How to know if Under/Overfed?

[TGOATW]

How do i know if everyone in ny tank is fed without over feeding?
I have zebra danios, ghost shrimps, some bladder snails and a hillstream loach.
I feed sinking micro pallets, and i feed the shrimps and snails the fish's leftovers, ie. the sunken micropallets. But sometimes the fish keeps on eating without leaving any crumbs and i don't want the fish to be overfed while my other guys are underfed.

 

[GaryE]

The biggest danger is overfeeding. So your question is a good one, because it's a scenario that leads to overfeeding, and overfeeding leads to tank crashes and the premature death of fish from obesity. It works differently with fish as fat isn't stored under the skin but inside the body cavities where it pressures the internal organs.

Bladder snails will live on biofilm, and things present in the tank. You have nothing to worry about there, unless you want a massive population explosion. The shrimp should do fine on small particles and life in the tank.

The fish should be fed sparingly, once a day. I always have a day in the week with no feeding of adult fish. I find they live much longer and are more active on that regime.

We like feeding our creatures, and we worry about doing it wrong. But our worrying can lead them into disaster.

 

[TGOATW]

The biggest danger is overfeeding. So your question is a good one, because it's a scenario that leads to overfeeding, and overfeeding leads to tank crashes and the premature death of fish from obesity. It works differently with fish as fat isn't stored under the skin but inside the body cavities where it pressures the internal organs.

Bladder snails will live on biofilm, and things present in the tank. You have nothing to worry about there, unless you want a massive population explosion. The shrimp should do fine on small particles and life in the tank.

The fish should be fed sparingly, once a day. I always have a day in the week with no feeding of adult fish. I find they live much longer and are more active on that regime.

We like feeding our creatures, and we worry about doing it wrong. But our worrying can lead them into disaster.

Thanks for the advice! It eases me that i can feed them a little less and not having to worry about underfeeding. And no, i don't want a pop boom of bladder snails , only the bare minimum of them

 

[anewbie]

I know larger fishes will become quite aggressive at feeding time if they are significantly under fed. I have a clown loach that when i purchased was nothing but skeleton (spines were very visible) and it was hyper aggressive taking a pellet and attacking anyone who came within 5 inches of him. After about 2 months he fattened up and stop being aggressive. I've seen such behavior in other fishes though with dithers like danio and serpae they are always darting in and out at feeding time.

As mentioned over feeding is a real problem not just because it can leave to 'fat' fishes (that is unhealthy) but extra food decays and is far more damaging to water quality than fish waste.

I guess with some fishes it is a balancing act - my discus are not aggressive eaters and will literally starve to death if not given enough food but of course for reasons already mentioned you don't want to over feed them; but they do stop eating when they have had enough in the morning and quietly go to the back of the aquarium. Conversely the geo i have will eat all they can eat 24 hours a day non stop and it is easy to over feed them because they never seem to not want to eat more.

 

[TGOATW]

I know larger fishes will become quite aggressive at feeding time if they are significantly under fed. I have a clown loach that when i purchased was nothing but skeleton (spines were very visible) and it was hyper aggressive taking a pellet and attacking anyone who came within 5 inches of him. After about 2 months he fattened up and stop being aggressive. I've seen such behavior in other fishes though with dithers like danio and serpae they are always darting in and out at feeding time.

As mentioned over feeding is a real problem not just because it can leave to 'fat' fishes (that is unhealthy) but extra food decays and is far more damaging to water quality than fish waste.

I guess with some fishes it is a balancing act - my discus are not aggressive eaters and will literally starve to death if not given enough food but of course for reasons already mentioned you don't want to over feed them; but they do stop eating when they have had enough in the morning and quietly go to the back of the aquarium. Conversely the geo i have will eat all they can eat 24 hours a day non stop and it is easy to over feed them because they never seem to not want to eat more.

Yeah, that's what i'm worried about, and it isn't like i can just ask them if they are full or not . They do eventually slow down, but they still dart in and out to eat.

 

[anewbie]

Yeah, that's what i'm worried about, and it isn't like i can just ask them if they are full or not . They do eventually slow down, but they still dart in and out to eat.

I dont' worry about dithers - they will munch on plant matter or biofilm. Also they don't need as much food as larger cichild; not that cichild need a lot.

 

[TGOATW]

I dont' worry about dithers - they will munch on plant matter or biofilm. Also they don't need as much food as larger cichild; not that cichild need a lot.

What about Hillstream loaches? I don't usually see him eat, only sticking onto the glass or on the branch

 

[fishorama]

Some fish, like danios, will strike at food even when they're full. They don't really eat more but they try! Watch them, they probably spit out food after 3 or 4 bites.

I have sewellia lineolata hillstream loaches. They graze on the glass for algae & auf wuchs (micro-goodies in the biofilm). I feed them Repashy Soilent Green (an auf wuchs substitute) & they also eat some flakes. Do you know what species your hillstream loach is? Some hillys are more "meateaters" & would like a different diet with more brine shrimp & worms, small enough for their mouths. They tend to be slow feeders.

You don't need to feed snails or shrimp, they're fine with a just a very tiny bit of leftover foods.

 

[TGOATW]

Some fish, like danios, will strike at food even when they're full. They don't really eat more but they try! Watch them, they probably spit out food after 3 or 4 bites.

I have sewellia lineolata hillstream loaches. They graze on the glass for algae & auf wuchs (micro-goodies in the biofilm). I feed them Repashy Soilent Green (an auf wuchs substitute) & they also eat some flakes. Do you know what species your hillstream loach is? Some hillys are more "meateaters" & would like a different diet with more brine shrimp & worms, small enough for their mouths. They tend to be slow feeders.

You don't need to feed snails or shrimp, they're fine with a just a very tiny bit of leftover foods.

I think mine is also a swellia lineolata. Thanks for the info! Really helped alot

 

[sharkweek178]

Snails. If you see a whole bunch of pest snails, that probably means you should cut back on feeding. It could mean an algae problem but IMO it usually means overfeeding. That's one of the reasons I like to have snails. To let me know if I'm feeding too much.

 

[TGOATW]

Snails. If you see a whole bunch of pest snails, that probably means you should cut back on feeding. It could mean an algae problem but IMO it usually means overfeeding. That's one of the reasons I like to have snails. To let me know if I'm feeding too much.

Oh, does about 10-15 snails seem alot? most of them are big, about 1-2 cm long, since i've kept them for a while now. I also have a small number of ramshorns

 

[Aquatopia]

Feeding is another subject where you will get lots of different answers, many of which are 'correct'. There are multiple ways to feed fish 'correctly' and have them healthy. There is no one 'correct' way.

You also have to take into account tank size and amount/size of fish, obviously. I'll be feeding around 300 fish in a 680 litre tank, which will be massively different than feeding 12 tetras in a 50 litre tank.

I'll feed a good variety of foods, little and often. Altogether I'll feed algae wafers, tetra pro crisps (mix of colour and energy crisps), tetra prima mini granules, a mix of frozen foods (bloodworm, mysis, brine shrimp, daphnia, chopped cockle, gammarus) and Courgette.

For the frozen food I will be de-frosting a cube of 4 mixed types every day and then feeding half of that mixture twice a day. The frozen food is the bulk of the fishes food. The tetra crisps and granules will be fed in small amounts, mainly to make sure the fish are getting variety and all the vitamins and minerals that they need.

When it comes to flake food, crisps or granules then I want to feed a tiny amount so that none of it is left to get trapped in the hardscape or get left on the substrate. I'm not quite so bothered about that with the frozen food as the fish are far more interested in the frozen food and it is far less likely to be left. Still all the frozen food should be gone within a couple of minutes. The crisps and granules should be all gone in about 30 seconds, with hardly any making it to the substrate.

I'll feed a few algae wafers as the lights start to ramp up (at 11am) along with a tiny sprinkle of the crisps and the granules. Around 1pm I'll feed another tiny sprinkle of the crisps and the granules then around 3pm I'll feed half of the frozen food. Around 5pm I'll feed another tiny sprinkle of the crisps and the granules then at 7pm I'll feed the other half of the frozen food.

Around 9-10pm I'll put a good slice of courgette in, as the lights ramp down.

On a Sunday (when I do my water change and maintenance) there will be no feeding at all.

I've found that kind of feeding works well for me. Obviously you have to adjust the amounts and what you are feeding depending on your tank size and fish stock but I've always fed a good variety, little and often every day with one day a week fasting.