitive for food, leaving the rest starve if the food amount is small enough to disappear in seconds. Obviously it's also very important to provide varied food too.
 
Overfeeding can decrease the water quality which is bad for the fish of course, but underfeeding and starvation will increase stress, which is also as bad. Just experiment with your tank a bit, see that all get a bit to eat each time,also that they are able to swallow that food easily.  Pees are good, but they are very messy and guppies and neon tetras will need really well mashed up peas, very tiny amount not to affect the water quality. It will fall apart in the water like a cloud and you'll be surprised how little you need.  My guppies aren't interested in peas at all, mostly my algae eaters.